Subsidence, settlement and heave
The seller says there was a subsidence claim and no schedule of works is in the survey. What can the inspection not read about that claim?
The inspection cannot read that claim. The seller says there was a subsidence claim, and no schedule of works is in the survey. A spoken mention is not the insurer’s file. The visit cannot see what cause was accepted, what was repaired, what was excluded, or whether anyone signed the work off. The Association of British Insurers describes a claim as the insurer’s investigation and the works that follow. None of that paper was in the report. The surveyor saw the building on one day. The claim itself was not there to read.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
A schedule of works would say which cracks were stitched, which foundations were underpinned, and which areas were left. Without it, the inspection cannot match a filled crack to a completed repair or say that a wall was left out of the job. The seller’s sentence does not fill that gap. The survey did not contact the insurer and did not reconstruct the claim from memory. Whatever monitoring the insurer required, if any, is also unread. The building can still be described. The claim cannot.
Ask the solicitor to obtain the claim papers, the schedule, and any completion letter from the seller, and keep those documents beside the survey rather than inside it. An engineer can compare the building with a schedule once a schedule exists. Do not treat the seller’s mention as the scope of works. The inspection could not read the claim because the claim was not in the pack.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was any schedule of works, or any claim paper, actually in the pack?
- What did the seller say, and did you record it as their comment only?
- Which cracks could you describe without knowing what the claim repaired?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the seller’s mention as a comment, not as the claim file.
- Ask the solicitor to obtain the schedule and any completion letter.
- Have an engineer compare the building with the schedule once you have it.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the cracks look filled, has the claim been finished?
Filled cracks show filler, not a finished claim. The survey had no schedule of works and could not read what the insurer agreed. A neat repair can be partial, old, or unrelated. Completion is a paper the inspection did not see, so the filled crack is not evidence that the claim was closed.
Can the insurer’s old photographs substitute for the schedule?
Only if you actually have them, and even then they are not the schedule. The survey did not contain them. Photographs can show a crack at a date. They do not list the works, the exclusions, or the sign-off. The inspection still cannot read a claim that was never put in the pack.