Legal advice sought....

[Savvy]

Hi there,

We have a property with significant subsidence. It's been measured for years, trees have been chopped down. All to no avail. It looks like we are going to have to take drastic action - not sure what that's going to be, underpinning at the very least. Possibly rebuilding the outside wall.
Anyway, a meeting has been called by our insurers and they are saying that they will only pay for damage which has happened during the time we have been insured by them (??). So if this subsidence has been going on for 20 years and they've only been our insurers for 3 years we will be footing one big bill !! My dh seems to think that the present insureres have to chase the previous insurers to help with the costs. I must say having spoken to the young man from the insurers and his Cocky-Self Assured 'hey, I'm not going to lie to you' attitude I'm pretty sure they're gonna try to pull the wool over our eyes.
Has anyone had any experience of insurers in a situatiion like this ?

Many thanks,

[Rachael]

We have lived in two houses with subsidence and in both cases the insurers when the subsidence was first noted were legally required to go on offering insurance for the house, as other insurers won't take it on. So I'm surprised that the current insurers have only been covering the property for three years. Were they informed about the ongoing investigations when they took it on? I think that might be the crux of the issue.

[Savvy]

Thanks, I'm not sure how long we've been with them because its leashold and the management company insure on our behalf. The way the young man was talking he was setting us up for dissapointment. The meeting will be sometime towards the end of the month and I'm trying to get some information to be forearmed.

[Rachael]

It sounds complicated, and you may want to get some specialist advice - maybe try the CAB, or the insurance ombidsman.

The insurance industry has a code of conduct for dealing with subsidence. I think you should talk to the management agency, find out if there has been a change of insurer and of so, who insured the building in the past. Go back to your current insurers with the information and tell them to sort it out between them. There is a chance your current insurers are trying to pull a fast one as it is probably easier to get the money out of you than another insurance company. In my first subsiding home, the cost was split three ways between my insurance, the previous owner's insurance, and the incompetent surveyor who failed to spot the obvious when we bought the house.

At the end of the day, you may still have to pay, but I wouldn't give in yet, not by a long way. Good luck.

[Savvy]

Thanks, this is good advice. We are going on holiday next week and won't worry about it till we come back. I will keep you informed though as what happens may be poignant to someone else. Subsidence is common in this area.

[lbere]

Hi Savvy,

What your insurance company is saying is correct. They will share the cost of the repairs with all the other insurers that have covered the property. Its standard practice in this type of claim.

[Savvy]

That's good news. I thought the previous insurers were out of the picture, hopefully not.

[KM]

Savvy
My company has a deal with an Employee Assistance Programme - basically you call them up and ask a question and they have one of they specialists call you back with advice ie if you call them, you will end up talking to some sort of legal person etc or buildings specialist.
PM me for the number.
Kate