Insurance Related Advice
Insured Perils
Fire and Subsidence are both insured perils, which means that subject to having the appropriate cover within an insurance policy, the cost of repairing the damage will be paid by the insurance company. More importantly the insured (Home Owner) can employ a chartered surveyor to assist with the structural implications of the claim, and those professional fees will be paid by the insurance company.
If you are concerned about cracking in your property, would like to know more and how we can help then please contact us in the first instance and without obligation on 01245 492495, email phil@apaproperty.com or via our online contact form.
Fire Damage
During 2003 more than 75,000 homes were either partially damaged or destroyed by fire creating a total bill for the insurers of £346 million. This calculates to an average 205 claims per day at an average cost of £4,600 per claim. In addition to the above insured losses, insurers estimate annually £86 million of uninsured damage occurs.
Even the smallest of fires can cause significant structural damage, understanding the significance of the fires impact upon the property is fundamental to ensuring the property is put back into its pre claim condition.
When a claim is accepted, the insurers will appoint a loss adjustor to handle the claim, who should be independent. However this is often very far from the truth, they are in fact tied to the insurer through various contracts. Furthermore they will often try to persuade the insured to agree to appoint their in house surveyors to deal with the structural issues. Some loss adjustors even have their own contracting division and will also try to secure the reinstatement works.
In these instances the loss adjustor cannot be considered independent, the financial interests in all aspects of the claim cannot be healthy or advisable from the insurerd perspective. During this very distressing period the insured needs the peace of mind that their interests are being looked after. APA can provide this reassurance.
When the insured instructs APA, we will immediately inspect and assess the damage, initiate any urgent works to secure and protect the property from further deterioration and damage.
Depending on the extent of the damage, APA will prepare all the necessary applications to the local authority, produce a full specification and schedule of works (link to project co-ordination). Obtaining tenders from contractors and project coordinating the works through total completion.
Subsidence and Structural Movement
The mere mention of the word subsidence is enough to send any property owner in to a state of panic. Even after the damage has been rectified the fact that the property has suffered structural damage as a consequence of subsidence could leave the property blighted due to the association of subsidence. It is so emotive that it can actually persuade a purchaser not to proceed with purchasing the property because there is a history of subsidence.
This jaundiced view of subsidence is not necessarily correct providing the proper procedures have been implemented to identify and eliminate the cause and then to carry out the appropriate construction works to rectify the damage, there should be no reason why the property could be considered blighted.
However, the reality is that in the vast majority of subsidence claims, they are not properly investigated or assessed and the appropriate remedial works are not implemented. When a claim is accepted, the insurers will appoint a loss adjustor to handle the claim, who should be independent. However this is often very far from the truth, they are in fact tired to the insurer through various contracts. Furthermore they will often try to persuade the insured to agree to appoint their in house surveyors to deal with the structural issues. Some loss adjustors even have their own contracting division and will also try to secure the reinstatement works.
In these instances the loss adjustor cannot be considered independent, the financial interests in all aspects of the claim cannot be healthy or advisable from the insured’s perspective. During this very distressing period the insured needs the peace of mind that their interests are being looked after. APA can provide this reassurance.
The damage as a consequence of subsidence can vary enormously from minor cracking to substantial structural damage which can cause a building to collapse. The degree of subsidence will vary and is dependent upon the design and construction of the building and in particular its foundations, and more importantly the type of soil that the foundations are bearing upon.
The South East of England is predominantly clay, which has high moisture content and will experience significant shrinkage when moisture is removed, but will also rehydrate when moisture is added. When moisture is removed the clay will shrink which is referred to as a desiccation, when it rehydrates it will swell, this is called heave. Heave can be as equally destructive to a building as subsidence, as the ground swells the building will move and distort causing substantial cracking and damage.
Fortunately, subsidence is an insured peril and providing the property has been insured the costs incurred in investigating the cause and implementing any necessary remedial works and actions should be covered in their entirety by the building insurance policy, always of course subject to any policy excess. Standard policy excess for subsidence claims has for many years been set at £1,000. However, there are now a number of insurers that are seeking to limit their liability by increasing the policy excess.
Unfortunately insurers and there loss adjustors will try to mitigate their expenditure and simply gloss over the issues by authorising short term repairs. However, in instances of severe subsidence it may be necessary to undertake a full levelling survey and monitor the various cracks for a period of between 6 months to 2 years. It is important to understand that the building should have stabilised following the removal of the cause, undertaking remedial works, if the building is still going to continue to move as a consequence would be an uneconomical approach to adopt.
For example, simply carrying out localised patch repairs to rendering is not acceptable. It is reasonably foreseeable that is the render has cracked that the remedial works, which could incorporate reinforcing, cutting out of the masonry brickwork and rebuilding parts of the walls. The other concern that has to be appreciated is that where a building has moved substantially out of vertical and/or horizontal levels, simply patching the wall is not sufficient. The evidence of the deflection and movement is clear for all to see and will certainly be raised during any future survey by a prospective purchaser.
Understanding what has caused the movement is fundamental to establishing the correct method of repair. If the cause is not identified and or eliminated then it is reasonably foreseeable that the problem will return. Consequently expert advice and investigations should be initiated. These may involve CCTV surveys of the drainage systems, soil investigations with boreholes, soil samples, tree root analysis, and laboratory investigations. Once all the evidence is gathered the surveyor can then formulate an opinion and decide on the appropriate actions and the works required to eliminate the cause and reinstate the property to its pre-claim condition.
The insured is entitled to have their property put back to the condition that it was in prior to the insured peril arising. Consequently, if walls are out of level, door and window openings are distorted and rebuilding a whole section of the house is necessary to reinstate the property then that is exactly what should be done.
APA Property Services Ltd have the experience and technical skills necessary to investigate and manage the claim which may include requesting further investigations before any remedial works are undertaken.
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT ANY ISSUES WHICH MAY INCLUDE THE APPEARANCE OF CRACKS, DOORS STICKING, WINDOWS NOT CLOSING PROPERLY, INDEED IN SOME INSTANCES PANES OF GLASS SIMPLY CRACKING, THEN WE WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU APPOINT AN INDEPENDENT SURVEYOR TO PROVIDE AN INITIAL REPORT WHICH SHOULD FORTHWITH BE GIVEN TO YOUR INSURERS. IF IT IS ACCEPTED THAT AN INSURED PERIL EXISTS THE COST OF THIS REPORT IS DEDUCTED FROM THE POLICY EXCESS. THE BENEFITS OF HAVING AN INDEPENDENT REPORT IS SELF EVIDENT, THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT HAVING AN INDEPENDENT REPORT OR INDEED A CLAIM IMPROPERLY HANDLED PROPERLY WILL LEAVE THE BUILDING BLIGHTED AND CONSEQUENTLY DEVALUED.
If you are concerned about cracking in your property, would like to know more and how we can help then please contact us in the first instance and without obligation on 01245 492495, email phil@apaproperty.com or via our online contact form.
