Insurance Claims

If you have noticed cracks appearing in your property, you may wish to obtain a professional opinion before making an insurance claim for subsidence damage or to provide peace of mind that the damage is not serious.

Cooke & Co Chartered Building Surveyors possess the requisite expertise to make a full assessment of the damage and to advise you accordingly.

Invariably, the problem can be overcome by cosmetic repairs. This might include localized repointing, plastering and redecorations. However, if subsidence is found, then we can work with your insurers, if required, to provide professional advice, in order to eradicate the cause, monitor the damage if necessary, procure contractors tenders and oversee the remedial works.

When water is in your home you may not care where it came from, but flooding can come from a variety of sources that may not be obvious, or nearby, such as rainfall, rivers, the sea, surface water run-off, groundwater, blocked or overloaded drains, ditches and burst pipes.

The floods in 2007 created the biggest civil emergency in our history. 13 people died and 55,000 properties were affected. Recently, the annual cost of flood damage has been £1.1 billion and is set to rise (The National Flood Forum: www.nationalfloodforum.org.uk).

We will work with your insurers and assess the damage caused. After contractors are instructed to carry out an initial strip out, we will monitor the drying out phase, procure tenders for the remedial works and oversee the contract for the reinstatement.

Earthquakes are very uncommon in this country, however, we were required to assess damage as caused to properties in this area, by an earthquake centred 2.5 miles north of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, at the end of February 2008. According to the British Geological Survey, the quake registered a reading of 5.2 on the Richter scale.

We were similarly involved in assessing damage caused by ground vibration arising from an explosion at a chemical manufacturing plant in North Killingholme, North East Lincolnshire, in 2001. In the case of ground-borne vibration such as this, the damage sustained to the properties is instantaneous and usually superficial.