I panicked and made a subsidence claim, HELP!

worrisomedad

Hello,

Two days ago I noticed some new cracks in the plaster of my house. I have been worried about a tree in front of my property causing damage with its roots. A quick check of AI suggested contacting my insurer. So I went to the insurers website and raised a claim.

The next day they phoned me to discuss the claim. I noticed I did not have many of the problems they asked about, such as doors/windows sticking, and cracks at the ground level going up. Also my cracks are mainly hairline, and checking online it seems that subsidence cracks are bigger.

So I phoned back to withdraw the Claim, as no action has yet been taken or money spent. I was told the claim will remain on the underwriting system as a peril. I asked them to hold the claim as I am not sure which course of action to take.

Checking online it seems that even a withdrawn subsidence claim can affect insurance and sale of the house in future.

So should I continue with the claim and hopefully get a clean survey report, or withdraw leaving a doubt on the insurance system that may come back to bite me? Will the withdrawn claim be wiped from the system after a few years or stick around forever as it mentions subsidence?

Please advise (yes I know I have been stupid)

born_again

One reason never to rely on AI.🤷‍♀️

As you have started you might as well let it run for peace of mind. As even a clean survey will mean that you have to declare the claim.

user1977

"it seems that even a withdrawn subsidence claim can affect insurance and sale of the house in future."

Is that also something AI has told you? Not sure why it would affect a sale, if there's no actual subsidence or an actual claim.

Slinky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965397#Comment_81965397

Some people will see the S word and run a mile. If there is a Subsidence claim it will sit on your insurance records forever, even if, for example, it was a separate garage which has since been removed.

We found out during our purchase that there had previously been a (fixed) subsidence claim on our house. Fortunately for us it was over 25 years before our purchase so we don't pay a fortune for buildings cover, BUT we have a limited pool of insurers who will insure our property, and we have a separate contents policy as trying to find suitable buildings plus contents was impossible.

Markdavid1962

My daughter had a tree outside her house around 5 metres away and she also had cracks which she thought were plaster cracks, the cracks started to get worse a few months later and she started a claim (like you), they came out and removed the tree and repaired the subsidence, it took about 6 months but at the end she received a certificate stating that the house was free of subsidence. She sold the house about a year later, no issues at all, not sure if her insurance increased.

worrisomedad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965439#Comment_81965439

Thanks Mark, thats very reassuring. Maybe I better let the claim run, if I withdraw then perhaps I will not be able to renew insurance, there may be problems later who knows

Annemos

Are you on clay soil? Tree roots tend to do damage on clay soils, as they suck out the moisture in the clay. During the Winter the cracks close up, as rain goes back into the clay. And during the drying out in the Summer Season, cracks may start to get bigger, as the ground under the foundations dries out.

What type of Tree is it? And how tall and wide is it? And how old is the Tree? (Is it older than your house or the same or younger?)

I agree, it will probably be best to let the Claim go ahead now. It is to be hoped they might get a Tree Expert in, if the Tree is a concern. To do a review of the Tree. But the thing with Insurance Companies is that their Policy is there to fix current damage and remove the current cause of damage. The Policy is NOT there to avoid future potential damage that has not yet occurred.

(Just a note on that last point…. if they do have to do current repairs and the current repairs will not be Effective and Lasting if they do not do "something else"… then they do have to do that "something else". Effective and Lasting means that the repairs must last for several years at least.)

If they decide there is no Subsidence, you will just need to make sure, that the big Insurance Database, the Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE), does not class the claim as Subsidence. (So that you do not bear the stigma of a Subsidence Claim.) In such cases, the Insurance Industry has ways to classify the claim as something else instead, to get around that problem. I have seen that some will call it an Accidental Damage claim, instead, for example.

Good luck with the claim.

worrisomedad

Thanks Annemos

I am on clay soil, although mostly paved over. The tree is a maple, about 20 years old I believe.

Great advice about the CUE, I could really do without the subsidence stigma.

