Due to complete today but........

karen71_3 · 20 November 2009 at 7:42PM

Hello, first time seller due to a death in the family.

We were due to complete today but they buyer can't get insurance on the house. She has had all the surveys done and there is nothing structural or faults with the house, although there is a small crack on the outside wall. Due to this crack the insurance company won't cover the house until they get a survey done, even thought its the same company that insured the house for the previous 20 odd year. Can anyone tell me if this is normal and how long it will put the sale back?

Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

pie81 · 20 November 2009 at 7:48PM

Do you mean you were due to complete, or due to exchange contracts?

Buyers should generally get buildings insurance from exchange onwards.

If you have exchanged then your buyer has to complete whether she can get insurance or not.

If you have not exchanged then it's a bit more difficult. She could try a different buildings insurance company and see if they are less fussy. If that doesn't work she'll have to get the extra survey done to prove to the insurers that the crack is definitely not a structural defect. I'm not sure how long this would take, depends on their surveyor's availability, could be a week or two?

silvercar · 20 November 2009 at 7:51PM

Phone your insurers and ask if they will cover the new owners. Even if the new owners (to be ) have got a quote themselves, coming from "your side" often moves walls.

karen71_3 · 20 November 2009 at 7:59PM

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, as far as I know we were due to exchange and complete today (there are 3 executors and I am getting second hand messages). We signed our contracts on Monday and as far as I know the seller was signing hers today and completing. My relative was in hospital for a while when his home insurance ran out and we didn't find this until we settled his paperwork, we gave her the insurance company details, even his old policy number and because his policy had ran out they want a survey done before they will insure again.

jenny74 · 20 November 2009 at 10:29PM

Your buyer's mortgage company will provide cover. Refer her to them.

karen71_3 · 22 November 2009 at 4:06PM

Another second had message passed along.

The surveyor won't give the buyer a certificate (what this is for I don't know) until the crack in the back wall has been monitored for 6 months, even though they have apparently said there is nothing structually wrong with the house. The estate agent has advised the buyer to get another survey done through the company they use and would we pay half. We have agreed to this.

Should we be worried? Is this normally what happens? What is the likelyhood of this surveyor giving her a certficate? Never been in this position before so I haven't got a clue.

loopyanna · 22 November 2009 at 5:19PM

I think a little more information is needed here.... Sounds like you were due to exchange and complete on the same day but the buyer was unable to put insurance in place on the day of exchange due to the "crack". To comply with the terms of her mortgage the buyer must have insurance in place at the time of exchange so this might be why exchange could not take place. However, it is rather odd that an insurance company want a certificate from a surveyor. It could well be that the surveyor is providing a valuation to the buyers mortgage company - which the lender will want in order to give your buyer a formal mortgage offer. However, again, this seems odd. You wouldn't normally want to wait until the day that exchange is set (especailly if you intend to complete on the same day) to get the mortgage offer in....

I think you need to speak to the Solicitor who is acting for you and the other executors and find out exactly what the problem is, what is being done to resolve it and what the likely timescale is.

Hope it helps

Anna

PasturesNew · 22 November 2009 at 5:43PM

If the house is empty, one plan might be to rent it to the potential buyers, just so they can move... although this comes with its own risks. e.g.
- they might change their minds once they've lived in it a few months
- they might not get the insurance/mortgage
- their situation might change so they are unmortgageable
- the deal might unravel -and- they get 4rsey and dig their heels in and become the tenants from hell who you have to evict through the courts and who trash the place

But it's out there as a suggestion.

Due to complete today but........

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