Chancel Repair Liability? Indemnity Policy?

RosannaG

Hi There,

Has anyone had experience of the below that they are willing to feedback/share their experiences with me please?

I am currently buying a house and the below has come back from the conveyancing...

'Our Chancel search has revealed that the property continues to have a potential chancel repaid liability. We will therefore put in place an Indemnity Policy on completion which protect you against any claim. This is a one off payment of £59.88 and our administration fee of £30 plus VAT'.

I have looked this up and understand that what it is. But is it worth getting this Indemnity Policy?

G_M

I must admit I thought the law had changed last year, but I may be wrong.

My understanding was that unless the Chruch has actually registered a liability with the Land Registry Title for the property, there could no longer be a liability.

Your conveyancer, of course, should know better than me, but if you are using a cheap online conveyancing outfit they may be out of date with their knowledge.......

Some googling should tun up the answer, or Richard W will know when he comes online.

steppevos

see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=67684628&postcount=3
for a sensible answer from an expert.

Edit: cross posted with GM. My link goes to an answer from Richard W

Land_Registry

As G-M posts Richard Webster will give you the view from the conveyancing end but our online blog may be of interest to you and others also

fed_up_and_stressed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5155339

This is the thread i answered on to explain why i decided to take out the insurance still in response to another poster...i decided to still take out the insurance as my policy does cover me between exchange (when i am commited to purchasing the property and completion .i.e when the property is next "sold")

Tbh though thats an expensive policy .. Mine is costing me a whole £15 through my solicitor ..you can buy them through other places a quick google search brings up various companies.

maninthestreet

So when was the last time the property was sold?

bouicca21

That letter is very carefully worded. All it means is that the name of the parish turns up on an index at the national archives. Being on the index does not mean there is any liability, you have to check closer than that.

When I sold my mums house in ruislip I got just such a letter only they wanted me the vendor to pay 90 quid for a policy. £90 per house in ruislip is a hefty sum going into someone's pocket. It took me less than 5 minutes to do a basic search of my own and less than £5 to download the relevant document. Which of course established that there is no liability on any property in Ruislip.

My ex recently bought in a parish where residual liability might exist. I told him how to do the search and it was patently obvious from the maps in the local record office that his property was miles from the affected area. What's more the record office had on file statements from the local parish council to the effect that in the interests of good relations with parishioners, they had no intention of pursuing claims. The vendor still paid for a totally unnecessary indemnity.

There are a few more complicated cases (and the notorious Aston Clinton case is not one of them, as it was clearly marked on the deeds). It's at least worth spending a few minutes establishing how complicated your case might be. Chances are that it's really straightforward.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/chancel-repairs.htm

RosannaG

Hi All,
Thanks for you replies, its really appreciated.

If anyone has some links to insurance places that do this Indemnity Policy rather than me going through my solicitor that would be great.

I think it was last sold July 2002