Subsidence risk cover

Subsidence risk cover

Subsidence risk cover is a policy designed to protect your home from any shift in its position. Subsidence of a property happens when movement of the earth that foundations are built on occurs, typically as a result of the soil type or the vegetation within that soil causing the earth to shrink around the very infrastructure of your home.

Most combined home insurance policies that contain buildings and contents insurance will protect against subsidence but houses with a history of soil movement or homes located in what are deemed high risk areas, may not be covered and could need additional subsidence risk cover.

Properties at risk of subsidence

When purchasing a new home, a Conveyancer or Estate Agent may be able to discover whether there is any history of subsidence but failing that, any movement of the property should be detected upon a full survey.

For your current abode, there are some tell tale signs that your property is suffering from subsidence, such as:

• Doors and windows may start to stick or not shut properly (as the frames move and no longer represent a matching shape)
• Diagonal cracks start appearing across the walls (shifts in foundations cause conflicts in the weight distribution of bricks and pull on the plaster)
• Wrinkles start to appearing on the wallpaper

Also when looking at purchasing a new home, be careful of properties with large trees close to the house itself. Not only could they be a potential hazard to your home during violent storms but their growth patterns could also be affecting your foundations. It’s worth asking the question upon survey or consulting a certified Arborist as to the type of tree and whether the growth of its roots could influence the underlying structure of your house. This can usually be determined by a small trench dug near the foundations to see if the roots are an issue.