Selling house with subsidence

[Placestogo]

We bought a house 3 years ago. After one year we had subsidence. Because we changed home insurance when we bought it, the insurance said we knew there was subsidence amd we lied and they cancelled the policy. (We didnt lie, we even had a structural engineer report done amd they acsertain there want subsidence). Any way. We didnt lie some underpinning.
i am thinking of leaving DP but i am worried the house is now worth nothing because of that cancelled policy and subsidence. Also what kind of paperwork do we need to prove the underpinning was sufficient to remediate the problem (we were doing the loft and our builders just digged a hole under the house and filled it with concrete, nothing more elaborate than this). Many thanks

@Placestogo
in this current market you are screwed
sorry ti say
you need full structural report that costs thousands
and all the receipts and warranty

then huge discount

so many places for sale why would someone take the risk

ps I had to drop my house 25% to sell at the moment. And it’s perfect.

brexit ruined the economy then all the elections and interest rate and budget stuff has stopped the market

so sorry better news

You need a full structural report from engineer. Then act on any advice they give. They might say it needs something done. If so get it done. Honestly you would be best to wait 2 years to ensure you can say issue is in the past. You'd sell for a loss even then. If you sell now you'd lose a big chunk.

Yes yes I know i am screwed because of the house and because of this insurance malarkey and because of DP!! The house wasnt so much an issue as my plan was to live here until i die…. But now….
@caringcarerwhy are you saying to wait for two years? Is it because the market is rubbish?
I’ll get a full struct eng report… again…

No, so you can say there have been no further issues for over 2 years. Some mortgage companies won't lend on a house that has subsidence but if it is historical and fixed as shown by engineer report might possibly.

I am always confused about the advice on subsidence.

On my recent TA6 there was nowhere to declare subsidence, only somewhere to state if there were any warranties for underpinning. For this you would tick no. I wasn't asked about subsidence either by my buyer's solicitors. It was irrelevant to my sale anyway, but maybe the onus is on their surveyor to uncover it?

The house I bought has subsidence, I could see it with my own eyes on viewing. It was not mentioned on the TA6 either. Because there is nowhere to declare it.

On the TA6 there is somewhere to state that insurance has previously been refused. If you were to be totally honest with future buyers, here you would tick yes, and that would lead to further questions around why.

So in summary: I recently (2025) bought a house with minor subsidence and it didn't bother me in the slightest. I was not asked about subsidence at all on my sale. I did not ask my seller about their subsidence, just got my surveyor to look at it and reassure me it wasn't terrible.

Ps - OP, thinking about it, if you have evidence that there wasn't subsidence when you bought, make a complaint to the insurer that cancelled your policy to have the cancellation rescinded. If they refuse, take it to the ombudsman. Get that 'mark' removed from your file effectively.

Your bigger issue is you’ve screwed yourself over with a cancelled insurance policy!

People will and do buy houses with previous subsidence (I’m buying one) but the issue for lenders is insurance. Your buyers will want proof of ability to insure so you’re going to have to do all you can to obtain insurance. And not lie about anything. If you think the original decision was wrong you have to challenge it.

Did you or did you not disclose subsidence to your new insurer?

I’m pretty sure you’re meant to disclose it whether it’s on the form or not. If subsidence has been fixed how are people meant to know?

Pretty sure why? There seems to be nowhere in the current process to disclose it (if you have no underpinning warranties), unless explicitly asked.

There's loads of info online saying you must disclose this, that and the other (asbestos is another one). But no formal way during the process.

Maybe a conveyancer is reading and can advise. I would be interested to know!

Did you make an insurance claim?

You’re also meant to disclose all material information.

Sorry @smilingfanatici realise yours didn’t have subsidence rather you didn’t ask.

@smilingfanatic yes i wanted to make a claim and contact ombusdman but a busy life got the better of me
@kirinm i did not lie!! We had a survey done highlight some movements and recommending a struct eng report - which we did and they said no subsidence. So when i contracted the insurance i ticked “no subsidence”.
when i made a claim they wanted the buyers survey so i sent it to them. They pointed to the movement comment and said i lied when i took the insurance as i should have said this was subsidence. I said no i did not lie and the proof is in the structural report. They agreed that i tivked the box in good faith but then they found something to complain about which felt very unfair too and teally pissed me off again. We were doing the loft and we just got cracking and the builder digged a massive hole and poured concrete in it. So yeah, not the most thought through decision… a bit like choosing DP as a life partner! 🤬😭
I will contact the ombudsman- and a struct eng…

The ombudsman has made some interesting decisions recently - for example making AXA reinstate subs cover for a period of 3 years after subs repairs completed. The ABI also require insurers not to remove subs cover straight after a claim. If your insurer has accepted that you completed the proposal fairly then you should be able to claim (even if so bs cover is now withdrawn). You have 6 years to claim if damage occurs during a valid period of insurance.

i am sure I can help you. I am a structural engineer and former subs loss adjuster, and I have written blogs about these matters on my website.

Also, since CIDRA in 2012 you no longer have to agonise about whether a fact is “material” or not. You just have to answer insurers questions honestly as best you can. They can’t then criticise you.