Anyone with chancel repair liability experience?

daedalus_2

Hello
I have made an offer to buy a flat and the solicitors searches have uncovered the fact that it is subject to chancel repair liability. Apparently I can buy an insurance policy from the solicitor to protect againt this eventuality. My question is does anyone know how often people are actually called upon to make a payment, how unlikely is it? Could it be just an opportunity to make money for the solicitor flogging insurance?
I hope someone will be able to provide useful input.
Thank you

dawyldthing

isn't it being phased out next year? I had to have it on mine but the seller paid for it on my behalf. Its just incase the church decides it wants more money

macarena123

I had this come up and worried about it. My solicitor's take was

1) Even though the cutoff is Oct this year for the Church to register it. he would still expect to have seen an entry at the Land Registry
2) I am buying a flat in London, i.e. a very built up area, so any liability would be spread across thousands of properties, so minimal risk. If I were in the countryside it might be different

So I have given it a miss.

What happened was a few years back there was very high profile case where a couple got done for this and ended up having to sell their house. This sparked a mini-industry in selling insurance.

Only you can decide whether or not to get it, but be aware that these companies are preying on people's insecurities

Have a chat with your solictor and see what he says

daedalus_2

I believe there have been requests to the government to get rid of it but no definite decision yet. In any case I suppose if I buy now I will still be liable.

daedalus_2

Hi Macarena,
does that mean the church only has 'til this october to register a request for payment? That could be good or bad -it could either mean they will all rush to get their requests in before the cut-off, or I've only got a couple of months to worry about it assuming it will take a couple of months to complete the purchase.
I will follow up the suggestion to get the seller to pay for it though. Thank you

yorkshire_terrier_owner

I have just had to buy it on the house I purchased a month ago. Cost me £60 for 25 years cover. It was a requirement of my lender that I had it. My Dad did some research on it when it came up and it would appear that the church can choose one or more properties almost at random if it wants money for chancel repairs, therefore don't rely on it being a built up area so the cost will be spread as this is not necessarily the case.

It is off the back of a case a few years ago (Aston Cantlow v Wallbank) and churches have until October this year to register their interest in using it. If a church requires chancel repairs and do not seek funding from properties that are liable then the members of the Parish Council are personally liable under the Charities Act. It is unlikely that it will be enforced but for the sake of £60....... and the fact that if you are having a mortgage you will probably have to have it.

macarena123

Fair point about the £60 quid. I did hum and hah a bit but had decided not to get it - my lender did not insist on it.

Interestingly my stepfather used to do conveyancing in the area where I'm buying and it never once came up or used to be something anyone concerned themselves with until that court case came up. And in that case, the couple lived in a farm house that was virtually attached to the church in question.

So while I take your point about mitigating risk, this all smacks of insurance companies making a lot of money against an incredibly remote contingency....

Racml34

We bought our house a few weeks ago and had this come up. Interestingly in our case the insurance was only a one of £10 payment so we went with it. It's interesting to hear that others have been charged higher amounts

Angelicdevil

I paid for the indemnity policy when I purchased last year.

My property is in a small village with a rather old church, didn't want to take a risk. It only cost £40, worth it in my opinion.

allybee101

The deadline this October is for churches to declare an 'interest' on a property. They don't have to put a claim in then, but they need to inform the Land Registry that the property could be liable. My insurance was paid for by previous owners and it covers next set of buyers as well.
I'm in a built up area so theoretically the cost would be spread out but who knows how much you might end up getting tapped for.

daedalus_2

Hmmm.. thank you all for replying. I'm clearer now what it's all about. I suspect it's 99.9% certain I will never be called upon to pay it but, just in case, approx £60 is a small price to pay for peace of mind. (Although I do detest the feeling of insurance companies preying on my/our insecurities)