Possible subsidence?

[puffylovett]

Hi all, wondering if anybody can help. Edwardian semi detached property, front door with a half height side light and window above, UPVC.
Some minor cracking above the front door and through the coving and ceiling internally.

About 6 years ago we discovered that the stone lintel above our front door had cracked clean through. Spoke to a structural engineer, said it was not uncommon where upvc doors had been put in place of original timber doors. Replaced stone lintel outside wall, replaced rotten timber lintel with a steel internally. Monitored.
Cracking has continued to get worse, there is a minor tiny crack to the bottom corner of the new stone lintel. Upstairs to the front internally is our bathroom - the bath is located just under the window above the door - cracking to the grout of the tiles gradually getting worse (as though it’s coming apart). Also some cracking above the bathroom door in the tile grout (I should add the whole bathroom was tiled in the early 2000s).
Called SE out again for 2nd full structural survey and he said he felt it was still due to historical movement and the house expanding and shrinking with the weather. Not concerned. Did point out some historical bowing to the fable end wall.
Husband spent a lot of time bolting all the upstairs floor hoist together and pinning through the fable end, first floor and loft. Dug trial holes under the front corner and bay window to discover that somebody had already pumped concrete under the front corner. No idea when, wasn’t disclosed on purchase of property.
Hubby is absolutely convinced the house is falling down.
My question is - even though the cracking is minute, it is very very gradually getting worse. Should we contact our insurance company? Husband is convinced it won’t be covered and worse - it will be logged as a claim against us.

Any advice welcome as it is causing massive stress to hubby - we love the house and want to extend it but it’s already been mucked aboit with a lot structurally (bay window lowered, doors bricked up, archways cut into middle walls causing some sinking which we have bricked up, partial rear wall removal, small rear upstairs extension).

Thanks if you read this far!!

See pics attached :)

And another. I wish we had ripped off the tiles before the SE came out. (And I know it’s not unusual that grout will deteriorate)

One more for good luck! Please excuse the filth 🙈

I’m not too sure where you are based but I had an insurance assessor put a few weeks ago for some damage to my kitchen.

We got chatting and I asked if she was busy and she told me she’s crazy busy with claims.

I was surprised as no major flooding or storms in the area recently and asked what the main cause of these claims were.

She said that they are all subsidence claims.

Me, assuming that this sounded catastrophic was shocked.

She explained that in the area (clay soil) the hot summer caused the ground to dry up and then where there are trees they have been sucking up any spare moisture in the ground causing the ground to shrink and crack.

She went on to say that they treat subsidence very differently nowadays and it’s not that scary.

Hopefully yours is all fine. But this is what insurers are for.

If in doubt you can always ask your insurer to send a surveyor to check and if it is subsidence then they will start the claim and if not they say they will close the claim.
(In my experience of worrying issues before)

As @babeboeuf says, the previous drought in 1976 caused no end of subsidence problems so I'm not surprised last year's also is causing issues.

Thank you ladies for your replies and especially bebebouef for your words of reassurance!
My feelings are we should contact the insurer, however my husband once watched a panorama program (or something) where it detailed how insurance companies all share information and that even an enquiry is logged as an insurance claim. Since then he is reluctant to even contemplate speaking to them (which is irritating because he insists we sit tight with the same company at £40pm!!!)

We are in Cheshire - in an area famous for its sand quarries! No trees close to us. But we are on a main road.

Thank you :)

I could almost have written your post OP. Very similar situation here. I sat on it for some years before deciding to contact the insurance company. I was terrified they wouldn't cover me, but in fact no-one has ever mentioned that possibility and investigations are ongoing. No mention of a hike in insurance costs (yet!) either. You are welcome to PM if you want more detail.

Thank you donaldtramp! I have no idea how to use PM on here, I’ve never got to grips with it.

I suppose I’m also concerned that somebody has already pumped concrete under the house and that they won’t cover us for that reason.

Right I’m going to bite the billet and call them. Thank you.

First of all, the cracks look minor. The concrete indicates previous repair work for subsidence. Usually this remedy works well. I don’t think I would be overly concerned.

However you can contact a Structural Engineer to check it out. Not a surveyor. They always defer to a Structural Engineer! However as the cracks have not been monitored, the previous SE wasn’t ckncetned. If the cracks are several mm, then there is concern but yours don’t appear to be large. Subsidence usually cracks the bricks, not just the mortar or grout. So get them checked. Claim off the insurance if necessary. The bathroom just looks like old grout.

We had a sink hole appear under the dining room window. Our house - Victorian - doesn't seem to have much in the way of foundations so we had what looked like a brick bridge across a hole deep enough for a man to stand in and not see out of the top. It was a bit scary but sorted out through insurance - we did have to pay an excess, but our premiums haven't gone up. Good luck!