Claiming on Indemnity Policy – Anyone with experience claiming?

[vards01]

When I purchased my house back in 2008 there were some uncertified building works done by previous occupants of the property. As a condition of the sale the vendor had to take an indemnity policy out to cover the likelihood of these particulars needing further attention down the line.

The indemnity policy itself is quite vague; almost looks like a carte blanch coverall statement:

Nature of Defect:

Absence of a building regulation completion or regularisation certificate (or FENSA certificate for replacement windows/doors) for the development

The Development

a. Any extension, alteration or installation to and/or conversion of the property completed at least 12 months before the policy date and/or

b. Erection of the property (including associated outbuildings) completed at least 4 years before the policy date.


Well the items in question when I purchased the property were the removal of spine wall, removal of chimney breast and no Fensa certificate on windows. No building regulation approval was present or sort at the time of this works circa 1995.

Upon removing the old lath and plaster ceilings I have found the chimney breast above is unsupported and the RSJ is undersized for the function (I know this as neighbour had SE do calcs and I helped put the beam in for same wall removal). Has anyone been in this situation before would the indemnity cover these remedial works? Or is it more of a ‘it hasn’t caused any issues so must be OK response’?

I will be looking to sort this all out by putting a steel and plate to support the chimney breast and moving and replacing the current undersized beam position up to sit in the ceiling void. I would like to subject the cost of these works to the indemnity insurance but wonder if anyone has experience of a similar situation and the likelihood of a claim being successful?

Thanks in advance

 

[big-all]

could be wrong but it wont be covered
its in case enforcement make you have to do something not to cover putting things right that you find yourself

 

[vards01]

Do you not think building control would put a notice on this kind of thing if they were informed?

 

[big-all]

10 years on ??

 

[vards01]

Well I've only just found out, but ceiling had cracked around chimney removal area........maybe its worth a call to building control see what they say, it needs to be sorted out regardless.

 

[big-all]

informing building control wont do you any favours i wouldnt have thought

 

[vards01]

You think just leave it and sort it myself.....

 

[big-all]

wait for others to comment
but i suspect because its structural you will have to inform building control to pass the work or leave as is
but as i say let others comment in case i am wrong

 

[^woody^]

the RSJ is undersized for the function (I know this as neighbour had SE do calcs and I helped put the beam in for same wall removal

The neighbours situation is irrelevant. What if the neighbour's SE over specified the beam or the loads are different?

The fact that the chimney is still up after 22 years may be a good indication that the beam is in fact adequate.

 

[vards01]

The neighbours situation is irrelevant. What if the neighbour's SE over specified the beam or the loads are different?

The fact that the chimney is still up after 22 years may be a good indication that the beam is in fact adequate.

Possibly over specified but the houses are same build (layout, spec and size), the beam in my place is 152x89x16UB over a 3.2m opening compared to 203x102x23UB via SE.

The chimney has nothing underneath it apart from some battens to hold a bit of plasterboard, the beam is on the spine wall, which is perpendicular to the removed chimney breast on the party wall.

 

[^woody^]

The chimney has nothing underneath it apart from some battens to hold a bit of plasterboard

It's not tied into the wall then and the beam is not sharing any load at all with the wall?

And the beam is not holding up just the four or five courses at the bottom of the breast that are not cantilevered out from the wall, but supporting the whole chimney?

 

[vards01]

The above chimney is tied into the party wall which is perpendicular to the beam (so not sharing the load).

The beam is supporting the above 4" masonry wall between bedrooms and floor joists in one bedroom only due to different joist directions in the front and back bedrooms, also some load from roof.

Beam doesn't support chimney.

 

[tony1851]

Absence of a building regulation completion or regularisation certificate (or FENSA certificate for replacement windows/doors) for the development

The Development

a. Any extension, alteration or installation to and/or conversion of the property completed at least 12 months before the policy date and/or

The reason they state that the alteration must have been completed at least 12 months before the policy date is that enforcement action by councils under s.36 after 12 months is rare. These policies are a money-making racket.
Don't waste your time and money getting Building Control involved now - you will regret it and it will cost you £££s, which you won't get back. And - as above - the fact that your neighbour has a large beam in position does not mean that it is the optimum size; SEs are not beyond over-specifying beams just to make their lives easier.

 

[motorbiking]

I don't have specific expertise in this area, but the Limitation Act 1980 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58 springs to mind. I'd have thought the insurance was to cover the seller against a claim to address enforcement of the failure to get the work approved. It doesn't provide an open ended warranty for the original work. You are probably out of time to make a claim.

 

[vards01]

These policies are a money-making racket.

These were my initial thoughts/concern with this 'policy' but the vendor was basically given no option. I thought I would ask the question to see if anyone else had experience of claiming on such policies. I guess it literally just covers if the whole lot falls down where there is no wiggle room for the insurance company.