Clay shrinkage induced subsidence

Droughts since 1971 have been responsible for foundation problems associated with clay soils. The effect has been to face insurance companies with claims running into millions of pounds. Although methods exist for defining the relative risk of such damage from one part of Britain to another, based on an analysis of the location of clay soils, there is a likelihood that the climatic changes predicted will cause an increase in the frequency of damaging drought events. Insurers will need to take this into account when assessing their needs in terms of reserves required to meet future claims.