Heatwave leaves tens of thousands of homes at risk of SINKING into the ground as insurance claims to quadruple
TENS of thousands of British homes are at risk of sinking into the ground because the heatwave has shrunk the foundations they are built on.
Insurers say they expect subsidence claims to QUADRUPLE as individual bills topping £50,000 send premiums soaring.
The two-month heatwave has caused the foundation soil to shrink which will see many sinking into the ground later this year,
Symptoms of subsidence like cracked walls usually appear several months after the damage is done which means some homeowners may not even know they've got problems until Christmas.
Those particularly badly hit propertties can take up to take a year to fix causing major upheaval to the homeowners.
And to make things worse those affected could receive a double blow as their insurance bills may soar because firms no longer want to insure them, experts warned.
Last year there were around 12,000 insurance claims for subsidence, industry figures show, but this year the figure could rise to nearly 50,000 cases.
A source from one of Britain's biggest insurers told the newspaper it was expecting four times as many claims as usual because of the heatwave. Another firm said it thought claims could double.
Trevor Abrahmsohn, of property firm Glentree, warned some homeowners may even have to leave their homes for safety reasons.
He said: “Subsidence can be so severe that it has required, in some cases, the complete rebuilding of the property, during which, the homeowner has had to move out of the property and into alternative accommodation while their home is made safe."
Subsidence can cost up to £50,000 to fix, however in most cases this cost is covered by buildings insurance, meaning homeowners are spared the bill.
Rod Jones, of price comparison website uSwitch, said: “If your house suffers, or has historically suffered from subsidence, it can result in your buildings insurance premium being higher than normal.
"In some instances, this could even mean an insurer being unwilling to cover your property.”
Subsidence occurs when the soil below a property shifts, causing cracks to appear in the walls of the building.
During periods of extended hot weather the soil below homes contracts more than normal.