What does good subsidence insurance look like?
Find out how to practise good subsidence insurance
A comprehensive landlord insurance policy such as Total Landlord policy, will cover all of the costs to repair the building.
For example, in one case, a policyholder was awarded a total of £37,000 for repairs to the porch and main building for damage caused by subsidence. In this case, because the property was unsafe, the tenants had to move out. Fortunately, under their Premier policy, the policy holder was also covered for loss of rent.
The claims team at Total Landlord point out that structural cracks can also occur as a result of movement to the property for reasons that are not classified as subsidence, for example, lateral or thermal movement, general settlement, roof spread of a property and lintel failure. These are not considered under subsidence on an insurance policy.
Subsidence claims are complex matters which can take years to resolve. With most insurance claims, the process is straightforward - damage has occurred, you fix the issue and arrange for remedial works or replacement items. With subsidence issues, claims are a lot more involved. Here, Emma Bracchi, Senior Claims Technician at Total Landlord, explains the process of a subsidence insurance claim.
To start the claim process, insurers like to see a report from a builder or a surveyor confirming, in their professional opinion, what the cause of the cracking is from. We need to establish if the property is in a high subsidence area, and also the age of the building and if any refurbishment works have been recently carried out.
All buildings have natural movement, and when a property is newly built, the property needs to ‘bed’ in.
This is why new builds often have a review period by constructors at the 12 and 24 month period - this is to allow the property to bed in.
Once a report is received confirming the property is suffering from movement, a specialised adjuster is appointed, and a series of tests are done at the property. This is usually done with bore holes around the property to see what type of soil the ground is made up from. As we’ve mentioned already, there are many factors that could cause subsidence, for example:
Shrinking of the ground below (clay soil)
An issue with underground services which cause the ground to move away
Large tree roots may be the issue
Once the cause is established, the adjuster will approve for the cause of the issue to be rectified and then the contentious monitoring remedial works to the property are carried out. If there are extremely large cracks, an interim repair can be made for cosmetic and safety purposes, but the final repair will only be done once the monitoring process is complete.
The reasoning behind this is that the insurers/adjuster need to make sure the property is stable, so by carrying out an inspection after each yearly season, they can monitor whether the property is now stable. Tests need to be carried out after wet and dry seasons to make sure the ground is stable.
If you need to make a claim for subsidence, you should:
Take photos of all the damage
Report the damage to your insurer - if you are a Total Landlord customer you can call 0345 310 6370 - who may appoint a loss adjuster or structural engineer to assess the damages
Make sure the property is made safe. Depending on the severity of the damage, it may be necessary to prevent access to the public
If you’re concerned about subsidence affecting your rental property, our team can help. A comprehensive policy such as Total Landlord's Essential and Premier policies will cover the costs to repair damage caused by subsidence.
Download our infographic on buying, selling and letting a property with a history of subsidence.