roots damage to house - council liablility?

[benjaminty]

Hi,

I have been waiting patiently (18 months) for an insurer to monitor a property which had the signs of significant movement. Many cracks in walls on both floors at the front of the house.

Eventually the surveyors and insurers have come back stating that they will cover it and it is as a result of the council not cutting back the tree that is on the pavement at the front of the house and the tree's roots then creeping under the house.

Whilst the insurers will cover the cost of the damage I am now looking at a whacking great big renewal premium which I find a little hard to stomach. Claim reserve currently at ?15k and not yet had the work done.

I've seen insurance can be taken out with councils to ensure this does not happen but in lieu of such a policy, does anyone know if I (or the insurer) have significant justification to seek damages from the council?

Any advice gratefully received.

BT

[chuff]

We have the same issue at the moment, the claim has been ongoing for approximately 4 years. The insurers, surveyors, arbioculturalists (sp?), have all identified a large ash tree veer close to the house, root samples have been taken from soil around the house and also the drains. We are now in the process of taking the council to court as they still do not accept liability. I have been informed that this is nearly always the case with southwark council and that we will have to fight them to remove the tee and to replant a new one.

Our premium has already risen to around 1200 per year with a 1000 excess and no end in sight.

We have decided to take private action against southwark as well as through the insurers solicitors to try and get our house repaired.

I don't know of any other insurance you can take out but would be interested to find out more, if you get any good advice.

Good luck

Chuff

[chuff]

Oh big apologies for spelling mistakes, am using my iPhone and it keeps correcting things!

[snorky]

tree roots dont creep under a house - there is no moisture in the sub house soil and there wont be a root ingress BUT the movement of the soil around the house due to water take up by the tree will be important here - pollarding the tree will reduce the amount of water used in the transpiration process, but will not remove the problem completely. Further, removal of the tree itself could casue further problems if the entire root system is not removed at the dame time - as the now defunct roots begin to rot , the soil will again show heave and movement to compensate, but could take decades to finally settle.The whole road/ path will have to be pulled up to sort this out for good

If however the tree is dying, then the council will have to get involved to pull it up.......

[benjaminty]

Snorky - you sound like you know a thing or two about this.

So is the answer to hassle council to keep the branches under control thus preventing creeping roots? The tree is a London Plain and isn't dying... that I know of.

This property is falls under Croydon council so I don't know if they will be any easier to get any settlement out of.

Chuff - do you mind me asking how much the claim was for and who is offering you cover now? My renewal is well over ?3k and my only alternative at the moment is paying Direct Line a measely ?400 a year and excluding all subsidence cover.... not something I realy want to entertain...

[chuff]

The claim for the redecoration is for approx 13k but the underpinning cost is around 60k. We are insured with groupama and will probably have to stay with them for the next twenty years unless the house is underpinned.

It is actually very common around here, nearly all the houses in the roads nearby to me have either suffered from movement or are experiencing it now.

Our insurance company have told us that if the property is underpinned then there is no reason why we should have an increased premium, do you have a loss adjuster you can question about it all?

snorky, the tree man advised us that the tree would have to be removed in sections, over a period of 6 months to a year to allow the soil to settle gradually. This made sense to me, so didn't question it. I don't particularly want to take a tree out but it has pulled up the pavement outside and has continued to cause trouble even though it has been pollarded twice.

I am reliably informed that another tree can be planted but a slower growing, less damaging variety rather than a cheap ash that southwark prefer.

I'm even happy to pay for the bloody tree myself.