Buildings insurance covering neighbours cracked retaining wall

efrost

I’m looking to buy a house but the survey has flagged a large crack in the neighbours boundary and retaining wall. There is a gap between the properties, but given the size of the wall, if it collapsed there is a reasonable chance it could damage my prospective property. Am I likely to be able to get building insurance that covers this risk, given it’s a pre-existing issue? I understand the crack has been reported, and is being monitored.
Thanks

Brie

I'd be wondering what is causing the crack. Is there something happening under the building that might effect yours?  I'm not a builder or anything remotely like that, just suspicious and a bit paranoid.  

Muskey

Sounds like a subsidence problem.
I would look for a different house to buy.

Robin9

Would the insurance cover a pre-existing problem?

efrost

Thanks all for the comments - subsidence risk is a good thing to flag. Nothing was raised on this as a risk in the survey, but I’ve emailed the surveyor to ask about it.

eddddy

I think you might be asking the wrong questions.


Who does the retaining wall belong to - the house you are buying or the neighbour's house? 

Or is it a "party fence wall" which straddles the boundary between the 2 properties?

• If the wall belongs to the house you buy, you will become responsible for fixing the wall. If you know that the wall needs repairs and might collapse, but do nothing about it, you're likely to be responsible for any damage caused by the collapse, plus the cost of rebuilding the wall. (That includes damage to your property and the neighbour's property.)

• If the wall belongs to the neighbour's house, and they know that the wall needs repairs and might collapse, but do nothing about it - the neighbours are likely to be responsible for any damage caused by the collapse, plus the cost of rebuilding the wall.
  

So, in simple terms, I think the question about insurance is irrelevant. Instead you should think about...

• Get a structural engineer to inspect the wall
• Ask the structural engineer how urgent it is to fix the wall
• Find out who owns the wall
• If the wall will belong to you, find out the cost of repairing / rebuilding the wall
• If the wall belongs to the neighbour, find out their plans for repairing / rebuilding the wall

efrost

Thanks that’s super helpful. It’s definitely the neighbour’s wall, and the boundary isn’t shared - so I will enquire about plans for repairing/rebuilding.

TELLIT01

Is this wall holding back garden or building?  How much higher is the ground behind the retaining wall and how high is the wall?