Should I pay someone to store my deeds?

rebeccak

I bought my flat about three years ago and, as my mortgage provider didn't want to store the deeds, I paid the solicitor an annual fee for storing the deeds for me. The solicitor (Wolstenholmes - who have various other threads devoted to them on here!) have now been closed down following an intervention and I have just now received the deeds and other associated paperwork from the solicitors who were appointed to deal with the aftermath of this.

I am listed on the Land Registry website as the owner which I understand is the most important thing but should I pay someone to store my deeds securely or is it okay to keep them in my flat? What are the consequences if they were lost or stolen? If I do have them stored, who should I go to as I now have no solicitor and my bank don't want them?

I'm not even sure which parts of the paperwork consitute 'the deeds' as there are lots of different bits of paper in there!

timmyt

YOu can take possesion sure. Just don't lose them. Or most lawyers at the end of the deal offer to store them, perhaps free or for a one off charge. Nothing more than £20 which may be worth it, as the deeds may have planning consents or NHBC warranty, or a lease or other copy documents which may cost a copying charge to replace if you lose them.

Just keep them safe, but an annual charge is a bit harsh.....cheaper lawyers need to reocver costs where they can..hence Wolstenholmes's practice...and others

AND

those lawyers who say 'the land is registered - there are no such things as deeds anymore' miss the point that on a purchase, the solicitor may have a whole host of the above mentioned. Those are the deeds' lawyers usually refer to nowadays.....useful documents (as opposed to title documents which are now computerised by the Land Registry), that so many clients lose by taking their own possession, or never get from their lawyers (god knows what the lawyer does with them) and yet had they been available can save replacements, and speed up while copies are located.

WE always bundle them together and make them available to the client, but we prefer to hold them as we can be very fast and comprehensive when we sell

Doozergirl

If you have only owned the property for three years then the Land Registry will hold electronic details of your deeds. There is no need to pay someone to keep them safe for you as they act more for historical interest now than actual proof of ownership or need.

You can sell your property without the paper copies.

Eric1

timmyt wrote: »

most lawyers at the end of the deal offer to store them, perhaps free or for a one off charge. Nothing more than £20 which may be worth it

One solicitor quoted me £75, but said it was optional. One off charge of £20 sounds reasonable.

timmyt

Eric1 wrote: »

One solicitor quoted me £75, but said it was optional. One off charge of £20 sounds reasonable.

ouch, terrible. Big firm, or little local one?

Eric1

timmyt wrote: »

ouch, terrible. Big firm, or little local one?

medium, I think, with a few branches in nearby towns

G_M

timmyt wrote: »

ouch, terrible. Big firm, or little local one?

What on earth is the relevance of the size of the firm?

G_M

rebeccak wrote: »

I am listed on the Land Registry website as the owner which I understand is the most important thing but should I pay someone to store my deeds securely or is it okay to keep them in my flat? What are the consequences if they were lost or stolen? If I do have them stored, who should I go to as I now have no solicitor and my bank don't want them?

I'm not even sure which parts of the paperwork consitute 'the deeds' as there are lots of different bits of paper in there!

As stated above, proof of ownership resides electronically with the Land Reg. However there are probobly other relevant documents (lease, covenants etc ) which, while replaceable, are important. There may also be historically interesting documents (ancient deeds which are now redundant recording sales from pre Land reg times).

I keep mine in a fireproof safe at home. Then I know I can lay my hands on them when I come to sell, either to refer to myself, or pass to whoever my chosen solicitor (big or small!) is, should I choose to use one.

If you decide to have them stored, however, many banks have safety boxes you can rent, and for a fee many solicitors would probobly take them (anticipating future business no doubt!)

seabright

We store deeds for clients (we have the advantage of being in a building which used to house a bank, so have a lovely big vault in the basement!).

The storage is free, but if you want them back we sometimes make a deeds retrieval fee of £35.00 to cover the cost of the admin of loggin them in and out of our vault, postage & letters etc. We don't always actually charge the £35, it's discretionary.

So, if I client wants the deeds back so they can instruct someone else to sell, they'll probably get charged, but if we act, no charge (obviously). If they want them back to look at something or research the history of the house etc and are nice and polite I probably wouldn't charge, but if they're rude and unpleasant, I might well do!

We store other things for clients too, wills, codicils, share certificates, birth certificates. We've even stored paintings and jewellry on occasion. Basically, if we build up a relationship with a client we'll try and help them out.

timmyt

G_M wrote: »

What on earth is the relevance of the size of the firm?

factory/chain firms trying another tactic for more money?