Annemos

My issues were a Norway Maple and a Sweet Gum Tree (Liquidamber). Both were planted as landscaping by the Builder in 1980. They both grew really huge. Former was at 13m distance and second was at 5m distance.

They were on Council Land, so I could not do anything with them, and they were not maintained by the Council at all. They both took me out in the 2018 drought.

I came back from holiday to stepped zig-zag cracking on my Corner outside and matching damage inside.

Edit: one more thing: while a Subsidence claim is ongoing, the Insurance Company is not allowed to drop you from Insurance.

Furthermore, if it is found to be Subsidence, one should stay with the same Insurer who handled the claim after the claim is finished. (If they pull out of the Home Insurance Market completely, then they are usually expected to put some arrangements in place for the Homeowner with a new Insurer.)

worrisomedad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966272#Comment_81966272

I really dont have anything like that damage as yet. Maybe I should get a root barrier put in my Garden before any issues occur. Does anyone know if they work?

It sounds like you had a nightmare Annemos, did your insurance premiums go up after everything was sorted? Will you have any issues if you try to sell the house?

Annemos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966692#Comment_81966692

If your Tree is a Council Tree or a Neighbours Tree and not your own Tree, you may be in the situation I was in, where you start to realise there is a problem as the Trees grow. But there was nothing I could do. I tried to contact the Council and they sent Experts out twice, but all they were worried about was that they could not fall onto someone. So until damage actually happened to my Building, I was stuck.

Root Barriers are sometimes tried by the Insurance Industry as a remedy. But the big Subsidence Book by the Charted Ins of Struct Engineers does not seem that keen on them re how durable they are etc. Roots can get around them etc.

(I am just happy that my two were removed. But as a general rule, this can only be done if the Tree is the same age as or younger than the Building. If the Tree is older, one can get Heave if a tree is removed, which is the opposite mechanism. So before a Tree is taken down, one should consult with a good Tree Expert who has a lot of experience with Tree Roots, to assess the Heave Potential of the Ground conditions around Tree and Building.)

Yes, I am afraid it has all been very stressful and remains so. The worst thing is the Insurance side. Trying to stay with the same Insurer during and after the Claim.

RSA recently pulled out of the Home Insurance Market completely and now my Insurer has too. Also contracts between retailers and insurers may only last for a set period of time… mine was only going to be in place for 5 years. My Retailer has now shifted to different Insurers from April 1, 2026 and the old one who did my claim has now left the market completely.

So I am now coming up against the issue myself. I shall see at renewal in July, what price I am going to be offered. I shall also be interested to see whether they change my Subsidence Excess to more than the usual 1000 pounds, which I have retained with the original Insurer.

From memory… Before Subsidence Claim was paying about 300 per year.

During the Subsidence claim it was going up to about 380 a year.

After Claim was finished it was around approx 640. But the last one was very sad at 720!

Re resale. It is sometimes said that a house might lose 20% value. But just from reading a lot ….. it seems to me that if a house is in the London Area, for example, where people know more about the Clay under London and also people have always wanted to purchase in London so there is high demand there, then the houses do sell quite well, even after Subsidence.

I am not sure whether my Bungalow which is out in the sticks would sell very easily and potentially suffer a loss in value, as there are others available that people could buy that have not had Subsidence.

Life goes through stages though, and I shall just sit it out here…. I am getting on a bit now…. it is not worth the hassle of trying to sell and then see it fall through! And I do like my bungalow. So I will skip the over-50's flat scenario and potentially go straight into the Care Home!!!

(I have to try and laugh about this! Things might get easier once 10 years has passed re the Insurance problem. And hopefully I will too!)

One more thing as a positive, in a strange way, I have found the whole Subsidence thing utterly fascinating. I learnt such a lot trawling through reems of Ombudsman's cases and the big Subsidence Guide etc. It is a fascinating subject. (Especially when combined with Insurance Industry.) I am glad I now know about it all.

(Apologies for long Post)