Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will
give subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being performed.

So how do developers cope who buy a property that needs considerable
work including some underpinning and then sell on when finished if their
purchaser cannot get subsidence insurance and hence probably a mortgage?
I cannot see any building society being prepared to lend on a property
that is not insured if it starts to fall down.

There must have been several episodes of Property Ladder that require
underpinning but sadly this is the sort of issue that they don't address.

Andrew

On Jul 23, 11:48*am, Andrew May wrote:
Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will
give subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being performed.

So how do developers cope who buy a property that needs considerable
work including some underpinning and then sell on when finished if their
purchaser cannot get subsidence insurance and hence probably a mortgage?
I cannot see any building society being prepared to lend on a property
that is not insured if it starts to fall down.

There must have been several episodes of Property Ladder that require
underpinning but sadly this is the sort of issue that they don't address.

Andrew

IIRC there is a requirement for the existing insurer to continue to
offer cover. Needless to say it won't be cheap.


NT

Andrew May wrote:
Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will
give subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being performed.

So how do developers cope who buy a property that needs considerable
work including some underpinning and then sell on when finished if their
purchaser cannot get subsidence insurance and hence probably a mortgage?
I cannot see any building society being prepared to lend on a property
that is not insured if it starts to fall down.

There must have been several episodes of Property Ladder that require
underpinning but sadly this is the sort of issue that they don't address.

AIUI typically the underpinning company will provide a guarantee so you
will have some kind of certificate which you can provide to the mortgage
company. This was certainly the situation in the house that I lived in
which had been underpinned (it had been built on a slope which was cut
away and the ground had started moving under the house).

For instance - see he
http://www.roger-bullivant.co.uk/pro...erpinning.html

"We carry out work for all the major insurances companies; we also
carry out domestic and commercial underpinning for example barn
conversions and retro-fit basements. All our underpinning works carry a
12 year insurance backed guarantee."

Andrew May wrote:
Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will
give subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being
performed.
So how do developers cope who buy a property that needs considerable
work including some underpinning and then sell on when finished if
their purchaser cannot get subsidence insurance and hence probably a
mortgage? I cannot see any building society being prepared to lend on
a property that is not insured if it starts to fall down.

There must have been several episodes of Property Ladder that require
underpinning but sadly this is the sort of issue that they don't
address.
Andrew

Try one of these

http://www.asuc.org.uk/pdf_word/InsuranceList.pdf

Most of the names given appear to have a website you could initially take a
look at

hth

NT wrote:


IIRC there is a requirement for the existing insurer to continue to
offer cover. Needless to say it won't be cheap.

I think that in this case the previous owner probably didn't have insurance.

NT wrote:
On Jul 23, 11:48 am, Andrew May wrote:
Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will
give subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being performed.

So how do developers cope who buy a property that needs considerable
work including some underpinning and then sell on when finished if their
purchaser cannot get subsidence insurance and hence probably a mortgage?
I cannot see any building society being prepared to lend on a property
that is not insured if it starts to fall down.

There must have been several episodes of Property Ladder that require
underpinning but sadly this is the sort of issue that they don't address.


IIRC there is a requirement for the existing insurer to continue to
offer cover. Needless to say it won't be cheap.

I looked into buying a recently-underpinned property about three years
ago: only a small amount had been done and it had been carried out
properly with all the required certification and guarantees. My first
port of call for insurance was the exisiting insurer. They advised me
that no, they would not be willing to take me on as a new customer to
continue the insurance.

Whether or not they should have been legally obliged to do so is a moot
point, but that experience, plus the fact that I was unable to find any
other company willing to insure the property at anything other than
astronomical 'eff-off' prices, was enough to make me withdraw from the
purchase despite substantial expenditure on loan fees, surveys etc, on
the basis that any future purchaser would be likely to suffer the same
problems.

David

"Andrew May" wrote in message
...
Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will give
subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being performed.

