You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've had some subsidence in a corner of my conservatory, approx. 1 m diagonal cracks through the brickwork in that corner down each side. About 5 mm wide at the worst point. Also had some cracks in the corner of the garage, a separate outbuilding, but much less worried about this. Suspect its mostly due to clay soil, this current dry spell, and a large hedge near that side of the conservatory. I suspect the conservatory foundations aren't very deep either. The house itself seems fine.
I think I made a mistake and told my home insurance about it. Reading more into it my main concern is the impact on insurance/value of the house as opposed to the subsidence itself now. The conservatory was already in poor condition and I was considering removal or refurbishment (solid roof etc), but this has made the decision for me.
What I'd like to do is get a structural engineer round, confirm my thoughts, and remove the conservatory, but I presume I can't undo notifying the insurance company. Has anyone had experience with subsequently trying to get home insurance or sell a property where something like a conservatory had subsidence but was then removed? Is it still the same challenges in getting home insurance in the future etc as if you made a claim?
Yeah I had a fairly large subsidence claim after 2020 which was a long dry summer like this year. We are also on clay soil and a neighbours oak trees caused one side of my house to drop and not the other side.
I haven't tried to sell yet, but it is a pain in the pants to get insurance so DO NOT CHANGE INSURER OR FORGET TO RENEW WITH YOUR EXISTING INSURER !!!
To be able to apply for insurance from somebody else, you will need at the minimum a certificate of structural adequacy. We have that, and even 5 years on from the claim we cannot get insurance under £2K from anybody else. We now pay approx £1200 a year with the insurer we were already with. Before the claim it was approx £200 a year.
Now - your current situation: you've already told the insurer so you may as well let them appoint a structural engineer and repair the building because you cannot honestly answer the question "has your build ever suffered from subsidence or cracking?"
I've had some subsidence in a corner of my conservatory, approx. 1 m diagonal cracks through the brickwork in that corner down each side. About 5 mm wide at the worst point. Also had some cracks in the corner of the garage, a separate outbuilding, but much less worried about this. Suspect its mostly due to clay soil, this current dry spell, and a large hedge near that side of the conservatory. I suspect the conservatory foundations aren't very deep either. The house itself seems fine.
I think I made a mistake and told my home insurance about it. Reading more into it my main concern is the impact on insurance/value of the house as opposed to the subsidence itself now. The conservatory was already in poor condition and I was considering removal or refurbishment (solid roof etc), but this has made the decision for me.
What I'd like to do is get a structural engineer round, confirm my thoughts, and remove the conservatory, but I presume I can't undo notifying the insurance company. Has anyone had experience with subsequently trying to get home insurance or sell a property where something like a conservatory had subsidence but was then removed? Is it still the same challenges in getting home insurance in the future etc as if you made a claim?
I'd slow down a little.
Speak to your insurer, ideally by letter, explain that the conservatory was being considered either for removal or renovation This will be in line with their T&Cs to maintain the property in a good state of repair.
You've notified them of the problem, as required, and have decided on removal and don't consider the house to be affected.
Explain that you don't want to be disadvantaged by your obligations because the house is in a good state of repair without signs of subsidence and see if they want an engineer's report that covers the whole insured property
My property has evidence of old movement that stopped decades ago and a report from 25 years ago supporting that. No problems except where online applications are involved; it's much easier dealing with people than computer says, "No"
"has your build ever suffered from subsidence or cracking?"
Some insurers put a time limit on this, e.g. "in the last 10 years" and some remove the clause (and cover) if you feel brave enough
Is it technically subsidence when all that's happened is that the ground has dried out more than normal?
A lot of older conservatories weren't built on proper footings as it wasn't a requirement (as they were deemed temp structures). Could just be an iffy build that doesn't affect your whole house.
Insurance wouldn't have been my first call though unless I was 100% I was making a claim.
decided on removal and don't consider the house to be affected.
Good point on the conservatory possibly not being counted as part of the main building, I didn't consider that. I'm not convinced it will be the case but it's most definitely worth a try!
Some insurers put a time limit on this, e.g. "in the last 10 years"
Do you know which? I don't think I've seen any?
My builders have just removed a 20 year old conservatory. They could have just blown it over, the polycarb roof almost disintegrated. It was on a raised terrace, if on earth it would have fallen down ages ago.
I have some cracks in my house which became obvious when I stripped all wallpaper off. I asked the builders and structural engineer if I should be worried, both said not in the slightest. They were all internal on the plasterboard.
There's no way I d mention the s word to an insurer, I d have to disclose it on the seller info form if I wanted to sell.
Thanks all for the comments. Agree I shouldn't have told the insurer about it before getting all the facts together. A couple of friends who are a builder and a surveyor come round yesterday and both thought the issue was the extremely shoddy construction of the conservatory, very shallow foundations including what looks like breeze blocks under the brickwork.
Arranging a structural engineer to come round and properly assess what's happened, but the hope is that their report can attribute the cracks to the poor construction and end-of-life stage of the conservatory than actual subsidence. Then, removal of the conservatory solves the issue.
Insurance company also called and said that I could withdraw the enquiry for now, get my own structural engineer round, then make a claim only if it's needed - i.e an issue with the house itself found by the engineer. The claim handler noted from the pictures the cracks are more horizontal than diagonal too. So there's an informal enquiry on their system for now, but not a formal enquiry/claim that goes onto the CUE database just yet.
Do you know which? I don't think I've seen any?
I can't remember now, too much time has passed. Hopefully you're sorted, but a human broker should be able to help 😉
Is it technically subsidence when all that's happened is that the ground has dried out more than normal?
Yes, it can be. Settlement is where the weight of a building has compressed new groundworks and stopped
You also get the opposite of subsidence, which is heave, when the clay swells with wet conditions
Do you know which? I don't think I've seen any?
I can't remember now, too much time has passed. Hopefully you're sorted, but a human broker should be able to help 😉
No, unfortunately not. I cannot get insurance anywhere except my original insurer. I've phoned three or four specialists and none have been able to get me insurance below 2.5K