Help- Solicitor asking us to agree to Indemnity Policy.

bee101

Hello,

My partner and I are in the process of buying our first home. We were supposed to have exchanged by the end of the month. However, our solicitor told us a week ago that they still hadn't received the Benchmark certificate for the boiler/heating system from the vendors and do not suggest we exchange without it. Found out today that the vendors have actually lost the certificate and our solicitors have said the following :

" The sellers have not been able to find the Benchmark Certificate and are offering to pay for indemnity insurance for lack of building regulation approval. The policy covers you if the local authority takes enforcement proceedings because they did not comply with current building regulations when the boiler was installed. It does not cover you if the boiler is defective because it does not comply with current regulations. When you sell the property in the future, you have to pay a top of premium if the value of the house increases by more than 5% when you sell the property. The premium based on the current purchase price is £21."

What does this actually mean and do people think there are any problems with doing this? I don't understand why the vendors cannot get a duplicate certificate or is this something that is not available? Also what does "pay a top of premium if the value of the house increases by more than 5% when you sell the property" mean? Who is this payable to? My partner and I are a bit uneasy about this development so any advice would be warmly welcomed.

Thanks

tyler80

Was the boiler installation listed on your local authority searches, how old approx. is the boiler?

Johnhowell

Does the boiler work? Possibly ask to visit the house again and witness the boiler fire up on Water only as well as Water and Heating. Try the thermostats - on the wall as well as on the boiler. Check the radiator warm up. Is it a combi (yuck!) Ask the vendor to have the boiler fully serviced by a Gas Safe registered specialist. This service should check that compliance with regulations.

It is unlikely that the Council will do any sort of enforcement - especially if it is a residence rather than rental.

It would appear that the indemnity insurance (seems to endemic now-a-days) premium is based on the value of the property - and the solicitor is stating that your property is within 5% of the next premium threshold, so if you sold and needed to purchase indemnity insurance it may be at a higher rate...

Only my thoughts on this situation.
Good luck,
John

bee101

I don't believe it was with the search results and just been through the pack we got given by our solicitor again tonight and I can't find any mention of the boiler apart from a copy of a recent gas safety record. I believe the boiler was installed in 2008 (according to the vendors answers to our solicitors questions about the heating system). The benchmark certificate was asked for by our solicitors at the start of June but it has only become apparent today that they have no idea where it is.

bee101

Thankyou johnhowell for your reply. It is not a combi boiler. Last time we viewed the house they had the heating on..the radiators were lovely and hot! We have a recent service record provided in our pack from our solicitors for the boiler and no concerns were identified. I'm sure there won't be any issues (famous last words I know) but asking them to have another service to satisfy us is a good idea. Thankyou for your thoughts. Very much appreciated

tyler80

If the boiler was installed in 2008 but not revealed on your local authority searches then it's highly likely that the work was never signed off completely so no certificate exists.

Just been through something similar, we were prepared to accept a Gas Safety Check + Indemnity in place of the certificate (boiler installed 2010). Vendors spoke to building control about it so indemnity not an option but in the end managed to get the installation company to issue the certificate that should have been issued last year.