Homeowners insurance and structural damage

[mkim1969]

I'm thinking about buying a house that has an overlapping section that is not supported. I've attached pics. I'm sure the designers knew what they were doing and it should be fine but just in case a crack in the wall forms, what can I do to insure against it. From what I can tell homeowner's coverage will not cover structural damage because of design or settling. My fear is that maybe a crack could form in the unsupported brick wall.

 

[fed up]

Get an engineer to look at it and maybe add a footer and post to each side but short of a total loss there would be no insurance policy addition to protect against settling

 

[adjusterjack]

Agree. No coverage for cracking and settling. That section would have to collapse. Wouldn't have to be a total loss under the Collapse peril. In fact, insurance would only pay for the collapsed portion even if you had to demo the whole house.

Collapse


a. This Additional Coverage applies to
property covered under Coverages A and
B.

With respect to this Additional

Coverage:

(1) Collapse means an abrupt falling down

or caving in of a building or any part of a
building with the result that the building
or part of the building cannot be
occupied for its current intended
purpose.

(2) A building or any part of a building that

is in danger of falling down or caving in
is not considered to be in a state of
collapse.

(3) A part of a building that is standing is

not considered to be in a state of
collapse even if it has separated from
another part of the building.

(4) A building or any part of a building that

is standing is not considered to be in a
state of collapse even if it shows
evidence of cracking, bulging, sagging,
bending, leaning, settling, shrinkage or
expansion.

b. We insure for direct physical loss to

covered property involving collapse of a
building or any part of a building if the
collapse was caused by one or more of the
following:

(1) The Perils Insured Against under
Coverages A and B;


(2) Decay that is hidden from view, unless

the presence of such decay is known to
an "insured" prior to collapse;

(3) Insect or vermin damage that is hidden

from view, unless the presence of such
damage is known to an "insured" prior
to collapse;

(4) Weight of contents, equipment, animals

or people;

(5) Weight of rain which collects on a roof;


or

(6) Use of defective material or methods in

construction, remodeling or renovation if
the collapse occurs during the course of
the construction, remodeling or
renovation.

c. Loss to an awning, fence, patio, deck,

pavement, swimming pool, underground
pipe, flue, drain, cesspool, septic tank,
foundation, retaining wall, bulkhead, pier,
wharf or dock is not included under b.(2)
through (6) above, unless the loss is a
direct result of the collapse of a building or
any part of a building.

d. This coverage does not increase the limit of
liability that applies to the damaged
covered property.