Indemnity Policy, how do you actualy obtain one ?

Fatboy40

Due to a c**k up in the past we didn't get the final certificate for a minor extension built on our house which we are selling, we've plenty of other documents from the local council.

So we more than likely need to arrange an Indemnity Policy, but I've tried all sorts of searches on Google and can't find out how the heck you obtain one and how much they cost ?.

I'm presuming that our solicitor can arrange one for us, but I'd like to know how much they could potentialy cost and who they could be provided by (I've seen that Zurich could provide one ?) as I like know these sorts of things in advance so that I'm not green and have an idea of whether or not I'm being ripped off.

Thanks.

tek-monkey

Its down to the solicitor to source one, I talked to a firm the other day but they would only talk to my sol. Usually a one off fee, think a few hundred quid was mentioned but am sure it depends on the circumstances.

I still think they are a massive con, as by asking the authorities involved if a certificate exists it invalidates the indemnity. This means in a lot of cases policies are taken out in fear of certificates not existing, regardless of whether they actually do.

VKay

hello,

We have taken out a policy as we are buying a house from an executor (Ie owner of house has died) and a document we needed dating back to 1870s (!) cannot be found. The seller's solicitor refused to do it so rather than lose the purchase a week before exchange, we are paying for it!

Our solicitor recommended one to us. The cost will depend on the value of your house plus whatever your solicitor charges for arrangement.

Ours covers values up to £200k (I think) and costs around £110 for 25 years.

Some charge more but are cheaper to upgrade (if you sell your house and it's value has increased you/ or buyer will need to upgrade).

Hope that helps.

Richard_Webster

hello,

We have taken out a policy as we are buying a house from an executor (Ie owner of house has died) and a document we needed dating back to 1870s (!) cannot be found. The seller's solicitor refused to do it so rather than lose the purchase a week before exchange, we are paying for it!

Our solicitor recommended one to us. The cost will depend on the value of your house plus whatever your solicitor charges for arrangement.

Ours covers values up to £200k (I think) and costs around £110 for 25 years.

Some charge more but are cheaper to upgrade (if you sell your house and it's value has increased you/ or buyer will need to upgrade).

Hope that helps.

No, it doesn't because it is a different type of indemnity policy from the Building Regulation Indemnity Policy that OP was referring to.

Solicitors don't generally get paid commission for arranging these and so some will charge for the work involved, which often only consists of going on line and filling in some details, or even taking a ready made policy out of a looseleaf and filling in the details. Guaranteed Conveyancing Solutions (used by many solicitors) who use Norwich Union (now Aviva) to underwrite their policies would charge £75 for a building regulation indemnity policy for a property worth between £200K and £250K. I mainly use Legal & Contingency who are generally cheaper.

It can be a trade off. I don't charge for arranging them so whilst I try to use companies that generally offer the good value for money, I am not going to guarantee to search the market for the best value because that would take up too much time.

dirtmother

It is a mildly nuts system when the indemnity is much cheaper than going through the proper building regs channels at the time.

However, having had the recent experience of an indemnity insurance (for lack of building regs approval) not having been arranged nor a particular building certificate obtained, despite checking twice with conveyancer and twice with the covering solicitor that on our side everything had been done ready for exchange (and specific instructions had been given to get both of these) - and having our sale delayed at the last minute because of it, it is worth avoiding that stress.

Doesn't actually seem to take long to organise once someone pulls their finger out. We weren't told how much it would be, just saw the bill before completion, £70. Hope that helps.