Victorian Property Insurance

[Charly_Lottie1]

Apologies if this topic has been covered to death but I'm struggling to find the information I'm looking for (first time buyer!)

I'm having difficulties finding an insurer for a Victorian terrace property that I'm in the process of purchasing due to internal movement noted in my Level 3 survey to the walls and floors. I'm assured that this is typical for the age of the property but most insurers seem to automatically count me out or refuse to ensure for subsidence which I need to fulfil the terms of my mortgage offer, or be incredibly expensive. Has anyone else had the same issue and how did you resolve it? I'm struggling to see how anyone insure's their older property!

In addition the house seems to have a large issue with damp including possible floor joist rot which would also put it into the 'not in a good state of repair' category with most insurers therefore I also need to be insured to complete building works to help improve the condition.

Thank you!

 

[Cubist]

Is this 'internal movement' better defined or described in the survey report? What internal walls and floors are moving and what is their construction? Some movement of wooden suspended floors is entirely natural in older buildings and if purely internal walls on ground or first floors are of lath and plaster or of the partition type construction these too may be subject to movement transmitted through the wooden floors.

Also, unless specifically requested by your mortgage provider, and/or a potential insurer, you are under no obligation to share your survey report with them.

 

[Charly_Lottie1]

It's the internal walls and first floor which are noted with movement that they 'cannot confirm has abated' with cracking and wallpaper wrinkling at junctions and in door frames, and 'general movement and distortion to the building'. Lath and plaster ceilings noted as likely. I went through a mortgage broker recently who did request the survey and noted that it was a high risk property that they would not insure against subsidence sadly.

 

[fernicarry]

with cracking and wallpaper wrinkling at junctions

We have our fair share of that here. My personal theory is the floor joists bowing over time or dropping slightly due to rotten ends (mainly now repaired) with result that the internal walls have pulled away from the external. It could be the opposite, it could be the external walls moving away from the internal, but there's no external evidence of that. On that basis I don't tick the "suffers from subsidence" box on the proposal.

How long since it was last decorated? If its been 30 years and a 2mm crack has opened up then that wouldn't amount to something you'd worry about during your time of ownership. If it was last month in preparation for putting it up for sale then that's a different kettle of worms...

Surveyors of course have a strong tendency to CYA. "Cannot confirm has abated" -- of course, unless they were engaged to monitored it for 12 months then how could they? And even then the answer would probably still be the same...

 

[Cubist]

Worcestershire, like many others, is a county with a mining history and subsidence among older properties is not uncommon As a consequence many insurers will exclude damage resulting from subsidence but will nevertheless provide cover for other all eventualities such as Fire and Flood, etc. The question then becomes are you prepared to accept the risk that you may not be able to make a claim in the future should the insurer deem any new damage to be due to old or new land subsidence?

A good test for this with terraced houses is to look at the ridge line of the house and neighbouring properties to check for any obvious slope or height deviations where the gable walls would be. Another would be signs of cracks in the brickwork on any of the elevations and old repairs of the interior plaster on the gable walls. Do you know if the internal walls on the first floor are solid brick and continuous down to the ground floor? If they are not solid brick then the damage already observed may be entirely due to failure of the old joists.

 

[Lacan07]

There's literally 1000's of Victorian properties scattered about the UK happily insured and many in a similar state I would imagine. This sounds to me like another case of Mr wally surveyor wetting his knickers for no good reason.