Insurance Dealer was interested to read a case study that was published in June by PropertyDrum that involved a developer purchasing a terraced house in Greater London. Without the need of a valuation survey prior to modernising, they added a kitchen extension to the rear to a very high specification to then be sold for £2 million.

Unfortunately at the start of the work a number of Japanese Knotweed plants were evident around the proposed extension area and INNSA were called after the sale collapsed once the knotweed issue was known to exist at the rear of the garden (presumably by the declaration on the new “TA6” form).

Although treated, Knotweed appeared in other areas, particularly around the new extension so it became clear that the original Knotweed was ignored or far greater than original envisaged. It came to light that further Knotweed had grown and started to break the patio, heading for the extension. Specialist contractors were brought in and 60 tonnes of earth had to be sifted and the owners had to move out, at a total cost of £18,000.

It is noted that this is perhaps an extreme case but nonetheless demonstrates the need for the problem to be tackled professionally. For properties were there is no pre-existing Knotweed, protection can be provided in the future to cover theses massive costs of eradication by taking out Japanese Knotweed Insurance.

Insurance for Japanese Knotweed is low cost and indemnifies policyholders for up to 10 years (or the life of a mortgage) and is now available at Grafton Insurance Risk Solutions. This will provide cover for Professional contractors to treat infestations up to the value of the home. It is demonstrated when it is time to sell a property that the problem has been correctly tackled and that the re Insurance Backed Guarantees provided by the contractors to give peace of mind if there was a re-occurrence.