Subsidence caused by tree that belongs to council

[foodiefil]

Hi all, wasn't sure if I should put this into legal matters actually.

We live in an Edwardian terraced street that is lined with established beautiful cherry blossom trees. The one on the path directly outside our house has cracked our path with its roots - we can no longer open the front door due to sticking - we plane it and 3 days later it's sticking again to the point where I can't open it at all.

And there are various cracks all on one side of the house.

My question is - is this the council's responsibility and if so what should they be doing? Environmental services are being v slow and the problem is worsening.

Our insurer is also being coy and keeps saying IF we are insured. Why we wouldn't be insured for subsidence I don't know.

Can anyone advise? TIA

Whereabouts do you live? You could also contact highways- but honestly I would find out who your local councillor is and start pestering them.

Councils have no money to deal with this any more, which means she who shouts loudest, gets dealt with quickest!

Depending on what sort of tree it is, you may find that it causes you problems with land heave once the tree is removed, especially if your house is on heavy clay. I'd try and fords them into getting a surveyor round ASAP.

I'd be cautious. We had some slight movement with a house on clay soil, during a very dry summer. We were next door to a council owned park, and their trees caused the problem. The insurance covered redecorating, but no further action was deemed required. When we sold the house, we had to say it had had subsidence because we had claimed. When actually it was a bit of ground movement caused by the trees and the weather. Not proper, redo the foundations, massive hassle subsidence. Our house lost loads in value. It was bought by a surveyor who knew exactly what he was doing. He got a bargain, and sold it for twice what he paid a few years later. (SW London). With hindsight, we shouldn't have worried and should have just redecorated at our own cost.

You will have to claim from your insurance. You should be covered.

However get a Structural Engineer to look at it. The Council won’t pay. The insurance company might try and get money from the council but it’s not your problem. A decent structural engineer will advocate for you if work needs to be done to underpin the house. They will also prepare a report for your insurer. The insurer won’t commit now because you don’t have a specialist report. Speak to Consulting Structural Engineers in your area to see if they do this work. Don’t go to the big companies. My DH used to do this sort of inspection and insurance companies try and wriggle out of paying so get a Structural Engineer who is prepared to advocate for you.

Hope that helps.

Your insurers may pursue the council but they should be your first call. If you are covered, it will be clear in the policy documents. Subsidence is sometimes something you have to specifically ask to be covered. It often has a higher excess than other sorts of cover.

It would be a very poor insurance policy that didn’t cover it. In this case, the op isn’t responsible for the damage so the insurance company could try and recover the costs.