Insurers receive a record 13,000 subsidence claims after the hot summer
New claims from July to September were up from 8,000 a year earlier, and the average home subsidence payout stayed at a record £20,000.
Home insurers took 13,000 new subsidence claims between July and September, the highest number on record, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said on Monday. In the same three months of 2025 there were 8,000.
The ABI said the long run of hot, dry weather had raised the risk of ground movement, which can lead to subsidence. The Met Office expects this summer to have been the hottest on record in the UK.
Cracks to look out for
The ABI said homeowners should talk to their insurer and get professional advice if they see:
- cracks wider than 3mm, roughly the thickness of a £1 coin
- diagonal cracks, especially ones that are wider at the top than the bottom
- cracks that appear suddenly rather than building up slowly through normal wear and tear
The 13,000 figure counts claims opened in the quarter. Subsidence claims can take months to settle, so the number opened will not match the number paid in the same period.
Claim costs
The average payout for subsidence damage to a home was £20,000, a record for the second quarter running. The average domestic fire claim was £38,000 and the average flood claim £28,000.
Across home and business property, the number of claims fell 4% to 142,000, but insurers paid out 1% more, £1.5 billion. That pushed the average property claim to a record £10,000. The ABI put the rise down to higher costs for materials and labour and more severe weather.
Premiums
The average annual home insurance premium was £329 in July to September, the same as a year earlier and £4 more than in April to June. Combined buildings and contents cover averaged £389, which is £3 more than last year.
Separate policies have become cheaper over the year. Buildings-only cover fell by £13 to £310, and contents-only cover fell by £7 to £118.
