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What is the Connection Between Subsidence, Slippage and Home Insurance?

The words subsidence and slippage instil panic into even the least temperamental of home owners. To them, subsidence and slippage mean hassle, disruption and expense. To make things worse, the subsidence is not the biggest headache, it’s trying to insure a home with a history of being affected by subsidence and slippage.

What’s worse is that those people who want to find out advice and information about subsidence will see that it is very difficult. You won’t get much help from the government and any other guidance will cost you, unless you have a surveyor in the family who is prepared to help.            It’s almost amazing how difficult it is to find information about subsidence since in the mid-1970s there were only £5m of subsidence claims, and these days it’s more like £350m, because more and more properties are being built on land that is prone to slippage.

As soon as you see signs of subsidence (cracks in the wall, floors and ceilings) you should get a surveyor in and contact your insurance company. You may find that you’ll need work on your home’s foundations. You need to understand that once a property has a history of subsidence, you will forever have insurance problems.

Once remedial work has been completed and approved, you should find it easier to get insurance. At least, this is what is claimed by the insurance companies. However, this is not actually the case in reality. Only a few insurers, and they are likely to be specialists, will get involved in covering ‘previously underpinned properties’. If you are an existing home owner, and you make a subsidence claim, you will very likely get cover as long as your remedial work is done. You may have to pay a higher premium though. But the biggest problem is that once a house is sold and the new owner tries to obtain buildings and contents insurance, they will find it almost impossible.

So, what can you do? Firstly, there is a Subsidence Claims Advisory Bureau (01424 733727). They run their own scheme to obtain household insurance for properties with a past history of subsidence, movement, underpinning etc, where all recommended works to correct the problem have been undertaken. This is called PUPS - Previously Underpinned Properties. The scheme relies upon the applicant completing a questionnaire, forwarding all documentation concerning the cause of the problem - works carried out to correct it and any certification issued. Upon receipt of the application, they arrange their own visual inspection of the property and provide their specialist underwriters with a presentation report. The underwriters then assess the risk with a view to offering the final terms, conditions and quotation.

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