I am contacting you out of desperation on behalf of my mum. She is 76 and recently lost her husband of almost 50 years. She is selling the family home and needs to move into a bungalow as a matter of urgency.
She accepted an offer of £295,000 in early 2022; however, the buyer’s survey identified some cracks to the external wall, and an investigation was recommended. We referred this to her insurer, the AA, and it did its own survey. It later confirmed the fix would involve “localised” repairs but there was nothing to suggest major structural work would be required.
As no timescale was given, and mum needed to move quickly, we accepted a lower offer of £280,000 to cover the cost of the repairs. This, however, was subject to the buyer seeing a “scope of repair” report the AA promised to send us.
We were then informed that the AA had cancelled the policy. It said the kitchen window lintel had been replaced two years ago, and this constituted a previous claim for subsidence. There was no such claim but the AA won’t listen.
By cancelling the policy and failing to provide the report, we lost our buyer and are left with a house that cannot be insured or mortgaged and therefore cannot be sold on the open market.
We have now put the house up for sale via an auction, with a guide price of £200,000. This is £80,000 below the offer we had.
The AA has since admitted it made an error in cancelling the policy, and offered £300 compensation. However, it has refused to reinstate it or provide the repair report. The stress is making my mum ill.
YH, Coalville
Just dealing with subsidence can be an ordeal and, combined with your mother’s worsening health, this has put a huge strain on your family. When we contacted the AA, it reviewed her case and confirmed the policy had been cancelled in error. It says: “We have today spoken to the customer, offered our sincerest apologies and accepted fault. We believe the best way to support the customer is to act quickly and ensure they are not left out of pocket due to the error. We’ve agreed to pay the customer £32,000, as this is the difference in costs between the auction price of the property (£248,000) offset against the pre-agreed sale price (£280,000).”
The house was sold at auction and is going through the conveyancing process. In the meantime, you and your sister clubbed together to raise a mortgage, enabling your mum to move into a bungalow. She is happy with this settlement but frustrated it took our involvement to get the AA to see the light.
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