Home insurance company Halifax have advised its customers to take drastic measures to ensure avoiding any future subsidence claims.

The Association of British Insurers have issued the warning after commissioning a report which revealed that the industry accounted over 144,000 subsidence claims over the course of the last 4 years at a combined total of 825 million.

Although a problem which is quite difficult to prevent, homeowners have been advised to take all necessary precautionary measures.

Neil Curling, structural claims manager at Halifax Home Insurance, said: "Homeowners are not to blame for subsidence as they do not cause it on purpose; however, the majority of people are able to take measures to prevent subsidence from occurring. If they do so, not only they will reduce the costs of damage, but also the inconvenience and the worry associated with subsidence."

Mr. Curling added: "Subsidence usually occurs as large areas of the UK are located on clay-based soils that oftentimes dry, re-hydrate, and then shrink, which in its turn causes structural damage to buildings.

When people see cracks on the soil in their gardens, it is not the clay itself that causes the problem; rather, those are trees that suck the water from the clay and, thus, lead to subsidence. Homeowners need to immediately inform their insurance companies and take measures if they notice cracks on the walls that start from window corners or doors."