Q: Hi there.
We are very far along in the process and its possible hurdle.
The reached on a house wed buy some underlying activities in the summer of 2000 to correct problems caused by a tree on the adjacent listed property. We have tried to get hold of a copy of the warranty for this work, but have now discovered that the contractor that the work done is gone from the business.
Does anyone have any advice? The whole process has been so long with various parties pull stages along the route (except us and our suppliers) that we are desperate to travel and to consider just taking the risks in this point.
Aer a civil structural engineers who can advise?
Your solicitor will be able to explain all this to you.
As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients.
Just to add to guy comment above, if you can't get the house insured against subsidence, I think you'll find it difficult to get a mortgage!
Sorry to be so negative, I know how it feels, I was in your position not so long back!!
Dave
Anyone got experience of this with insurers apart from the Halifax and Tesco. We are currently with LloydsTSB who have always been very reasonable also. I think I might give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.
Many thanks.
There's your problem. You know there have been repairs.
As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients.
Dave
So I've had a quick look online at LloydsTSB and their quote generator asks the question:
Is the home to be insured and local area, showing any signs of subsidence, landslip or ground heave (including repaired damage) and/or in an area liable to flooding, landslip or subsidence? (Notes: signs of subsidence damage are often shown by cracking or bulging walls).
I think we can quite legitimately answer that question with a no as the property does not show any signs of these things. The only reason we know that the underpinning was done 7 years ago is that the vendor had to dfisclose any building works they were aware of on the property. Anyone disagree?
I wonder if the current owners have neglected to inform their insurer? If so, you could be in a difficult position, as their insurance could be void. This means they wouldn't transfer the insurance to you. Apparently the Halifax are very good with underpinned properties, we also found Tesco quite understanding. I'd sound a few of them out first without giving to many specifics. Say you're considering buying a property and its been underpinned etc.
Dave
Is your solicitor happy with the underpinning issue?
Good luck!
Dave
Yep – no insurers involved as far as we are aware. Our vendors say their solicitor never brought this up and in fairness neither did ours – it was us who asked about the guarantee. So I'm hoping we wouldn't even need to mention the underpinning to our insurance company.
Thanks again!
I've just chacked with hubby and some of my details are incorrect – sorry! The letter detailing the works that had been done which was provided by our vendors (and was provided to them by the previous owners when they purchased) is the report from the Structural Engineer. It does not mention which contractor undertook the works and it is the Structual Engineering Company which is no longer trading. The house has changed hands twice since then with no problems.
Hubby has tracked down the people who had the underpinning done in the first place (development company who did lots of work to modernise house) to see if they can dig out any records on who did the work.
How long would you expect a guarantee for work like this to be valid – 10 years?
So if I've got this right, the development company did the underpinning themselves, without the buildings insurer? I don't think the guarantee is necessarily something you need to be concerned about really. As long as you can insure the house, with a standard policy, you should be ok – if the problem reappears, your buildings insurance will cover it. Might be worth paying a structural engineer anyway, if only to look at the original report and give you some idea of the extent of underpinning etc. We paid ￡400 for an engineer to look into the problem and prepare a report for us.
Is your solicitor happy with the underpinning issue?
Good luck!
Dave
I've just chacked with hubby and some of my details are incorrect – sorry! The letter detailing the works that had been done which was provided by our vendors (and was provided to them by the previous owners when they purchased) is the report from the Structural Engineer. It does not mention which contractor undertook the works and it is the Structual Engineering Company which is no longer trading. The house has changed hands twice since then with no problems.
Hubby has tracked down the people who had the underpinning done in the first place (development company who did lots of work to modernise house) to see if they can dig out any records on who did the work.
How long would you expect a guarantee for work like this to be valid – 10 years?
When the house was underpinned, was it commissioned by the insurer? If not, with no guarantee, you may struggle to get buildings insurance/a mortgage. If the insurer covered the work, then they will probably have the original structural engineer's report etc, and they will usually be happy to continue the insurance in your name. The downside being they *could* pretty much charge what they want. Of course, if they still have the report etc, you may find that the engineer that did the assessment will have signed off the work as satisfactory! Its a very difficult situation.
You could commission your own structural report, with specific emphasis on the underpinning. I'd say that it will likely involve destructive work to some extent, in order to reveal the foundations and the level of underpinning. Who would bare the cost?
When I was asking these questions on here, I received several responses of walk away, which we did in the end, with a cost of approx 1k. Have you really considered the potential problems of an underpinned house? Upon reflection, I'm glad I walked away, even though my wife and I both loved the house. We've now found one just up the road, which is much nicer! I always thought it was a bit of a cliche, but there is always another house!
Cheers
Dave