Guide
Subsidence insurance claim: the excess and who pays
Updated
Most UK buildings policies apply a separate subsidence excess, typically £1,000. If you have changed insurer, the date of the claim against the new policy's start decides which insurer handles it.
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The excess
Three insurance brokers' own pages, read on 27 October 2026, put the subsidence excess at £1,000: Norton Insurance Brokers says almost every UK buildings policy applies a separate, higher excess to subsidence, typically £1,000, regardless of the standard excess, and Apex Insurance Brokers calls it a mandatory minimum of £1,000 per claim, often higher.
If you changed insurer
The Financial Ombudsman Service sets out how it treats a claim where the damage may predate the current policy (financial-ombudsman.org.uk):
| When the claim is made, from the current policy's start | Who handles it |
|---|---|
| Eight weeks or less | The previous insurer |
| More than eight weeks, less than one year | The insurer first notified, with the cost shared between both |
| One year or more | The current insurer |
Source: Subsidence insurance terms: every row, with its source
If the insurer pays late
Under the FCA's claims handling rules, an insurer that pays a claim late owes interest at the Bank of England's base rate plus 4% (FCA Handbook, ICOBS 8).
What an engineer's report adds
The Ombudsman lists surveyor or structural engineer's reports among the evidence it asks for when a subsidence complaint reaches it. An independent report is how you test an insurer's view that the damage is settlement or wear rather than insured subsidence.