Subsidence

You only have to mention the word ‘subsidence’ to a homeowner or property owner to send them into deep despair and depression

Subsidence to your home can be a deeply depressing thought. It often brings to mind, huge gaping cracks in your wall, structural instability, underpinning, noise, mess, and years of misery in a home that you won’t be able to sell for the full market value if at all.

This may be true in whole or in part, but more often than not, subsidence is not as overwhelming as this. Nonetheless, when you first start to notice cracks to walls in your home that you hadn’t seen before, a sense of panic and paranoia may set in all too easily.

If you are insured for subsidence, you should of course feel some degree of comfort, but we suggest you call us first to have a chat or arrange for a meeting so we can guide you through what is often a long and seeming very slow process.

It may be that the cracks are not subsidence, at all, but rather some localised shrinkage or ‘thermal movement’, or perhaps inadequate restraints or ties in your roof space, or too much pressure on new windows you have installed. The list is long and varied.

The most common cause of subsidence can be attributed to a shrinkage of the soil following a period of very dry weather. If you consider that most of London and other areas of the UK have a clay based soil, then you should appreciate that this clay will shrink as it dries out in long hot summers, and hence the foundations that your home is built on may drop or move in an unintended way. All properties move a little, but too much will of course lead to damage. This can be extensive.

Before any remedial works are done, it will be crucial to determine the probable cause of the subsidence. Ground conditions such as ‘desiccated’ (dried out), clay soil may be one issue, but there may well be other contributory factors such as nearby tree roots that are taking too much moisture from the soil, or leaking drains that are washing away the soil.

At The Claims Desk you can be sure you will be in expert hands working just for you.

As you can, subsidence is a very complicated technical area and your Insurers will want to appoint experts such as structural engineers as well as Loss Adjusters to act for them. As subsidence claims can be very expensive for insurers, they will not want to underpin if they think they can get away with it. You will almost certainly need someone on your side to guide you through this long and complex process.

In any event we’d love to hear from you with your story, so fill out the form below and we will get back to you asap. Or simply call us at The Claims Desk on 0208 906 0098.