Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content
RODNEY FERNIO

House subsidence

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, RODNEY FERNIO said:

Apparently … just spoken to my mate who works in insurance … a lot of insurance companies are interpreting

this ridiculously long hot and dry summer as an Act of God. My policy refers to these acts as not insurable but only 

will not pay out if my house is damaged by a tornado , Tsunami or or an Earthquake above 6 on the Richter Scale.

Also says whirlwinds and volcanic eruptions are discretionary . Better give God a ring and see what his plans are.

 

 

But that’s not an act of god, an act of god is something that is a totally unpredictable one off event where as, a dry summer is a common occurrence, relatively speaking. My car got destroyed by hailstones a couple of years ago and that must be the only time in living memory that has happened in hinckley but the insurance company had no problems with sorting it out, quoting storm damage, which is kind of similar to a dry summer. Another thing, we are being told that these extreme weather conditions are due to global warming caused by man, which is obviously not an act of god.

Edited by yorkie1999
Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

But that’s not an act of god, an act of god is something that is a totally unpredictable one off event where as, a dry summer is a common occurrence, relatively speaking. My car got destroyed by hailstones a couple of years ago and that must be the only time in living memory that has happened in hinckley but the insurance company had no problems with sorting it out, quoting storm damage, which is kind of similar to a dry summer. Another thing, we are being told that these extreme weather conditions are due to global warming caused by man, which is obviously not an act of god.

Not really how it works but I agree in principle that the dry summer being "an act of god" is absolute rubbish.

 

In any case @RODNEY FERNIO, as someone who works in the construction industry I very highly doubt that the summer has anything to do with the potential subsidence your house is suffering from years after it was built, that doesn't make any sense.


Some good advice in here re speaking to your insurers. The only thing I would suggest is getting your own independent survey by someone who is impartial. It'll probably only cost you a few hundred but it could add significant weight to any claim you may try and make.


All the best.

Edited by ajthefox
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Webbo said:

If Wimpey's put down faulty foundations can't you sue? Are there other houses like it in the street?

Liability in most cases is 12 years at tops.

 

House builder will claim the ground conditions changed since construction.

 

The view will be the house was fine twelve months ago, so what’s changed to make the house sink? 

 

 

Edited by Cardiff_Fox
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Don't accept the Insurer's decision.

 

Complain to their Chief Executive's Office.  Look up their Chief Executive by name and write to him or her by name.

 

Then if still dissatisfied, take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

Your insurer has to demonstrate, with the weight of evidence that the cause of damage is excluded from cover.

 

The FOS won't let them decline the claim if they are not absolutely entitled to.

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Vacamion said:

 

Don't accept the Insurer's decision.

 

Complain to their Chief Executive's Office.  Look up their Chief Executive by name and write to him or her by name.

 

Then if still dissatisfied, take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

Your insurer has to demonstrate, with the weight of evidence that the cause of damage is excluded from cover.

 

The FOS won't let them decline the claim if they are not absolutely entitled to.

 

 

Cheers …. well that was a good  night's sleep … NOT

They have not declined the claim as of now so can't really do anything until their surveyor

has a look on the 23rd … just bracing myself for the worst case scenario which looks probable.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bear in mind that almost all companies will start with saying 'not our fault/we don't pay out for that' in the simple hope it will end the conversation. Sadly it probably works a good third of the time, shameful but that's a shed load of money they're saving every year by simply saying 'no' at the start.

 

Make it clear to them that you'll be pursuing this till it is resolved and that you would prefer to cooperate together ...but will seek legal assistance if necessary. Coz just like most companies have a policy of starting with 'no' they also usually have policies for paying out if the customer is persistent enough.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, RODNEY FERNIO said:

Cheers …. well that was a good  night's sleep … NOT

They have not declined the claim as of now so can't really do anything until their surveyor

has a look on the 23rd … just bracing myself for the worst case scenario which looks probable.  

My house insurance used to cover subsidence and think most do, but you have to pay the first £1000 of the claim. Have they given you any firm indication that the claim may be denied?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, RODNEY FERNIO said:

Apparently … just spoken to my mate who works in insurance … a lot of insurance companies are interpreting

this ridiculously long hot and dry summer as an Act of God. My policy refers to these acts as not insurable but only 

will not pay out if my house is damaged by a tornado , Tsunami or or an Earthquake above 6 on the Richter Scale.

Also says whirlwinds and volcanic eruptions are discretionary . Better give God a ring and see what his plans are.

