Urgent issue with coach house owner and insurance

wantedtoomuch

We are currently due to complete our house sale this Friday - 13th and our buyers Solicitor has asked that we obtain the insurance certificate showing the actual garage is insured for our leasehold garage from the coach house owner as it's situated under their home.

The owner provided us with an insurance document and we forwarded to our Solicitor. Our Solicitor said this document was not accepted by our buyers solicitor as it did not clearly state that the insurance covered the garages. They also pointed out that we had only been provided page 1 of 2 from the coach house.

We have now received in writing from the solicitors that we need to obtain an insurance document that states the garages are insured and if this isn't on the policy then we are to ask the owner to get the insurance policy amended to show it covers the garages.

I have approached the coach house owners who are now not cooperating, they state they have provided us with the document they have provided others that have moved and that's it and have shut the door in our face. I then printed the email from my solicitor and knocked their door again saying the matter was urgent and that the solicitor has stated the policy isn't acceptable and wanted to give them the email so that understood what was required of them. The lady got irritable again and said we were accusing of them of not having insurance and was sick of it and they weren't giving us anything else and again shut the door in our face! We also need confirmation from them that there have been no problems with access etc. The Solicitor will not drawer our buyers mortgage until they have the paperwork and I'm at a loss as to how we can get it when the owners won't cooperate. I've read its difficult to obtain coach house insurance and few companies indulge in this area? I'm wondering if they haven't actually insured the garages as I can't understand the hostility? Where do we go from here? Is there anything we can do in respect of insurance to overcome this obstacle? Can anyone demand they give us this document or demand they get it amended if it doesn't state garages on page 2? This is frustrating as I don't see why we should lose our buyer or our new home and lose a few thousand because the man over the road! Any advice etc would be so gratefully received. I am not sure I can appeal to their better nature as she just shuts the door and he is very fiery and aggressive.

ging84

if they are not happy with the cover the free holder has in place they can take out their own insurance so they are able to complete, and they can then take it up with the freeholder if they do not feel they are meeting their responsibilities under the lease
you are talking about a truely trivial amount of money for the insurance cover

artbaron

If you have issues with the neighbour before you even move in I'd say don't bother, regardless of the insurance issues. If she's such a biatch then you'll likely regret having moved next door to her.

puddingisagoldfish

I may have misunderstood, but could you contact the insurance company direct? It sounds as though you have part of the paperwork and from that may know the name of the company. Or better that your solicitor contact them and tell them the second page didn't arrive and could they resend it

ihatemyhouse

so you got to get some one else to get insurance on your garage,

G_M

Let'sget to the bottom of this:

* you own a (freehold?) house which you insure?
* you also own a garage, which is leasehold, with a (flat?) above - also leasehold?
* the leasehold owner of the coach house/flat (whatever) above your garage has insurance for their property, which may or may not include your garage?
* This person is now not cooperating with you

Question one: who is the freeholder of the land on which your garage, and the coach house, sits?
Question two: what does your lease for the garage say about insurance?

The aswers above will direct you as to who should do what.

In addition to the above, it seems to me that from Exchange of Contracts the buyer should insure (usually). So tell your buyer to take out insurance to protect himself from Exchange.

ging84

the OP is trying to sell their house not buy it

it's fairly standard for coach houses of flat over garages to be a freehold with one or more leasehold garages or carports that belong to the neighbouring properties
the freeholder is expected to keep the building insured and they may claim back a small contribution for the insurance from the lease holders of the garages as if it were ground rent

wantedtoomuch

To clarify, we own and our selling a freehold home, which has a leasehold garage under a coach house, our house is owned by us. The coach house as with any coach house HAS to insure the garages that it stands on as they form part of their home. The people buying our home - their solicitor requires us to get off the coach house owner, the documentation to prove the garage is insured and as their actual policy doesn't actually state this want us to get them to amend their policy to reflect their insurance covers the garage. The coach house owner is responsible for all the garages and their repair and are liable to insure them.
To further add, we have never had an issue with the neighbours at all and the lady owner seemed to come across as being scared to ask her partner who allegedly deals with the paperwork.
The problem we have, is without the coach house proving they have the garages insured we are stuck! We are supposed to pay them £10 a year to cover an amount towards their insurance.

wantedtoomuch

All I want to know is and I'm not worried about cost - if we have to pay for a whole new policy for these people we would! We aren't being tribal over money, we want to know where stand and what we can do, that's my question. How do I deal with these people and what rights do we have when they aren't cooperating. Cost is irrelevant its about getting the required info to the solicitor that they have asked for!

Doozergirl

Surely, if a person owns a freehold coach house, it would make no sense to insure anything but the entire building? The garages are the structural walls. The only garage-like are the metal doors put on the front of them.

In your situation, I'd buy a separate policy for the 'garage', give it to the buyers solicitor and be done with it. When the neighbours ask your buyers for £10 next year, they can ask for the new, full policy document before they pay up (which is probably what you should have done, but hindsight is perfect!)

wantedtoomuch

That's what I thought but the solicitors won't accept their document and I'm not sure they will accept us saying we've added extra to our insurance as that's not what our buyer was agreeing to if you know what I mean. They assumed straightforward pay £10 a month be done. Bloody Solicitors I say. Also, hands tied over the weekend as nothing open to speak to insurance companies or the solicitor. We are happy to pay for an amendment, new policy etc. just to get it all sorted. But not sure it will pacify the solicitors us insuring the garage. Its argh.