My Home has Subsidence - what does this mean?
First, don’t panic. Around 40,000 claims are notified to insures each year.
Of those proven to be valid, around 70% relate to what is termed ‘root induced clay shrinkage’. Tree roots (or shrubs) extracting moisture from a clay soil causing it to shrink.
The remainder comprise water escaping from drains followed by a selection from landslip, heave and collapse due to mining etc., but these are exceptional.
Insurers handling claims have gained considerable experience in their resolution and although at one time underpinning was thought to be the solution, the number of claims where this is thought to be an appropriate remedy now has fallen to around 5%. Underpinning is rarely employed to resolve subsidence claims.
Engineers and surveyors now recognise that removing the cause of the damage is the correct solution. If a tree is causing damage, we seek its removal. If a leaking drain is causing the problem, we repair the drain.
Most experts agree that underpinning can cause problems and is best avoided if possible.
The next major concern is ‘will I be able to sell my home if I have had a subsidence claim’, and the answer is yes. As long as the claim is documented and the investigating engineer issues you with a copy of the original report, any subsequent reports from specialists and a Certificate of Structural Adequacy, you should not have any problems.
The downside is that some claims can take a while to resolve. This is because investigations are needed in some cases - digging holes, testing soils, looking at the drains and monitoring etc., - and for a correct resolution we suggest that a timeline of between 6 and 18 months might not be unusual.