 

 

My field of Insurance expertise is Marine.  But the important thing in establishing a claim under any policy is determining the 'Proximate' cause of the loss or damage.  So in your case, is it defective foundations (at time of building) or the long dry spell that has caused the subsidence?  If it is the latter, by claiming it is an Act of God, I would imagine the Insurers are facing numerous losses and are searching for the 'get out of Jail card'.   Personally, I find claiming it is an 'Act of God' is worth fighting via the Insurance Ombudsman. After all, if they can get away with hiding behind this, you can see all Insurers doing this every summer if there is no rain for two weeks!   There is bound to be case law on this, which only an expensive solicitor can help you with unless you have time to search around the web.  I recall subsidence is excluded by most policies, but here we could be talking about weather being the cause of the damage.

 

If it is the negligence of the Builder that is the causation, I would see if others close by are having similar issues, as a few house owners making a noise may make Wimpy do the honorable thing.

 

Good luck. If you feel the Insurers are palming you off, PM me and I will see if I can help (for free!).

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My neighbour is going through the same issue. His situation is there wasn’t any footings, or nothing to stabilise his garage and it’s moving all over the place.

 

To rebuild it costs £70k, as he has an office above it, and it’s huge. 

 

Last time I spoke to him the insurance company offered him £30k, which shows in his instance that they are reluctantly paying out.

 

Long process including surveys and legal but the insurance company are paying up, or partly anyway.

 

So don’t accept no from them as this is their usual stance. They want to get away with as much as possible when it gets to the meaty stuff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bloody hell it gets worse ….mind obviously all over the place …. went to the cash point and some black bloke was obviously looking over my shoulder and then started muttering some pigeon English to me and before I know it my debit card has been nicked and he has swiped 250 quid from my account.

Got the police coming round tomorrow night as they've done the same trick to five other people .

 

Now off to a restaurant in Oadby where I've just taken a call from some kind customer there that my elderly father and has just

had a fall and has just regained consciousness and been waiting over an hour for an ambulance .

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, RODNEY FERNIO said:

Bloody hell it gets worse ….mind obviously all over the place …. went to the cash point and some black bloke was obviously looking over my shoulder and then started muttering some pigeon English to me and before I know it my debit card has been nicked and he has swiped 250 quid from my account.

Got the police coming round tomorrow night as they've done the same trick to five other people .

 

Now off to a restaurant in Oadby where I've just taken a call from some kind customer there that my elderly father and has just

had a fall and has just regained consciousness and been waiting over an hour for an ambulance .

My superstitious Mum always says that "Things happen in three's" when it comes to bad luck. Your house, your card nicked and your Dad's fall all within a few days.

 

Hopefully that's all your bad luck now out the way and it's onwards and upwards from here mate :thumbup:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi not sure if this will help but all foundations digs would have needed to be passed by building control before being poured. I would get in touch with your local building control and find out if it was passed. If it wasn’t wimpy will be negligent and in the crap. If it was and I’m guessing it will have been then they have done nothing wrong and it’s down to the building control. When passing foundations they go on lots of different things. Obviously the dig depth and width that are on the drawing but also actual ground condition on each dig, ground type, non virgin ground and even trees can effect each job individually. 

They may have failed to take these things into account which would put them at fault.

unfortunately the recent unusually hot weather is something many people won’t have experienced and if the ground is clay which is prone to shrinkage, that could have caused massive unforeseen problems.

on personal experience drawings and building control are normally massively over the top as they all won’t to cover there arse, so they are not to blame. 

If it is to do with the ground I would expect others to have similar problems.

 

Edited by Lcfcbisto
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, RODNEY FERNIO said:

Bloody hell it gets worse ….mind obviously all over the place …. went to the cash point and some black bloke was obviously looking over my shoulder and then started muttering some pigeon English to me and before I know it my debit card has been nicked and he has swiped 250 quid from my account.

Got the police coming round tomorrow night as they've done the same trick to five other people .

 

Now off to a restaurant in Oadby where I've just taken a call from some kind customer there that my elderly father and has just

had a fall and has just regained consciousness and been waiting over an hour for an ambulance .

Things can only get better for you now. What a nightmare! Truly hope that things work out for you. :yesyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

Things can only get better for you now. What a nightmare! Truly hope that things work out for you. :yesyes:

Thanks Tiger … but things are actually getting worse.

My old dad has got a bleed on the brain and the doctor says he is likely to have serious brain damage. 

Fancy getting blotto but got to make a statement at the police station tomorrow and then down to the Royal

to see the old boy ( so not a good idea ) … but apparently he does not recognise anyone and is talking gibberish.

 

  • Sad 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, RODNEY FERNIO said:

Thanks Tiger … but things are actually getting worse.

My old dad has got a bleed on the brain and the doctor says he is likely to have serious brain damage. 

Fancy getting blotto but got to make a statement at the police station tomorrow and then down to the Royal

to see the old boy ( so not a good idea ) … but apparently he does not recognise anyone and is talking gibberish.

 

You need a trip to a sex island and just take it out on some hot ladies. Lol

 

Hope things get better soon firstly for your dad and then the house

Edited by Jattdogg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...