C
corksub
Guest
I have read previous subsidence threads and am even more confused.
We bought the house 8 years ago second-hand in cork (Glanmire area)built sideways on a steep hill. it passed a buyers survey. It is now over 10 years old.
Our house came with the addition of a conservatory which the previous owner had added to the estate developers' inital design. We have no idea who the builder was. There are cracks visible internally and externally where the conservatory is detaching from the main house wall and the external patio slabs in that corner on the downhill side of the house) are all loose, uneven or in one case all rippled upwards like a minor landslide has occurred. Drainage and guttering around the house is terrible in general and we seem to be missing a small retaining wall extending out into the garden that our uphill neighbour has.
We suspect a house two doors down had subsidence problems since we bought which were fixed by the estate developer. its rented and we dont know the owner.
(q1) Our insurers policy document states they do not cover subsidence "from escape of water" and only due to soil movement - but this is pretty much most subsidence in Ireland - Im confused to be honest about these definitions? Sure the soil moves because the water is washing it downhill?
other threads warn we should first make a "broken pipes" claim which is covered I think and not a subsidence claim that may not be?
other threads give conflicting advice on who to contact first - your own independent engineer / dynorod (who cost a lot of money we dont have),
or going direct first to the insurer who sends round a loss adjuster (free) but who is biased to say there is no provable subsidence or its due to water escaping which our insurer does not cover.
So My other question is:
(2) Who do we approach first -
the estate developer to say the drainiage is substandard and why no retaining wall? (its over 10 years old)
or
the insurer
or
Spend money we dont have on an independent consultant engineeer or surveyor to find out if we definitely have a susidence or drainage problem? but then once we have it we may not be covered and have to repair ourselves or risk not being uninsurable / unsaleable in future.
please help.
We bought the house 8 years ago second-hand in cork (Glanmire area)built sideways on a steep hill. it passed a buyers survey. It is now over 10 years old.
Our house came with the addition of a conservatory which the previous owner had added to the estate developers' inital design. We have no idea who the builder was. There are cracks visible internally and externally where the conservatory is detaching from the main house wall and the external patio slabs in that corner on the downhill side of the house) are all loose, uneven or in one case all rippled upwards like a minor landslide has occurred. Drainage and guttering around the house is terrible in general and we seem to be missing a small retaining wall extending out into the garden that our uphill neighbour has.
We suspect a house two doors down had subsidence problems since we bought which were fixed by the estate developer. its rented and we dont know the owner.
(q1) Our insurers policy document states they do not cover subsidence "from escape of water" and only due to soil movement - but this is pretty much most subsidence in Ireland - Im confused to be honest about these definitions? Sure the soil moves because the water is washing it downhill?
other threads warn we should first make a "broken pipes" claim which is covered I think and not a subsidence claim that may not be?
other threads give conflicting advice on who to contact first - your own independent engineer / dynorod (who cost a lot of money we dont have),
or going direct first to the insurer who sends round a loss adjuster (free) but who is biased to say there is no provable subsidence or its due to water escaping which our insurer does not cover.
So My other question is:
(2) Who do we approach first -
the estate developer to say the drainiage is substandard and why no retaining wall? (its over 10 years old)
or
the insurer
or
Spend money we dont have on an independent consultant engineeer or surveyor to find out if we definitely have a susidence or drainage problem? but then once we have it we may not be covered and have to repair ourselves or risk not being uninsurable / unsaleable in future.
please help.