Indemnity policy Exclusion clause (Urgent)

InvalidIndemnity

Hi Everyone,
I have a question regarding Exclusion heading in my indemnity policy which is taken out because of no planning permission on the property, it states:

"This policy does not cover any loss in respect of any works over 12 months old prior to the Date of Commencement otherwise covered hereunder where such loss has resulted directly from additional works carried out upon the Property or from any application by the insured to the local authority for any planning consent ot building regulation consent after the Date of Commencement"

I really need to know what is the meaning of above mentioned lines, please if someone can explain me I will really grateful.
Thanking in advance

Doozergirl

It won't cover you if you carry out additional works to what you are covering. eg. further alterations to an extension that has no permissions.

Nor will it cover you if you now go to Planning or Building Control to seek the proper permissions on the work you're trying to cover (because you'll have basically asked you to come after you - these policies are based on the fact that if the authorities don't know, they won't chase you and the insurer will never have to pay out!)

The 12 month thing is (I am presuming here, you'll have to look at the rest of the policy) because nothing under 12 months old is covered at all (as this is still the time-frame within which Building Control can easily place enforcement on you).

InvalidIndemnity

Thank you very much for your prompt response. I would just ask you to please if you can only explain me this line :
"This policy does not cover any loss in respect of any works over 12 months old prior to the Date of Commencement"
As per my understanding I am assuming if the commencement date of the policy is 17 July 2006 then according the above mentioned lines it will only cover anything between 16 July 2005 & 17 July 2006 and it will not cover anything which is done before 16 July 2005.
Am I right in saying that, please if you can explain me a bit

Doozergirl

No, you're not right because that isn't the entire sentence.

It says it doesn't cover anything over 12 months old "otherwise covered hereunder"... so it's applying exclusions but doesn't mean it isn't covering what you're trying to cover. You're trying to cover work over 12 months old (I'm presuming it's BC issues here as they won't cover work less than 12 months old at all), so they are saying they won't cover work over 12 months old where you have done the following...

You might just ask your solicitor. That is what they are there for!

Are you buying, selling or being chased by planning?

DVardysShadow

Perhaps it would be easier if you explained your problem and then we said how we think the clause applies. There is little point in picking away at fragments of the clause, because it all has to be read in context.

The essence of the whole thing is that if the council discover that unapproved works have been carried out because of a further planning application or as a result of building inspection, then there is no cover.

InvalidIndemnity

Thank you guys for your prompt response. I will write in detail what is the problem.
I am in really bad situation, I made a mistake and without reading a document I have signed it, I bought a property in June 2006 which has no planning permission on it, there were number of papers I did sign and one of them states that "I am fully aware of the scenario that this flat has got no planning permission but I am going ahead with it because of the indemnity policy on it, in case council take any action this indemnity policy will cover me", I have signed this document and was so dump and stupid to sign it. Council issued a PCN in feb 2009 following with Enforcement notice in September 2009 which is within 4 years. I did a appeal against the Enforcement and I lost. In the meantime I manage to contact Indemnity policy inusrers and they come back with this policy is invalid as it states for its validity the building work should be taken place prior 12 months period, so I found out in early 2010 that policy is invalid. As the work done was within 12 months period of the policy commencement date.
I am a lease holder and I cannot do any changes to revert it back to single dwelling. My current solicitor did a claim against my conveyancing solicitor and after a long time there insurers's solicitor come back with really harsh reply and they have rejected everything, they are not accepting any liability for anything because of that signed document, if you want I can provide you with their replies and the document I did sign for backn in June 2006.
Now my current solicitor asked me we have left with no choice apart from taking them in court and do the case against them (Suing them) which is ok.
I read the policy before providing it to my solicitor and as per my understanding I have found the followings:

Letter of refusal (3rd November 2010) from the Indemnity Policy Insurer
"As you are aware, the above indemnity policy provides cover in respect of works fully completed at least 12 months prior to the Date of Commencement. The date of Commencement of the policy is 17 July 2006, and therefore only works fully completed prior to 16 July 2005 would be covered."

And the original Indemnity policy states that:

"Exclusion

This policy does not cover any loss in respect of any works over 12 months old prior to the Date of Commencement otherwise covered hereunder where such loss has resulted directly from additional works carried out upon the Property or from any application by the insured to the local authority for any planning consent ot building regulation consent after the Date of Commencement"

Please if you can confirm me I am right in saying that they are 2 different statements.

DVardysShadow

So what has been done to the property since 16 July 2005? By whom? And when?

And how did the council become involved?

InvalidIndemnity

Seller purchased the property as a single dwelling in october 2005, he converted the single dwelling into 2 flats somewhere after october 2005.
I bought the property in June 2006 as already converted flat, I bought the first floor flat. Council came to know somewhere in Feb 2009 and they issued me a PCN in March 2009 and then they served me with a Enforcement notice in September 2009.
Is that what you want to inquire?

DVardysShadow

Yes, that is the info. How did they come to know?

Doozergirl

They are two different statements.

I guessed myself that they wouldn't cover anything at all younger than 12 months old. You haven't quoted that. It will say it somewhere else in the policy.

The exclusion is about something else entirely and doesn't really relate to your situation. It excludes in addition to anything less than 12 months old (which is very obvious for this type of policy) work older than 12 months carried out on the property after the original contravention and/or where you ended up initiating the enforcement action by contacting the Local Authority to try and obtain planning permission.

Do you have legal cover with the household insurance that you can use to further this? Indeed, do you have a mortgage?

Whilst I understand you signed that document and they think it indemnifies them, the document says that you are signing because you believed that the indemnity would cover you. Based on the very little information I have, I would have said that your solicitor was negligent on both your behalf and your lenders (if you have one) because the indemnity policy (which can only be purchased by a solicitor was never adequate to cover you.

But what does that document you signed actually say? What you quoted isn't actually what it said is it?!

I am interested to know if you have a mortgage as I suspect your lender would have more clout if the solicitor had not acted appropriately to protest their interest in the property. I'm worried though that you don't and you've done this, possibly contrary to advice that you were given and that is where this document comes into it.

I wish I could offer more advice. Sorry.

InvalidIndemnity

I am not sure how council get involved might be a complain made by someone but I am not sure, they just issued me with Planning Contravention Notice (PCN) in March 2009 and then Enforcement notice in September same year. I never actually seen my Indemnity policy as I gave my file to the solicitor (acting one) and he just called me before doing the court proceedings that in your file the original policy is not present, so I called the insurers and asked them to fax me a copy and that was the first time I read it and whatever I read I found it contradictory to what they have mentioned when they said it is invalid, So I asked few people to read it and they read the same as me so I emailed my solicitor and ask him whether I am reading it write so Today I manage to speak to him, he is looking into it but I thought myself to understand whether I am reading or understanding it correctly that is why I pasted those Exclusion clause wordings in the post earlier on this forum