Underpinning & insurance

[Jo]

We've recently found out that our house was underpinned between 1983 & 1985. We were not advised of this by the previous owners (who may not have known) or the solicitor. We have had an extension built & are worried that the fact that we've been underpinned (although we don't have exact details of where) and we didn't know, may cause a problem. The extension passed building & planning regulations so I'm presuming we have nothing to worry about. We have recently changed mortgage lenders and all of a sudden, all the paperwork came out of the woodwork! We were unaware of a number of changes that had been made to tour property in the past and are worried that the solicitor in charge of our purchase should have passed this info onto us at the time of purchase. Can anyone advise?

Jo & John

[Andrew Chesters]

Urgh... I won't comment on the legal aspect, as you probably need to be talking to a NEW solicitor, however, for detail on what was done to the property you could try your local Building Control office. I had dealings with mine years ago when I knowingly bought a previously underpinned house. Very helpful indeed. If done properly, it is probably more stable than any 'normal' house, but most of the problems will come when you want to sell. Insurers will almost certainly increase the excess on your policy, for subsidence only, if you are lucky.

Andrew

[The Natural Philosopher]

Sue the bastard.