Buyer wants neighbour's insurance

shayward

We have sold our double story maisonette that is above another single story flat.

The buyers solicitors have asked for a copy of the downstairs flat's insurance.

Downstairs, who have normally been fine, have refused on the grounds that she has given out the details twice before, and the previous sellers never gave her back the documents.

She also says that she asked her own solicitor who told her that she is not required to provide the details.

So my question is, do the downstairs neighbours have to provide their buildings insurance details, AND, if my buyers pull out because she won't provide them, do I have any legal recourse?

TrickyDicky101

Christ if she provided the documents twice before then she's already done far more than I would. It's simply none of anyone else's business what her insurable position is. Isn't buildings insurance managed centrally (eg through a management company)? Do you jointly own the freehold?

G_M

Read your lease! What does it say about insurance? Who is the freeholder?

Chances are either the freeholder should be arranging insurance on the building (and the leaseholders contribute the cost) or the leases require each leaseholder to insure - in which case the freeholder (or their managing agent?) should/could be ensuring this is being done... so the freeholder should have copies.

If some other more informal arrangement is in place, then you have a problem. As one of two leaseholders, you have little power over the other (except via the freeholder) as you have no direct legal arrangement with the other leaseholder.

shayward

The lease states that each leaseholder is required to insure their portion of the building themselves.

The freeholder has never enquired of my insurance, ever.

My question, as stated before, is: does a neighbour have to provide their insurance details when their neighbour is selling an attached property.

I am guessing that the answer, based on the previous posts is no.

I would be interested in finding out if other people have been aware of any such requests when they have sold properties in the past.

G_M

shayward wrote: »

The lease states that each leaseholder is required to insure their portion of the building themselves.

....My question, as stated before, is: does a neighbour have to provide their insurance details when their neighbour is selling an attached property.

I am guessing that the answer, based on the previous posts is no.

.

As I said above, each leaseholder is answerable to the freeholder to comply with the terms of the lease. Only the freeholder can check/enforce compliance.

Either you reach an informal arrangement with the other leaseholder (which you say you've tried and failed), or you go the legalistic route, via the freeholder.

shayward

Indeed, the freeholder should be the responsible party here. So if the neighbour downstairs doesn't have buildings insurance, and say the whole building burnt down. It would be the freeholders responsibility for the fact that the downstairs person had no insurance.

Therefore, it should not actually matter to the new buyer wether our neighbours have insurance as that would be the freeholders responsibility.

I am hoping that the new buyers just accept that and move on and that this doesn't now delay the sale. The freeholders here are painfully slow at doing anything.

john_white

simple solution, buy a policy yourself for the flat downstairs. Consider it an extra expense of selling, maybe £100 or so, cancel it a week later.

Unless of course there is some law that says you cannot insure a property you don't own. You could argue that you misunderstood your neighbour and you thought she was saying she did not want to insure it not that she didn't want to give you a copy.

kingstreet

john_white wrote: »

Unless of course there is some law that says you cannot insure a property you don't own.

It's a principle not a law, but there does have to be insurable interest. If there is no insurable interest, we'd all insure our worst enemy's house then go and burn it down before collecting our payout.

It used to happen when insurance first started in the 17th century.

Tygermoth

kingstreet, Lol

Very good way of explaining insurable intrest. I may borrow that....

Seanymph

If she's given it out twice before (and how can she not get the details back?) - you could perhaps get it from wherever she gave it to before? Or offer to pay for a photocopy?

I know you can insure someone else's life without their knowledge. I don't see why you couldn't insure their flat.

Although from a buyers point of view it makes no sense - the insurance is only valid on that day, it doesn't indicate a responsible tenant downstairs who will be there forever (or even tomorrow).

Is it a hard building to insure? I had a II* listed pile once, and as part of the takeover (it had subsided historically) my solicitor demanded the insurance to make sure that it was insurable. So it may be that a couple of quotes for your building could do the same thing.

geri1965_2

Seanymph wrote: »

If she's given it out twice before (and how can she not get the details back?) - you could perhaps get it from wherever she gave it to before? Or offer to pay for a photocopy?

She could have changed insurers since. Although I do not understand her complaining about not getting the documents back, I would have thought she'd give people a copy, not the originals!