Chancel Repair Liability

grey_gym_sock

does it matter? you said that your mortgage lender requires insurance to be taken out. you won't persuade them to change their mind. look at it as part of the cost of the mortgage.

Oxymoron

It does matter due to the insurance being for a fixed period, 25-35 years. What happens after that more insurance if we even remember.
This Chancel theivery is open ended they can claim from you in perpertuity. The insurance will cover the building society and any risk that they may have but our concern is for the future worth of the house. Isn't it better to prove that the place does not have a liability in the first place. The neighbours have never heard of it and their solicitors. We spoke to the lenders also and they are going to reconsider and look into it. To be honest the solicitors are not that good and the more I read about this it seems to be a giant scam by the insurance companies. We shall see.

grey_gym_sock

i'm not an expert, but i suspect that the risk of a claim actually be made against a property where the liability is not mentioned in the deeds is so remote that it would be sensible to ignore it. in the 1 well-publicized case where a couple had to pay a huge amount, it was mentioned on their deeds, and they were hoping to rely on a verbal assurance that it wouldn't happen.

if you take the same view, then you would want to get the cheapest insurance policy that keeps the mortgage company happy.

steppevos

Oxymoron wrote: »

It does matter due to the insurance being for a fixed period, 25-35 years. What happens after that more insurance if we even remember.
This Chancel theivery is open ended they can claim from you in perpertuity.

No, these claims are not open ended. I don't have the exact details at hand, but parishes have till the end of 2013 to put a claim on 'glebbe' land (and houses) and register this with the land registry. If a parish does, then they have indefinate rights, but if they haven't done so by that date, then this old right is not longer enforceable. (I researched this when we bought our house in June 2011). In my opinion it is quite unlikely that the Church or England will suddenly put a lot of research in this in this last year; they are probably aware that these actions would cost them a lot of good will with local communities and may cost them far more than it will gain them.
For this reason we didn't take out indementy insure (but then we didn't need a mortgage), even though the first outcome was that we may be in an area with chancelry repair liability (but if even the case it would be shared several hundred other houses, in contrast to the specific quoted case, in whose case it was clearly written in their land registry documents, but the people had assumed that this would never happen to them.).

Oxymoron

Steve you are only exempt if you purchase the house after Sept 13 2013 if you own the house before then then you are liable untill you sell it. You are right that evryone in that particular area will be liable for the repair but the church can pick on one individual and force them to pay up and that individual will have to recoup the rest from their neighbours. Like they are going to pay up. not a chance. I know there would be a miniscule chance of it happening but I think its so unfair in this day and age that the Church of England could have the right and the power to do this sort of thing. I am so incensed by this I have written to my MP who happens to be a Christain Socialist? to get his opinion. We shall see. I might even right to the new Archbishop of Canterbury aswell.

Land_Registry

Just to advise that we have now produced a Public Guide on the subject of chancel repairs as well as other interests which may appear (or not) on the land register.

My original post remains relevant but should be read alongside this Guide for a better understanding of the situation from a title/ownership perspective

paso11

Oxymoron wrote: »

Steve you are only exempt if you purchase the house after Sept 13 2013 if you own the house before then then you are liable untill you sell it. You are right that evryone in that particular area will be liable for the repair but the church can pick on one individual and force them to pay up and that individual will have to recoup the rest from their neighbours. Like they are going to pay up. not a chance. I know there would be a miniscule chance of it happening but I think its so unfair in this day and age that the Church of England could have the right and the power to do this sort of thing. I am so incensed by this I have written to my MP who happens to be a Christain Socialist? to get his opinion. We shall see. I might even right to the new Archbishop of Canterbury aswell.

Same thing has come up on my purchase. The indemnity insurance is an insignificant amount but like you I am incensed.

Its2012 Why has this not been legislated away?

Oxymoron

I have just received confirmation from my solicitor that we are not liable for this tax. If I had not done my own research and insisted that they did their job correctly I would be having to take out this scam insurance. I know of people in my local area that have actually paid up for this insurance. I would advise anyone to do their research. Have a look at the law. If you live in a parish formed after 1536 you are not liable. The parish that I am in was formed in 1584. Check the parish boundaries and all of the old tithe boundaries. It may not be your local church but one many miles away. Our parish church was over 10 miles away which had, over the years been split into smaller and smaller parishes. It can be very confusing but if you research it properly you could save yourselves a few pounds. Not forgetting that it really PI££ed me off.
I have written to my MP to complain as this is a sure case of miss-sellimng insurance along the lines of PPI. lease do not hesitate to contact me for any advice.
Also many thanks to all of those that have replied and helped me out. Cheers.

Conrad

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Yes. When we bought our current property this issue arose.

We paid a one off indemnity insurance against a claim being made against us.

Post deleted by me.

maninthestreet

Oxymoron wrote: »

I have just received confirmation from my solicitor that we are not liable for this tax. If I had not done my own research and insisted that they did their job correctly I would be having to take out this scam insurance. I know of people in my local area that have actually paid up for this insurance. I would advise anyone to do their research. Have a look at the law. If you live in a parish formed after 1536 you are not liable. The parish that I am in was formed in 1584. Check the parish boundaries and all of the old tithe boundaries. It may not be your local church but one many miles away. Our parish church was over 10 miles away which had, over the years been split into smaller and smaller parishes. It can be very confusing but if you research it properly you could save yourselves a few pounds. Not forgetting that it really PI££ed me off.
I have written to my MP to complain as this is a sure case of miss-sellimng insurance along the lines of PPI. lease do not hesitate to contact me for any advice.
Also many thanks to all of those that have replied and helped me out. Cheers.

Can you explain how to go about checking parish boundaries and when the parish was created?