Home subsidence yes or no

[salaried]

getting very annoyed now,all houses on our block have been underpinned and covered by their respective insurance companies,with the exception of two,ours and next door,next door,s house is being done as we speak,is it possible in a situation when two houses (semi detached) whereby one house has subsidence and the other one does not,surely it is one building ,any help is appreciated,thank you.

 

[missdaisy]

2 semi detached houses next to each other would not be considered one house. Each house owner's insurance compnay decide, based on the policy, whether subsidence is covered. It's more likely to be excluded if there's a newer policy of insurance in place.

 

[Claimsman]

getting very annoyed now,all houses on our block have been underpinned and covered by their respective insurance companies,with the exception of two,ours and next door,next door,s house is being done as we speak,is it possible in a situation when two houses (semi detached) whereby one house has subsidence and the other one does not,surely it is one building ,any help is appreciated,thank you.

1/ Have you made a claim?
2/Is there damage to your property?
3/Have you adequately demonstrated to Insurers that this damage is due to subsidence without the application of policy exclusion? ( foundations exposed, load bearing tests carried out on subsoil etc)
4/If you have made a claim, has this been declined or has liability been accepted?
5/ If declined, has a reason in writing been given?
6/Have you appointed an Engineer to advise you?
7/How long have you been on cover with your current insurer?
8/ Does the damage predate the inception of the current policy?
9/How old is your property?
10/Did you have a pre purchase full survey carried out( not a bank/building society survey)?

The condition of other properties around yours has no bearing on whether you have a valid claim or not. You must demonstrate your loss to insurers and this will be treated on its merits. Just because other houses have been subject to subsidence, doesnt mean that you house has got the same problem. It may have, but you must prove your case. Please enlighten me and I will endeavour to be of assistance.

 

[salaried]

hello claimsman, 1.yes we have made a claim 2, yes we have damage to our property 3.the insurance company has seen our engineers report,including sub soil and drainage tests 4.it was declined 5.not sufficient structural damage 6.yes,our engineers report to the insurance company stated remedial work required due to water escape 7.our policy is over nine years old 8.the company carrying out all of the work in our estate have been very visible in the last three years or so ,so i don,t think the damage predates policy 9. i am guessing age of property but would say between 30 -35 years old 10.we did have a pre purchase survey done but it was done by an engineer appointed by the bank and it was not a full survey,just the basics.,i completely understand that every property is different ,but am i wrong in saying that when our house and our next door neighbours house(semi detached) were being built they were built as one unit,we live on either side of a wall,lets say if we purchased the house next door and knocked down a few walls to make it into a larger house for our children, is it possible to be told you have subsidence on one side of your house but not the other,sounds like sour grapes i know but when when your house is smack in the middle of 12 houses and your the only one turned down its frustrating,sorry for going on and thanks for your help claimsman,regards salaried.

 

[salaried]

missdaisy,thanks for your reply,the cracks in my neighbours house are almost identical to ours ,something i omitted when posting to claimsman ,particulary in the garages ,we are both covered for subsidence just with different insurance companies,maybe i am wrong in thinking both houses were origanally built as one unit but as seperate dwellings,but when five houses to your left were underpinned because of subsidence and the remaining six to your right underpinned also and you are in the middle and told you do not have subsidence then you start to worry,it is not like our houses are far apart,they are more or less on top of each other,i really appreciate the replies that i recieve on this forum,thank you all.

 

[Claimsman]

hello claimsman, 1.yes we have made a claim 2, yes we have damage to our property 3.the insurance company has seen our engineers report,including sub soil and drainage tests 4.it was declined 5.not sufficient structural damage 6.yes,our engineers report to the insurance company stated remedial work required due to water escape 7.our policy is over nine years old 8.the company carrying out all of the work in our estate have been very visible in the last three years or so ,so i don,t think the damage predates policy 9. i am guessing age of property but would say between 30 -35 years old 10.we did have a pre purchase survey done but it was done by an engineer appointed by the bank and it was not a full survey,just the basics.,i completely understand that every property is different ,but am i wrong in saying that when our house and our next door neighbours house(semi detached) were being built they were built as one unit,we live on either side of a wall,lets say if we purchased the house next door and knocked down a few walls to make it into a larger house for our children, is it possible to be told you have subsidence on one side of your house but not the other,sounds like sour grapes i know but when when your house is smack in the middle of 12 houses and your the only one turned down its frustrating,sorry for going on and thanks for your help claimsman,regards salaried.

Subsidence is a very much overused term and it is also very much not understood by most. In simplistic terms,in an insurance sense, subsidence occurs when there is a downward movement of the site, followed by a downward movement of the building. This can occur for many reasons and typically, can be caused by shrinkage of the soil which results in a removal of the load bearing soil beneath your building. This type of subsidence is not common in Ireland due to our soil types. It is common in the UK. The most common type of subsidence in Ireland results from leaking drains. The water washes away the tiny fines from the soil resulting in downward movement of the site, which is typically referred to as softening of the load bearing strata. As a consequence, the soil no longer can support the building and there is uneven movement of the building which results in structural cracking.

What is important to remember is that it is not subsidence that is covered by your policy, but Damage resulting from subsidence. In my view, damage is not a subjective thing. Your building is either damaged due to subsidence or it is not. When dealing with insurance claims, what must be established is that there is a direct correalation between the operation of the insured peril, escape of water/subsidence and the damage to your property. The most common remedy to deal with subsidence is to underpin the existing foundations. What this means is that the foundations are exended downward in order that the property is supported by a suitable load bearing strata, which has not been affected by the escape of water.

Quite simply, if there has been an escape of water which has undermined the foundations to your property and this has resulted in cracks to your property, then, the cost of repairing these cracks should be covered by your policy. Of course, you must demonstrate that these cracks are as a direct result of the escape of water from the drains and not due to any other uninsured factor. In addition, if the site has subsided, underpinning maybe required.

You will appreciate that without full details of your case, i cannot be definitive on the merits of how insurers have dealt with this. If you wish to disclose further details of your claim, feel free to pm me.

 

[salaried]

thanks for clarifying so much for me thus far claimsman,our engineer along with the insurance companies assessor and their engineer are paying us a visit in the near future,i will pm you with the outcome ,the time you put in, and the professionalism in your replies is beyond anything i expected,thank you so much,regards salaried.

 

[Claimsman]

thanks for clarifying so much for me thus far claimsman,our engineer along with the insurance companies assessor and their engineer are paying us a visit in the near future,i will pm you with the outcome ,the time you put in, and the professionalism in your replies is beyond anything i expected,thank you so much,regards salaried.

You are very welcome.