Chancel Repair Liability and indemnity

KiT155

Hi,

We are FTB currently in the process of buying our first home (all being well). The searches all came back fine with an advisory that the house is under a Chancel repair liability for the local church. Meaning that any repairs on the local church could fall on us a local land dwellers. We have been advised to purchase an indemnity to protect against this possibility.

My question is where do I go to purchase such a thing? Is it included in buildings insurance as an additional extra or is it only specialist companies that deal in this?

dc197

A company called Chancel Sure will provide a policy, but only your solicitor can buy it for you. They don't sell directly to the public.
Price varies with property price and length of cover.
Mine was 75 for a house up to 500k for 25 years.
The covered sum increases up to 200% as the house appreciates.

eddddy

As dc197 says, your solicitor will arrange this. If you want to get an idea of the options available, and possible premiums - this might be helpful:

http://www.digi-vu.co.uk/SampleBooks/STW_PDP/files/assets/downloads/page0030.pdf

(Just for info. Not a recommendation - I don't know this company.)

Sjmb

As I understand it, transactions after October 2013 are no longer at risk of any chancel liability unless the church has notified Land registry of a charge. So presumably this is the case for your purchase?

polarization

Sjmb wrote: »

As I understand it, transactions after October 2013 are no longer at risk of any chancel liability unless the church has notified Land registry of a charge. So presumably this is the case for your purchase?

If the last transaction was before October 2013, the Church can still apply a charge against the property before a new transaction is made after October 2013. For example, if the last transaction was September 2013. The Church can still put a charge until the OP transaction is registered.

KiT155

Thank you for your replies,

Upon looking at the reams of paperwork in more detail, I can see there is already a policy included within the paperwork.. The solicitor did not mention in her report that she had actioned this but I have just emailed to confirm if anything further is required. It appears to have cost £15 so fairly reasonable from what I can see to have a bit of insurance.