Indemnity Policy - restrictive covenant

Q3PO

I have recently bought my house which is about 15 years old. The original windows are wooden double glazing but are in a state beyond economical repair. I am looking to get them replaced with UPVC but there is a restrictive covenant in place preventing this. Can i go ahead and get an indemnity policy or do i have to wait until i want to sell the house (not in the forsesable future). Can i not get the policy as it would be myself who is breaking the covenant?
Thank you for any help.

Richard_Webster

Insurance companies won't normally provide a policy for this sort of thing until 12 months have passed with nobody complaining. You might be able to get one sooner but the cost would be greater because the insurer would have to look at the risks more and the admin involved would mean that it would be a one-off policy rather than a standard one.

Has there been any experience of the person/company entitled to the benefit of the covenants actually enforcing them?

I hope these are restrictive covenants and not planning conditions which are different thing altogether.

vivatifosi

Hi Q3PO,

Have you had a look around the estate to see what others have done? 15 years is the type of timescale that people will have started to replace windows, and you may be able to get some valuable information from your neighbours who have already started out down that route.

Its also worth speaking to the residents' association/management company to find out what their view on these issues are, though I suppose that depends on your attitude to "keeping your powder dry". I'm a director of the residents' company where I live and some of our covenants are our responsibility to uphold, others are those of the developers, who don't enforce them even where they could make money. This will obviously differ from estate to estate, but could be worth checking out.

Q3PO

Thanks for your replies. Yes it is a restrictive covenant. Some houses have had replacement UPVC windows and doors but not many. Some houses are privately owned and others are council. Is it possible that only the privatley owned house have these covenants.
Thank you
Q3P0

Richard_Webster

Where I am in Eastleigh, the Council charge £50 for approving conservatories and more minor alterations under similar covennats in titles of ex-Council houses, so this is usually cheaper than getting a policy.

You could try phoning the Council's Valuation/Estates Department (if it has one) and asking anonymously (not mentioning a particular property) what they do about giving consents for such things. They might say they never give consent because they don't like UPVC, or you might get a helpful person saying that you should send them some photos and a cheque for £Z and they will consider it, the person hinting that normally there would be no problem, or you might get the run around and give up trying to find anyone who can give you asensible answer. If the first or the last then you are back to getting an indemnity policy.