indemnity insurance when buying!!!!

Sleven

Well me and girlfriend have saved up and are finally able to buy a flat, we found a really nice 1900 house which was split into 2 flats (ground floor and 1st) of which we are buying the ground floor.

The person we are buying from has owned it for around 2 years and has said he had no issues when buying it but a week before our expected exchange date our sol has found out there is no building regs for the conservatory that was built approx 8-10 years ago and has said the seller should take out indemnity insurance. further searches are being done through the local authority but my sol expects to find nothing new.

The conservatory extends the living room and kitchen and fills in the "L" shape at the back of the property, two RSJ's were put in to open the property up and thus there is no thermal barrier (internal doors to the conservatory)

So after that bit of history my question. Is indemnity insurance really worth anything as iv been told mixed things on them and will this work despite being standing for at least 8 years cause any issues with my buildings insurance should something happen in the future.


Thanks for reading and for any help.

Cannon_Fodder

Its not just the buildings insurance.

Your Lender may insist on it, before advancing funds.

Althought it may be rare for a council, or other body, to act upon a long-standing structure, the Lender is more worried about the potential for a reduction in value of a property, than the likelihood.

Even cash buyers should make sure the vendor provides indemnity insurance, in case when they eventually come to sell a Lender is involved.

Richard_Webster

If you weren't getting a mortgage and you were happy that there was nothing structurally wrong with the work then you might well accept the position.

If you are getting a mortgage your solicitor will feel he has to ask for an indemnity policy to protect the lender against the highly unlikely eventuality of the Council taking enforcement action. Remember the policy doesn't pay out if there is damage to the property because the work did not comply with the regulations, only if the Council take action. There is more chance of a lion escaping from a zoo and eating you than the council taking action after that length of time.

Yes, I know....why would the lender want a policy if it isn't going to happen? Why do many of them want us to investigate work for possible Building Regulation contraventions going back forever? There are lots of stupid things that lenders want that I could spend ages arguing with them about, but would it help the average buyer to complete more quickly? Problem is that our interface is with non-legally qualified people so their reaction to a specialist legal query is quite unpredictable.

timmyt

Sleven wrote: »

Well me and girlfriend have saved up and are finally able to buy a flat, we found a really nice 1900 house which was split into 2 flats (ground floor and 1st) of which we are buying the ground floor.

The person we are buying from has owned it for around 2 years and has said he had no issues when buying it but a week before our expected exchange date our sol has found out there is no building regs for the conservatory that was built approx 8-10 years ago and has said the seller should take out indemnity insurance. further searches are being done through the local authority but my sol expects to find nothing new.

The conservatory extends the living room and kitchen and fills in the "L" shape at the back of the property, two RSJ's were put in to open the property up and thus there is no thermal barrier (internal doors to the conservatory)

So after that bit of history my question. Is indemnity insurance really worth anything as iv been told mixed things on them and will this work despite being standing for at least 8 years cause any issues with my buildings insurance should something happen in the future.


Thanks for reading and for any help.

indemnity insurance is what is say on the tin, a very cheap insurance against enforcement.

bigger problem here is major work has been done without LA inspections. so was it done badly and is a danger to you as buyer? if BRegs were needed then get your surveyor to say if good standrad of safety then you are fine. council cannot then take action, so why bother with indemnity anyway

Yorkie1

Sleven wrote: »

further searches are being done through the local authority but my sol expects to find nothing new.

I was under the impression from previous posts on this topic that indemnity insurance is worthless once searches at the local authority have been undertaken. i.e. either do the searches or get the insurance, but not both. Depending on the nature of the searches being conducted, it may be that the indemnity insurance is not a route which is open to you.

Hopefully others will be able to confirm if my understanding is correct.

Bananamana

The search of the local authority will reveal what planning/ building regulations entries there are (amongst other matters). It is not the same as a direct enquiry at the council regarding particular works that may/may not have permission and which would invalidate a policy.

Unless you are talking about search indemnity?I would be suprised if someone opted for a £60-100 search indemnity rather than just doing the searches themselves.

vet8

The idea of thermal barriers is, I believe, fairly new. My neighbours have a conservatory which sounds exactly like the one you describe, they had it built 10 years ago and that comes straight off the living room. The thermal barriers part of Buildings Regs. is fairly recent. Conservatories built before that was introduced do not need them.