Protecting family home from being sold if bankrupted

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

One_Five_Four wrote: »

The owners of the house are elderly and in order to avoid them worrying, he hasn't told them his insurance wouldn't pay so they don't know what's happened. They think it's all done and dusted. He'd worked for them for many years and he classes them as friends as well as customers.

I don't think there is any need for him to tell the owners of the house. The debt is between the insurers and him.

I agree he should offer to the insurers that they put a charge on his house - they may not be willing to wait that long for payment, but it may be better than other options for them

debt_doctor

I would expect that the insurance company will either write off the difference or see what the equity position is at the time of death of both owners.
My bargaining position is that if they made him BR then from his side of the equity (with the same shortfall you identified) will be further drained by the IP to the tune of around £40 000.
So the charge keeps people in the house and returns at least £40 000 more to the insurance company than BR would.

DD

Quentin

John1993 wrote: »

......but let's not let that sort of thing get in the way of him cheating someone out of compensation for his negligence...

Ignore this incorrect unpleasantness.

MSE_Martin wrote:

This Board Is For Help Not Judgement

dancingfairy

I'm just wondering if it has gone to court yet? I presume it has to go to court and the insurance company have to prove their case? From the other thread it appears that all is not lost on that front yet and you may still be able to prove that you are covered by insurance?
Do you have any legal cover with your home insurance or mortgage at all?
A voluntary charging order as suggested above sounds like a good suggestion. You might want to get a lawyer/solicitor involved though to make sure they can't force a sale at a later date (it's unlikely that if they agreed to a charging order they would then attempt to force a sale but who knows).
Hope you can sort something out.
df
P.S I realise this is not you but a relation but I can't be bothered to go through and edit my post! The suggestions still stand.

One_Five_Four

Thanks all.

I only mentioned the owners of the fire damaged house to try to show that my BIL is a thoughtful fellow and has not tried to get them involved to somehow influence their insurance company.

The charging order on the house does look like a promising idea, assuming of course that the insurers of the damaged house will consider doing it.

Fear not Quentin, comments like that are the least of my worries.

The refusal of my BIL's insurance to pay out hasn't gone to court as he admits he did fail to comply with some of the conditions in his policy and we feel it's unlikely these could be set aside by a judge. Having already spent most of his life savings on solicitors, the prospect of spending the little he has left on more legal help with no certain outcome was distinctly unappealing.

We've already looked at home (etc) legal cover but sadly he didn't have any. He does now of course....

Once again, many thanks for all the help folks. It's genuinely appreciated and I will of course keep you posted.

One_Five_Four

I feel that I should tie this up as the situation has finally been resolved.

Out of the blue, at the start of the year, the householder's insurance company accepted my B-I-L's offer of his remaining life savings (see post No.1) in full and final settlement of their claim. This was of course paid as quickly as he could manage it and we have received confirmation that the matter is concluded.

We've not been given any reason for this, but I assume it was a hard nosed financial one rather than anything remotely sympathetic.

However, as you can imagine, the end of this hugely stressful period has been a massive relief to us all.

Thanks again to everyone who offered advice. It was very much appreciated.

angelsmomma

I am so glad that this has been resolved. Thank you for letting us all know. It is always good to see how these cases end

RuthnJasper

One_Five_Four wrote: »

I feel that I should tie this up as the situation has finally been resolved.

Out of the blue, at the start of the year, the householder's insurance company accepted my B-I-L's offer of his remaining life savings (see post No.1) in full and final settlement of their claim. This was of course paid as quickly as he could manage it and we have received confirmation that the matter is concluded.

We've not been given any reason for this, but I assume it was a hard nosed financial one rather than anything remotely sympathetic.

However, as you can imagine, the end of this hugely stressful period has been a massive relief to us all.

Thanks again to everyone who offered advice. It was very much appreciated.

Hope that your B-in-L and the rest of your family are able to put this behind you and enjoy the rest of your lives. I know it was technically your B-in-L's fault at the end of the day, but nothing that you've posted either here or in the other thread suggests that either you or he are irresponsible cowboys. It must have been a very distressing time for you all.

Every good wish. x