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Subsidence Issues

Posted On : Jun-11-2009 | seen (1336) times | Article Word Count : 479 |

Any home insurance policy will give you financial protection from extremes of weather and natural events, in addition to man made problems like fire and theft.
Any home insurance policy will give you financial protection from extremes of weather and natural events, in addition to man made problems like fire and theft. There are dozens of things that you can do to reduce your home insurance costs, but when it comes to natural damage the majority of the things that you can do are simply damage reduction.

One of the biggest problems for homeowners and insurance companies is subsidence. It is one of the msot difficult issues to remedy and cannot be completely fixed. There are over 3 million homes in the UK that suffer from subsidence problems, and as many as one in fifty houses in London and the South-East have ground related issues.

Subsidence is the term given the act of the ground moving beneath your house. This can be caused by any number of geophysical features, but is most spectacularly caused by underground mines. In these cases a massive hole will open under one half of your house, but in most subsidence cases the ground shifts slightly on one side of the house and puts massive strain on the walls.

Subsidence is one of those problems that only manifests itself once it has already happened, there are precious few signs that your house is about to experience subsidence until it happens. Generally speaking the signs are cracking around doors and windows and around outside brickwork. Another thing that can happens is that doors and windows will start to stick, but this can be a sign of warping rather than subsidence.

However, if you do happen to have cracks in your brickwork don’t worry too much as newly built houses and extensions experience cracking to a greater or lesser degree as the house settles under its own weight.

The only way that you can avoid subsidence issues is to make sure that you have a thorough building survey carried out before you buy the house, this should pick up initial signs of subsidence that could get worse after you have moved in.

Another thing that you should do is make sure trees and shrubs are kept well away from the house. These can contribute to subsidence problems by removing water from the soil underneath the house and having a knock-on effect on the level of the soil.

Most home insurance policies will offer you coverage for subsidence, as well as paying for any repair works that can be made on the property. If you are living on an area with clay as the major subsoil you may be at risk of subsidence. Home insurance is a vital commodity, but does not necessarily have to be expensive. If you are looking at getting a new policy, or renewing the one that you already have, try a company like Co-Operative Insurance for good deals at the moment.

Article Source : http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Subsidence Issues _1088.aspx

Author Resource :
The Co-Operative Insurance. We are also good with home insurance cover.

Keywords : home insurance,

Category : Finance : Insurance

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