Just an update on this. I've spent an age trading correspondence back and forth with the insurer. They dismissed the alternative proposal that I put forward. I then reverted to consideration of the remediation plan that they came back with. I've asked queries on same before I will commit to signing off on that plan.
Key amongst those are the following;
1. I've asked them to confirm if the outer (render) layer will be impermeable to water ingress. They repeatedly avoided answering the question claiming relevance (!) - but now, they have come back with the following;
"With full fill cavities, there are many capillary tracks available for moisture to pass into the property. Accordingly it is imperative that the exterior rendering is watertight and maintained that way by the property owner throughout its service life. Our proposed external render system is the best and most appropriate for this dwelling. Lack of maintenance is exacerbating this situation."
They accepted liability in the first instance without a mere mention of 'lack of maintenance'. They started down this track AFTER the fact (once I went down the road of insisting that they answer the queries I put to them so that I could make an informed decision on their remediation plan). I clarified at that stage that due to the unusual nature of the cracks, I wasn't going to simply fill them in - until I could ascertain the nature of the defect. I outlined that others in the estate had done this and repainted also - only for the same horizontal cracks to re-emerge.
Furthermore, to my assertion that in addition that water is being carried across the cavity via the bonded bead cavity infill, I'm also claiming that this is also the case when it comes to what have been found to be improperly positioned (sloped inwards to carry water inwards) mortar snotted wall ties....(this was pointed out to them on-site by the engineer that I had engaged at that time - but they continually refuse to acknowledge this - even though I have an audio record of everything that was stated at that site meeting) to which their answer is this;
"With full fill cavities, there are many capillary tracks available for moisture to pass into the property. Any argument in regard to the passage of water along a wall tie is immaterial to the overall construction of this dwelling. "
I want to sanity check the position I'm taking as opposed their position. Am I being unreasonable in what I claim?
What the hell do you have to do in Ireland to get an honest/fair/reasonable outcome from an insurer!? :-(