Absence of easement-HELP!

Misspoppins

Please can someone help. My house is accessed over a green. When I bought it the previous owner bought an insurance, I am now in the process of selling and my solicitor has said I have invalidated the insurance policy as I have applied for access with a dropped curb! However this has not been approved and is not going to be in the near future. I am now stuck as the people buying want it to be agreed however I'm not in a position to get it done as I'm waiting for the council!
Why is the insurance invalid?
Is there anything else I could do?
Please help!!!

BrassicWoman

impossible to tell without knowing what the insurance policy was for - more details please?

moneyistooshorttomention

I am trying to picture how a house can be "accessed over a green" and can only picture a public green space in front of it - which would mean it could only be walked to and not driven to. I'm visualising something akin to a house near me that is built on the edge of a green and its only just struck me (from your comment) that the only way to access that house is on foot.

Then you go on to talk about applying for a dropped kerb - which then has me picturing a road you drive up with a pavement in between the edge of your front garden and that road.

End result = I'm confused and I cant picture what you mean.

As a new user = you won't be able to post a link to your house details that we can click on directly. You could, however, put up a typed link with spaces in between and an "older" user could then type in a link to it and we can see what you mean.

StumpyPumpy

Misspoppins wrote: »

Why is the insurance invalid?
Is there anything else I could do?
Please help!!!

What was you solicitor's answer to these questions? You are already paying them to give you legal advice, you should try and get your money's worth.

SP

Misspoppins

Thank you for your responses.
Yes you are correct so to access the drive you go over a green space this belongs to the council housing company around the green there are houses and bungalows. All the houses and some of the bungalows drive across to get to their property but obviously this has been an unwritten rule for many years.
The insurance policy was an absence of easement policy which states in the event of not being able to access the property it would pay out for loss of value to property.
I'm lost and even yes I am already paying a solicitor they seem to be coming up blank and questions keep being put back onto me.
I was just wondering if there was anything else... ��
Thank you

moneyistooshorttomention

So - cars are driving across grass to get to the house (and the others there).

I have to admit that, if I were a car-driver, I wouldn't have bought a house I couldn't get to by car (ie drive on a road to it). As a non car-driver I would have deliberately bought the house because there is a green there and people cant drive across it.

Which rather leaves you in a cleft stick then I guess...as a cardriver will be reluctant to buy it on the one hand. A non car-driver will have visions of battles with people who think its an "unwritten rule" they can drive across the grass on the other hand. So - I could buy the house, for instance, but would soon be writing to the Council with evidence of all the driving across grass and requesting hedges/trees/etc be installed around the green.

Rather an awkward lose/lose situation I guess for you....

BrassicWoman

you drive across the grass?

I think that's awful I can't see the restriction being waived!!

silvercar

A couple of roads near me, the council got fed up of people using the grass verges as parking bays and installed grid like plastics on them. This allows people to park and the grass to grow between the squares.

A bit different from the OPs situation, but solutions are possible.

moneyistooshorttomention

The first thought that arose to mind re covering the green with that plastic mesh stuff is how uncomfortable it would be to sit on it for a picnic lunch on the one hand or to try walking across it barefoot in the same way one does on normal grass.

If that were put down it might not last very long...as secateurs could probably easily cut through it.

stator

Insurance policies like this are based on the fact that if you have been doing it for years no-one will notice and it's unlikely that anyone will force you to stop and hence you are unlikely to make a claim.
If you contact the owner of the land and make them aware that you don't have permission for what you are doing then it becomes a lot more likely that the owner will try to stop you. That is why the insurance is now invalid.

To clarify, do you have any rights of access at all? As a pedestrian?
Have you purchased the title entry from the land registry for the land that you need to cross and seen if it grants any access rights to other parties like you?

Davesnave

Misspoppins wrote: »

to access the drive you go over a green space this belongs to the council housing company around the green there are houses and bungalows. All the houses and some of the bungalows drive across to get to their property but obviously this has been an unwritten rule for many years.
The insurance policy was an absence of easement policy which states in the event of not being able to access the property it would pay out for loss of value to property.

This would have been an indemnity policy, giving you protection if the council, which had hitherto not exercised their right to stop people driving over the grass, decided to do so.

These policies are only valid if you do not approach the council over the matter they protect you against, so applying for an easement and dropped kerb would have invalidated it.

There's possibly nothing you can do, though you might have created an easement through unchallenged use over time, if you can prove that this has been going on for more than 20 years. I don't think other residents' actions will help you, however.

Such easements are known as prescriptive easements and you can read about them here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/easements-claimed-by-prescription