How do you insure a right of way?

fruitbat_2

We’ve lived in our house for over 5 years and have right of access, on foot, around the side and back of our neighbour’s house, which we’ve used to access our back garden, without any problems at all. Our neighbour has a right of way across our garden, but for the purpose of collecting water from a well, which was shared by the four houses in our terrace when they were built in the 1850s. There is no well ‘mounting’ to hang your bucket off, just a hole, with a big slab over it to stop anyone falling in, with honeysuckle growing over it, and a little bit of water waaaay down. So they’ve never used it and as far as I can see from the deeds, unless they want to collect water they can’t come on our property.

In our deeds a coloured plan was referred to showing which bit of path was which, but we never saw it, and since we and our solicitor managed to interpret the wording quite easily without this, it was never chased up.

We’re now selling our house and our buyer has said that since we can’t produce this coloured plan (and the land registry doesn’t have it, we’ve asked) they want us to take out an indemnity insurance – against what risk I’m not sure. We showed them the path when they saw the house, our garden is all fenced in but there is a gate by which we access our back garden from the neighbours property (and by which they, in theory, if they wanted water, would access our garden) so it's all enclosed, and no-one goes in our garden except us.

I don't understand what we'd need to insure against, although there isn't a colour plan its clearly stated that we have use of the path around our neighbours (and there are directions referred to which make this clear enough)so they wouldn't be allowed to prevent this, and we've used it for five years, does this establish some sort of precedent anyway? This is the last little niggle of the many niggles the buyer's solicitor has thrown up and it seems to me like an excuse for the legal profession to charge us yet more money for more paperwork and spin the whole process out even longer. I've a mind to tell them (politely) to get knotted, as I can't imagine something as tiny as this would really put them off (it seems to be their solicitor who is pushing for it) they've got the written description, they're just insisting on this coloured plan thing.

Does anyone have any experience of this kind of silliness?

Thanks all

silvercar

How much would the indemnity cost? about £200? Probably worth it to complete the sale.

Who knows what it actually covers, it could be the neighbours having a right of way through your house!

wecanhelpu

fruitbat wrote: »

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Does anyone have any experience of this kind of silliness?

Thanks all

Yes. I do.

My house is 1 of 2 cottages in my village built in 1840 before any of the current roads around it. When I was in the process of buying it in 1998 a similar situation to yours was unearthed by my solicitor.
The only access to next door's cottage was through a track at the rear of my property and this right of way still exists. My neighbour and I often joke about this but nothing ever comes of it.

Additionally, there were also 2 outside toilets and 2 coal bunkers in my garden which, again, were intended for use by both properties and whose access, through my garden is still on the deeds.

You, your neighbours, subsequent buyers or anyone in this situation would be really petty if they insisted in exercising this right of way "just because they can" and most people would just see it as a quaint throwback to the "old days".

In my opinion, most insurance is a rip-off and best avoided so I would explain the situation to your buyers and hope they see sense.

best wishes