What ho one and all,

Not construction but a building insurance question.

We lived in and still own a first floor maisonette; have had it around 20 years. Around five years after purchase and while living there, we had to make a subsidence claim. Crack in the external wall and the entry porch was literally hanging from the wall. Could get your fingers under the DPC.

The cause was the neighbouring leylandii which the insurance company 'encouraged' the neighbours to remove. The cracks were monitored for 18 months, repaired and the porch replaced with a 1m deep, solid concrete foundation.

In the intervening years, there has been no sign whatsoever of the cracks reappearing, so safe to assume, it is fixed.

However, when it comes to insurance renewal, having to check 'have you every had subsidence' box, and it is not possible to get a quote. Result is that I am left with whatever premium the original claim company want to quote.

Is there any way around getting renewal quotes without lying by saying that there has never been a subsidence claim? How long does a repair have to be known to be successful before it is considered 100% fixed?

Thanks and toodle pip

Actually speak with someone at an insurance company? Answers to all your questions can be found on-line!

And they are very busy so I may be in the queue longer than expected.

No, I have not but that is a reasonable idea. I have all the paperwork from the original claim, it is jsut a problem getting past the on-line question.

Rex - I would write a letter to the insurance company, in length of time it may be longer but in terms of your temper and frustration much less. And in any event if you do get through the telephone robots then anything you are told by a real human will have no value unless it is in writing anyway.

Gentlemen,

Many thanks, I will make some phone enquiries and perhaps visit a local broker.

As it happens, the premium this year is more of less, in line with inflation so not a major concern, just that I would like to see what the other companies quote.

When you eventually sell the place, you'll have to declare the historic subsidence, so it could be worth assembling a pack of any documents such as any survey documents saying it's fixed, or any guarantees on the remedial work? Or even get a survey done yourself. We did that with historic woodworm it our last place and it helped the sale go through.

As well as convincing the buyer's mortgage company, they might also help with your insurance co.

Insurance brand-names often seem to be just shop fronts which all have the same few insurers sitting behind them, sharing databases etc. So if you don't tell the new company, they might find out anyway from the databases.

What do the owners of the ground-floor flat do?