Insurance News Archive

Check property insurance contract to ensure subsidence claim

Written by Dan Winters

Landlords need to ensure they disclose any previous problems with subsidence to avoid invalidating their property insurance, especially as the warmer weather increases the risk of damage occurring.

Jonathan Smithers, a property spokesman for the Law Society, tells the Independent that insurers tend to look more closely at the original property insurance contract for such claims, so if there are any wrongly-answered questions, the cover could be void.

However, he adds that he has never come across a case where insurers have not paid up for such claims.

Malcolm Tarling, spokesman for the Association of British Insurers, also told the newspaper: "If you have a subsidence claim the insurer will not rush in. It will employ a chartered surveyor to monitor over a period of time what the movement is and ascertain what is causing the problem."

The Met Office has issued a heatwave warning for today and Tuesday (30th June) in London, the south-east and the Midlands, areas which are typically at a higher risk of subsidence.

29 Jun 2009