Victorian Terrace New Bay Insurance

[ecap]

Hi

I'm hoping someone out there would like to help with some concerns we have with getting insurance on a house.

Me and my partner are first time buyers and have had an offer accepted on a Victorian mid terrace property. We are really happy with it but are concerned about the new bay window that the current owner has put in.

We are being told that the property has not suffered subsidence and we think, from looking at the building certificates that "new" foundations have been put in. This is obviously good news, no subsidence joy. We are still waiting to get a clear answer to why a new bay was put in but in the mean time we have been looking for insurance. So, my question is.

Does the installation of new foundations and a new bay window need to be included in an insurance application? Does this class as underpinning?

I will contact a broker in the next few days but know you guys are pretty knowledgeable on this stuff so thought I'd ask here first.

Thanks.

Do they have a Fensa or Certass certificate for the new bay window? Have you had a look on Google Earth and Streetview to see if the old window in visible? Underpinning usually means point concrete around the existing structure so I wouldn't think this was the same. You can ask directly has any part of the property been underpinned.

Thanks

We have asked but so far the estate agent/vendor haven't been that forthcoming, we are letting the solicitor get on with the searches and have asked them to specifically get hold of any certificates. The planning applications are all online and it all seems above board to me.

I'm confident that everything is fine just wondered if this would affect insurance?

Oh and on GEarth the work is being carried out so half the window has been installed unfortunately.

We are about to buy a Victorian house and the bay window has no foundations, which is apparently standard for the time. It is now coming away from the rest of the house and needs to be underpinned. I suspect that's what happened to your house. Helpfully though, our surveyor described it as settlement not subsidence in the survey and it hasn't caused any issues with the purchase (we're getting it fixed asap!). If yours has been repaired it's unlikely to be a problem as long as the work was all correctly certified and signed off by building control.

Thanks harrietm87

That makes me feel a lot better. I'm sure this is the case.

It's causing a bit of hassle, our solicitor has gone ahead and told the mortgage company it is underpinned before we have had any documentation. The lender is redoing their valuation now!