Buying Property Indemnity Insurance __EXCLUSIVE__
The process of buying property can often turn up a few surprises. Sometimes these are relatively minor, like repairs that need to be made before the sale can continue. But sometimes the issues identified through the conveyancing or survey processes can cause long delays and may highlight potential future issues.
buying property indemnity insurance
Taking out a policy can protect you against a wide variety of potential issues, most of which tend to be relatively small. The idea is that you take out indemnity insurance instead of trying to fix the problem(s), which could end up being more costly if they do become an issue.
Indemnity insurance benefits whoever owns the property, so is usually bought by the buyer. However, the insurance resides with the property, not the owner, so can be passed on to subsequent owners. For this reason, a seller may also choose to buy indemnity insurance to facilitate a sale, since the insurance will cover the new owner too.
The question you may face is: do I try to fix the problem now, or take out indemnity insurance? The main motivator for many people is time. Delays in your property purchase can be costly, as you may lose your own buyer or be gazumped if you make the other people in the chain wait too long. Getting cover for the problem is much quicker, and will protect you in the interim even if you decide to fix the issue at a later date.
There are also other specific circumstances in which it is wise to take out indemnity insurance. Firstly, because the insurance also covers mortgage lenders, your solicitor may insist you take out a policy to secure funding for the purchase of the property. Secondly, your conveyancer may advise you to take out a policy before committing to a purchase.
Indemnity insurance can last indefinitely, since it is tied to the property not the owners. Any new owners will continue to be covered. However, this may change if the property significantly increases in price. If this happens, the owner at the time may need to pay a one-off additional premium to keep an appropriate level of cover.
Another important fact about indemnity insurance is that most policies are invalidated if you reveal the defect to a third party. For example, if you are covered for a lack of planning permission and then subsequently apply for retrospective planning permission for the same building work, it is very likely that you will have invalidated your policy and no longer have any protection against a subsequent legal challenge.
The tricky thing about indemnity insurance is that it covers such a broad range of issues, which can make it hard to know if it would add value in your particular situation. The only way to get an idea of this is to consider your circumstances, preferably with the help of expert advice. Both your solicitor and your mortgage broker can be useful here. Your mortgage broker should be able to point you towards the best value indemnity insurance, as well as advising you on the types of mortgages available to you.
The insurance market can be a minefield these days, and knowing which policies you should take out, renew, or avoid can be tricky. During the process of buying or selling a house, your conveyancer may suggest indemnity insurance.
An indemnity insurance policy is used when there is a legal defect within a property that cannot be resolved, or where it can, it would be extremely costly and potentially take a substantial amount of time.
This type of indemnity insurance policy is suggested if your house has had alterations made without planning permission, or where there is no proof that alterations were made within the permitted development rights. Taking out an indemnity policy would cover you from the risk of enforcement from local authority. It would also help with any missing regulation certificates.
If you sell your house but are unable to provide any boiler installation certification, you can get an indemnity insurance policy to cover it. Supplying a gas safety certificate provides an element of security to the potential buyer as it reassures them of the operational quality of the boiler. Providing this would also mean you do not need to look at taking out an indemnity policy.
When you are buying a house, it is highly recommended to ask for the safety certificate. Whilst indemnity insurance can cover for some things, it will certainly not cover the cost of repairing or replacing the boiler.
There are a few other times when an indemnity insurance policy would be worthwhile. For example, if you were lent money to help with your deposit and the lender is declared bankrupt, the creditors could look to make a claim on your property. A policy could then protect you from lost value.
Indemnity insurance will vary and is calculated based on the value of your property and what the policy will cover. You could pay as little as 20, or as much as 300. It all depends on the type of policy you choose. Indemnity to cover a building that does not have the correct certificates can cost a few hundred pounds, whilst a chancel repairs policy is much cheaper.
Typically, you would use indemnity insurance to cover legal defects which would be either very costly, or very time consuming to fix, but are low risk and are therefore unlikely to ever actually cause a problem.
If there are any legal defects with your property you are likely to need indemnity insurance. These will become apparent as your conveyancer takes you through the legal process of buying or selling a property.
Getting indemnity insurance to cover each legal defect can be a good way to resolve such issues quickly. If an outside party decides to sue over one of the defects, the insurance policy should pay out and cover your costs.
Note that this type of indemnity insurance can only be bought a year after the completion of the work in question. This is because prior to this point the local authority can issue an order against it without having to go through the courts.
If you are buying a property where the previous owners have breached a covenant without a charge being levied against them, you can buy indemnity insurance to protect you from any legal problems this breach may cause you in future.
In addition, indemnity insurance can help you if this situation is the other way round. An easement is essentially the opposite of a covenant, and gives the owner of a property a right over another property. These are often used for access rights.
Normally, your conveyancer will simply advise if you need to purchase indemnity insurance and how to proceed. You should ask them to ensure that there is no free way around an issue before you purchase an expensive insurance policy.
For some issues, it is a much better idea to fix them than to insure against them. For example, gas and electricity safety, or structural issues all pose dangers to buildings occupants but an indemnity policy would not cover this. Instead, you would arrange a gas and electrical safety certificate rather than relying on indemnity insurance to protect you against something going wrong with your home.
For other issues, buying a policy pretty is often your only choice. For example, when buying a property with a possessive title it can be impossible to find the title documents required to upgrade it, as they may not even exist.
You will probably not be able to negotiate for a cheaper indemnity insurance policy. This is because indemnity insurance policies are only offered by specialist providers. Your conveyancer may charge you a fee for arranging cover. Ensure that you ask for the whole quote in order to avoid hidden charges.
You guessed it, home indemnity insurance is a type of insurance! It usually gives sellers some protection during conveyancing transactions in case there is some sort of defect with the property that could give rise to legal action further down the line. Indemnity policies are typically a one-off payment, and the cover lasts forever.
Buyers can also take out indemnity insurance to protect them against future problems associated with the purchase of a property. Conveyancing solicitors often suggest taking out an indemnity policy when building certifications are incomplete. For example, you may be purchasing a property that is missing a particular building regulation certificate, or the property seller is unable to provide planning permission related to an extension that they built. In instances like this, you can take out a home indemnity insurance policy that will protect you against future losses or claims that might arise as a result of the missing documentation.
Buyers can also take out insurance that covers them against the potential devaluation of the property caused by any defects, such as subsidence. This type of insurance typically covers both the mortgage lender and the buyer in the event that the property loses value. Whilst these kinds of issues are relatively rare they can generate significant losses, so indemnity insurance provides protection against those losses.
The cost (or premium) of a home indemnity policy varies and depends on both the value of the property and the extent of the policy coverage. These costs can vary significantly. For example, chancel repair policies are typically very cheap (as cheap as a few pounds) whilst missing certification or planning permission insurance can cost many hundreds, or even thousands of pounds. The typical cost of indemnity insurance is between 30 and 350.
In lieu of title insurance, some private transactions can involve a warranty of title, which is a guarantee by a seller to a buyer that the seller has the right to transfer ownership and no one else has rights to the property.
Indemnity insurance is a protective insurance policy taken out during property transactions. Your indemnity policy will cover you against any legal property issues that would be difficult to resolve. Although the chances are small that you encounter a legal defect, the price would be costly if you did.
Compare My Move work with property experts to help keep you informed throughout the buying process. In this guide, we explain what indemnity insurance is, what the policy covers, how much is indemnity insurance and who has to pay. 041b061a72