Ceiling falling down insurance

[AmyJahabee]

Hi All

just bought a house. Sign completion January 2025. Currently having removing wall papers and just seen big cracks on ceiling and it definitely fall down soon.

what can I do
insurance claim?
go back to the seller?

Did you have a survey done?
I think you just suck it up, you can't claim on insurance unless your ceiling actually falls down and then they'd want to know why. If it doesn't come under 'accidental' I doubt they'd pay for it since it's just wear and tear and the age of the house.

You have no comeback with the seller, it's sold as seen, or with a survey. If they wallpapered over the ceiling, they definitely knew about it though, and were just hiding the cracks.

House is sold as seen unfortunately. Unlikely insurance will touch it as it’s probably a maintenance/wear and tear issue.

Is it just cracks? Bowing? There’s no way the wallpaper was holding it up and unless it’s wet it might just be old. If the wallpaper was disguising it it can’t be too bad? We have a very old house. We often need to polyfil cracks in the ceiling when redecorating.

Nothing you can do at this stage really, you should have had surveys done which would highlight any big issues, and you have no come back on the seller now either. Sold as seen.

As others have said, it’s your responsibility now. Replacing a ceiling is not a huge job, although messy. It depends on whether it’s lath and plaster ( old house pre 1950s) or more modern plasterboard.
I’d get a plasterers advice.

what can I do? Get a structural engineer to check? It probably won't fall down. A plasterer could probably advise.
insurance claim? If it falls own, you probably could
go back to the seller? They have no obligation to do anything

How big are the cracks? Are they long hairline ones, or are they wide?