Subsistence

[ovensoff]

Hi we have signs of subsistence so we got in a surveyor who said yes you do have and advised to start a claim.
I rang up to do this and the insurance company say it does not sound like subsidence, but to send photos in. Do I tell the insurance company about the report? And do I send it in if asked?

Send photos as requested, tell them you have had an independent survey by all means, but they will want to send their own surveyor who will try to establish the cause. They will most likely take soil samples and issue a report on that as well, which you should be able to see even though the report is for the insurers.

Okay so can I refuse to send them my report at this stage if they ask? I want to wait and see what they say. My surveyor does not say the cause but suggests investigations of drains.

Well if they ask you should probably send it - but my guess is they won't be interested in seeing your surveyor's report, only in getting one of their own. Send the photos they want at this stage. If they do want to see the report as well you'll have to send it, or they could in theory refuse to pursue the claim, presumably.

Honestly at this point you'd probably have to declare potential subsidence if you ever came to sell so it's best to get it properly investigated and the best way is to give your insurer as much info as you possibly can, including the report. Although I agree they will want to assess themselves.

Commiserations OP.
We're currently going through this.
It was our independent surveyor too who said we had subsidence and to involve our home insurance.
We've done this.
Lots of questions asked by phone - including when were signs first noticed, who was your previous insurer etc etc.
They then sent their "surveyor" who took photos and asked more questions.
He asked me to send him a copy of our independent surveyors report as "it would be helpful".
My thinking was, rightly or wrongly, we're all trying to sort this, therefore be as co-operative as I can.
I did feel a bit reluctant to hand it over as I didn't want to have anyone's judgement being influenced by the first report - I wanted a "fresh eye" to look at it and see what they thought.

But, I felt if I didn't share it with the insurers, it may look very dodgy indeed and as if I was trying to hide something from them - so I did share it.
Time will tell if that was a wise move, or not.
Good luck with your claim.
I'm finding the whole thing very stressful.

@Wingedharpy yes I was worried about sharing it as I wanted a fresh eye. I am stressed up to the eyeballs about this.

At the moment just inform the insurance company that you believe you have an issue with subsidence. Do not say you have had it privately investigated at the moment. You should not need to. just send in photos. See what they will propose to do. It’s what insurance is for. It is not a big deal either.

@PresentingPercy why should I not say? They asked over the phone if anyone had looked at it. I was caught on the hop and said no. But am worried about that now. That was on Friday.

It does feel like we've lit the blue touch paper, opened up the worm can and now what?!

But, as pp says, once subsidence signs are seen they can't be unseen and need to be sorted and declared, either when subsequently selling or when house insurance needs renewed, so it does make sense to involve insurers so that they have the full picture too - otherwise getting insurance in the future could be difficult.

Drains issues are the likely culprits in our subsidence too, so I fully empathise.

I have to say, I feel a bit happier now that the weather is warm and dry.
Watching the torrential rain in May, thinking it was washing away my house foundations, didn't help my feelings of stress.

I am terrified that our claim will be denied. We have in one room an uneven wooden floor that has not changed for the whole 20 years. But worried they will use it as a reason not to payout.

That’s ridiculous. If there is fresh movement it will be obvious. I assume it’s visible in terms of cracks. If you have a report you must know that the floor is or is not subsidence related.

All I’m saying is - you report your suspicions to your insurers. They will send out someone to look at it. With a bit of luck they will be qualified and know what to look for. They might monitor it. They might act quickly. You will have an excess on your policy.

If they decline the claim (you would need to look at the terms of your insurance policy for reasons it might be declined) you then bring in your own surveyor to argue your case. You don’t need to send anything to the insurance company right now. Just take photos of the cracks.

How old is the house? What is the soil? Where are the cracks and how big are they? If it’s obviously subsidence why would they argue and not pay? Floorboards being uneven can be for a number of reasons. What did your surveyor say about the floor? How is it connected to a claim?

These are my worries. Surveyor just said the floor was uneven. This has not happened and I might be worrying over nothing. I am really not up to dealing with all of this.

Honestly if you've not said it's been looked at then why would they ask to see your privately-commissioned report? You have my sympathies as it is a stressful situation, but the insurance company deals with this all the time. I've been told claims are up 400% following the dry summers of 2018/19. In some respects it's a side-effect of climate change. There's some good advice above, good luck.

Thanks. It is more asking whether I should tell them about it.

You won’t ever sell if you don’t tell your insurers and get it sorted. Don’t mention your private report. You don’t need to at this stage.,Your insurers will act on your claim and send a surveyor to look at it. Be aware that some of them are not very good so that’s when you argue your case - but it might not come to that. Insurers are dealing with claims all the time. Just fill in the forms and see what happens.

@PresentingPercy I have already made the claim. I know they need to know. But why should I not mention my private report?

My response was to the op who hasn’t contacted the insurer yet. I don’t think?!

My view is that your report is your report. It’s not the insurer’s report. Would you share your house survey with another party who asked for it? Does your contract with the surveyor say you can share it? Sometimes they will not permit sharing. Depends what you have agreed. The insurance company should evaluate it for themselves. It’s their issue once a claim is made. I would keep a private report private. However if they are going to pay up on the basis of your report, that’s great. Are they?

Hello, sorry for digging up an old thread but we've started a claim with our insurers for same issue (also have an independent report) and wondered what happened with both of your subsidence? And the insurers?!