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If you have a risk of subsidence you will need specialised insurance

What to do in the event that your property has a history of structural movement

Ensuring your property is insured against the risk of subsidence or other forms of structural movement is absolutely crucial. Suffering through an episode of subsidence can be an absolute nightmare. It is one of the most expensive types of claim you can make (both for you and your insurer) and around 37,000 new claims are made on average every year. Because of the high costs involved, most insurers prefer not to quote for people who wish to insure their buildings in areas that are perceived to have a high risk of subsidence, even more insurers will decline to offer a policy for properties with previous subsidence damage

Subsidence is the downward movement of a property caused by a loss of support beneath its foundations. This could be the result of a reduction in the volume of subsoil, often resulting from an external factor. The three primary causes of subsidence are the extraction of water from high plasticity soils (by vegetation or climate), leaking drains washing subsoil away and mining excavations collapsing.  To investigate a possible case of subsidence you might consider hiring the services of a Structural Engineer to carry out a Structural Inspection.

Whatever the reason for the movement, home insurance is needed to make sure you are covered should you require to investigate and repair any problems.

homeprotect is a specialist provider of insurance which caters for residential property with a history of subsidence.  We listen to your case in full, and assess every subsidence case on its individual merits. When we give you a quote, you can be confident that it will be based on the risk your home faces today and not the risk faced while subsidence was still an on-going problem.

With homeprotect you can also obtain quotes if your property matches any of the following circumstances:
•    Period property
•    Non-standard construction
•    History of flooding or close proximity to water

For more information visit www.homeprotect.co.uk

Article written by Gerry McNally

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