Knotty problem grows: Japanese knotweed

• Japanese knotweed: a claims invasion?

Japanese knotweed, one of the world’s most invasive plants, is a growing problem, causing potential conveyancing difficulties. It is particularly common along railway embankments and poorly maintained plots of land, and four homeowners, who live on the same road in South Wales, recently settled for a combined £42,500 in damages from Network Rail for invasion of the weed onto their land. 

Could this see a claims invasion? For example, if farmland has knotweed, perhaps growing on land left uncut as part of the EEC set aside scheme to develop a range of wildlife habitats, do farmers take out insurance cover against possible claims from nearby properties for Japanese knotweed ingress onto their land? Kay Henderson, press officer for NFU Mutual Insurance said: ‘We don’t believe cover is a legal requirement for farmers and these claims are extremely rare.’ 

Most insurance policies will not provide cover for the treatment of knotweed, but subsidence or damage caused by the