So how do developers cope who buy a property that needs considerable work
including some underpinning and then sell on when finished if their
purchaser cannot get subsidence insurance and hence probably a mortgage? I
cannot see any building society being prepared to lend on a property that
is not insured if it starts to fall down.

There must have been several episodes of Property Ladder that require
underpinning but sadly this is the sort of issue that they don't address.

Andrew

Hiscox provided insurance on my mums house after she had some subsidance
related work done. so thay me be able to help.

....wen't cheap though...

Lobster wrote:

IIRC there is a requirement for the existing insurer to continue to
offer cover. Needless to say it won't be cheap.

I looked into buying a recently-underpinned property about three years
ago: only a small amount had been done and it had been carried out
properly with all the required certification and guarantees. My first
port of call for insurance was the exisiting insurer. They advised me
that no, they would not be willing to take me on as a new customer to
continue the insurance.

Whether or not they should have been legally obliged to do so is a moot
point, but that experience, plus the fact that I was unable to find any
other company willing to insure the property at anything other than
astronomical 'eff-off' prices, was enough to make me withdraw from the
purchase despite substantial expenditure on loan fees, surveys etc, on
the basis that any future purchaser would be likely to suffer the same
problems.


That's my worry. That any future purchaser is going to run a mile when
they find out that getting insurance is not going to be as easy as
giving Direct Line a call.

But yet this must the situation for thousands of houses around the country.

Andrew

On 23 July, 11:48, Andrew May wrote:
Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will
give subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being performed.

I have some minor sheddage that _might_ need underpinning, on account
of poor foundations when built, rather than any land movement.
Certainly no risk of affecting the house. This is so minor that I'd
do the work myself (but will probably ignore it anyway).

I've been advised that if I did have the work done professionally, it
would then make the main house uninsurable, as you describe! There
was a serious suggestion that demolition and rebuilding would be
preferred, just because of this!! Crazy.


I suggest that what happens in practice is often a combination of
being uninsured and lying to insurers.

Jim wrote:
Andrew May wrote:
Just been told by my insurance broker that no insurance company will
give subsidence cover within five years of underpinning being performed.

So how do developers cope who buy a property that needs considerable
work including some underpinning and then sell on when finished if their
purchaser cannot get subsidence insurance and hence probably a mortgage?
I cannot see any building society being prepared to lend on a property
that is not insured if it starts to fall down.

There must have been several episodes of Property Ladder that require
underpinning but sadly this is the sort of issue that they don't address.

AIUI typically the underpinning company will provide a guarantee so you
will have some kind of certificate which you can provide to the mortgage
company. This was certainly the situation in the house that I lived in
which had been underpinned (it had been built on a slope which was cut
away and the ground had started moving under the house).

For instance - see he
http://www.roger-bullivant.co.uk/pro...erpinning.html

"We carry out work for all the major insurances companies; we also
carry out domestic and commercial underpinning for example barn
conversions and retro-fit basements. All our underpinning works carry a
12 year insurance backed guarantee."

Actually, thinking about it I am beginning to suspect that it is not the
work that has been done that the insurance companies are paranoid about
because that is guaranteed. Rather it is the fact that the work has
needed to be done and therefore in their eyes there is a greater chance
of them being liable for anything else that needs underpinning.

Andrew

On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:25:58 +0100 Andrew May wrote :
Actually, thinking about it I am beginning to suspect that it is not
the work that has been done that the insurance companies are paranoid
about because that is guaranteed. Rather it is the fact that the work
has needed to be done and therefore in their eyes there is a greater
chance of them being liable for anything else that needs underpinning.

It's 25+ years since I had anything to do with this but IIRC the
guarantees merely guarantee that the underpinned wall(s) will not move.
More often than not only part of a house would be underpinned, so any
movement to the rest is not covered.

--
Tony Bryer, 'Software to build on' from Greentram
www.superbeam.co.uk www.superbeam.com www.greentram.com