Have been with our current insurer since moving into the property, but the insurance quote this year has gone up a lot so we are finally looking at moving insurer. Part of the reason for not moving before is that I get very very edgy about stuff like this so its just been easier to stay with the same insurer for the purpose of reducing my anxiety/overthinking.
Anyway, the house is old and wonky. There are some cracks in the plaster which, to a layperson, look a bit concerning but the surveyor at the time of the purchase was not worried so we didn't worry. A couple of years ago, for reasons unknown to me, I started to feel a bit concerned about them again so got a structural engineer friend to take a look. They put some little gauges on which have been in place for over two years and shown virtually no movement. They also aren't concerned, though we're yet to actually get them to write that in a formal note.
So for the purpose of insurance quotes, I can honestly say that I am not aware of any subsidence at our property. Although there are some cracks, two professionals have looked at these and do not believe it to be anything sinister. My understanding is that cracks and subsidence are not the same thing.
But then the part where my overthinking/anxiety kicks in! I know that many of the houses on the terrace street are also wonky and people have had cracks in their walls too. Its a terrace and on one side I think they did have a structural engineer take a look (not sure of the route that this came about). They asked me a couple of questions at the time but nothing really came of it so assume that surveyor also didn't find an issue. On the other side, my neighbour made a flippant comment once about sloping floors and said his house was subsiding. I was obviously a bit worried when he said this, and asked if his insurance company was involved or anything like that because subsidence is a very specific issue; from his response I don't think there is anything formal going on, he hasn't spoken to his insurer and isn't qualified to judge it for himself. Again, my understanding is that cracks/sloping floors are not the same as subsidence.
Now for the purpose of quotes, some insurers just ask about our property - fine. But some also ask about neighbouring properties or the surrounding area, and this is what gets me and really causes my anxiety to spike. I've heard this neighbourhood hearsay and it worries me that this puts my response onto the insurance quotes into a grey area if they ask about anything other than our property specifically.
Now, i've got a decent quote from one insurer who is very clear in their question and it only relates to our property. I could just go with them. But the fact that other insurers sort of ask these broader questions is making me feel like I'm trying to hide something - and I'm not! So my mind spirals a bit and just pushes me towards our existing insurer and paying their hefty fee increase just so that I don't have to think about this.
I've made this mistake before where I've got myself tied up in knots and end up shooting myself in the foot. So wondering if anyone can, hopefully, offer reassurance. Surely an unqualified neighbour making some offhand remark about their floors doesn't mean I have to rule myself out from half the insurance market!