Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 05, 2020 4:54 pm Hi, Newbie here, I just found this great forum. I'm wondering if anyone can give me some advice Here's my issue: My house (brick veneer) is approx 60 years old, i bought it 5 years ago in good conditions, no internal and external cracks. It is sinking significantly lately due to cracked sewer and stormwater pipes (earthenware clay material) which was inspected and reported by a leak detection specialist via CCTV investigation. For a short period of time, the house structure has been showing a lot of cracks along the brick veneer walls (external) and internal on frames of window and door/ ceilings/ bedrooms/ bathrooms/ toilet.... I can even notice the unleveled floor obviously due to foundation problem. When i noticed the house sinking 2 months ago, I immediately contact my home structure insurance (AAMI) to claim for the structure damage. AAMI assigned different contractors (including: structure engineer, builder, soil testing and CCTV services) come to my place and forwarded reports to me. In the soil report, it is noted that the soil investigations have found that the existing dwelling has shallow footings founded in highly reactive clay soils, that tree root drying has accentuated the differential settlement of the footings and cracking of the structure above, that the site has poor surface drainage, and that leaking service pipes have affected the foundation material at the site. Site Classification: Class P – due to trees & abnormal moisture conditions Soil Classification: Class H1. It is also mentioned that Footing Exposure revealed that the existing footing is 300mm thick and is founded in the natural CLAY soils. The footing is founded 650mm deep. The existing footing was found to be undersize with respect to AS2870-2011 due to the trees and abnormal moisture conditions.The footings for this building are quite small and founded quite shallow in highly reactive CLAY soils. Small changes in soil moisture conditions will result in large volumetric soil changes. Where there is a differential in soil moistures across a site the result will be movement of the foundations and in turn damage to the building. Based on the soil report, a structure engineer established scope of work and assumed the requirement to underpin and re-stump the dwelling, and to demolish and re-build any brickwork has been primarily caused by the inadequate footings to the dwelling and the trees located in close proximity to the dwelling, and is not required due to the leaking in-ground plumbing pipes It doesn't make sense to me regarding to the footing standard AS2870-2011, which mentioned in soil report and applied to existing footing of the house built 60 years ago. it is like the whole house structure as well as footings are out of standard now and I am not entitle to make a claim. Despite according to AAMI insurance policy, it is mentioned clearly that AAMI will cover damages caused by escape of liquid due to cracked pipes. Not sure if an assessor from AAMI is trying to run away from my claim for fixing the foundation issues and damages around the house. So that's the situation. I really want to know who I talk to get a professional opinion of what to do Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks Re: insurance - House sinking due to cracked stormwater pipe 2Aug 06, 2020 6:57 pm Hi Tramy2020 Sorry to here the issues you are having with your home. I put a claim through my Home Insurer regarding Loss or damage because of 'Escaping liquid' - 'bursting, leaking, discharging or overflowing' of 'fixed pipes'. You will have a similar statement in your Home Insurance PDS. Many insured events arise because of defects e.g your house catches fire because of a flue installation issue with a wood heater, however the insurer still pays the claim. The cost of fixing the defect is never covered but in your case the most significant problem is the actual damage now caused to your house. The pipes underneath can be fixed at your own cost. Normally how it works is that if your insurer accepted the claim, they would require you to fix the below ground drainage problems to their satisfaction first, then they would fix the house. In your case, you have a situation where the damage has occurred over a period of time (a “gradual escape of water or other liquid over time” or something similar in AAMI's PDS. That is potentially excluded but in your case, you only noticed problems 2 months ago and you investigated it immediately. You have never noticed problems with your structure before this? You were not aware of the structural or drainage concerns as you cannot see the issues unless you have superpowers with Xray vision that were below the ground. By the time damage is noticed in these cases it is too late. The insurer therefore would not have any real ground to try and deny the claim on the basis their exclusion. They apply the ‘reasonable person’ test and pretty clearly you have passed that here. Even if they did try to deny the claim, I am sure if you went to dispute on that you would win. You cannot possibly be aware of or respond to things which are not there to be seen by a normal and reasonable person (once again check your PDS). They have conducted their own investigations and as it is clearly a potentially expensive claim they are looking at ways around accepting or paying the claim. Basically you keep to your facts – focus on the leaks, the recent discovery and the damage it has caused. If you pay for your own assessments and reports, keep your receipts, because if they decided to except some or hopefully all of your claim, they may pay for some of your investigations. Also because they have denied your claim, they should have given you the information of how to make a complaint. Hope this is helpful. Good luck and keep us informed. Cheers Harts Plumbers 'can be' plumbers, made all the worse by self certification which the building surveyor invariably accepts as proof of compliance! The good thing is that you know know. 3 4835 Perhaps widen the hole a bit more and insert a nice piece of timber and make it an in counter knife block?? 2 1679 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Hi there, I just recently received my new house from my builder. We handed the house to another company to deal with the… 0 8894 |