Storm damage between exchange and completion

hazyjo

glasgowdan wrote: »

Are the posts still standing? Regardless,. I wouldn't even consider making things complicated. I'd just get a fence person round to fix it before you hand the house over. No emails to the buyers, solicitors, insurance blah blah.

Totally agree. Wouldn't have contemplated insurance for something so minor. As seller, would just fix it.

Jx

Hoploz

Is the fence actually broken, or can it be put back up? I would get it back up and nail it all together ASAP. The priority is to secure the site for both your dogs and theirs, so just do as much as you can to get it standing up. Unlikely the buyers inspected the fence closely so unless it was brand spanking new I wouldn't worry, just do some repairs yourself but get it back up as far as possible.

G_M

Did you use the Standard Conditions of Sale 5th edition?

The 5th edition (unlike earlier editions) moved responsibility for insurance from Exchange onto the buyer.

RISK, INSURANCE AND OCCUPATION PENDING COMPLETION
5.1.1 The property is at the risk of the buyer from the date of the contract
5.1.2 The seller is under no obligation to the buyer to insure the property unless......

If so, it is for the buyer to claim on their insurance assuming it covers fences.

Having said that, the 5th addition also says:

Physical state
3.2.1 The buyer accepts the property in the physical state it is in at the date of the contract unless the seller is building or converting it.

moneyistooshorttomention

G_M wrote: »

Did you use the Standard Conditions of Sale 5th edition?

The 5th edition (unlike earlier editions) moved responsibility for insurance from Exchange onto the buyer.



If so, it is for the buyer to claim on their insurance assuming it covers fences.

Having said that, the 5th addition also says:

There's risks and risks. Maybe it would be down to the buyer in the event of something major (that any insurance company would cover) such as a fire or flood. But - for minor stuff that's down to the maintenance (or otherwise) of the house - I would rather assume that second bit quoted applies ie 3.2.1 - the buyer accepts the property as being the way it is at Exchange of Contracts date (ie not worse than it was at that point).

Add that - at a pragmatic level - it's not worth putting the buyers backs up and having them mentally adding "must take the chance whenever I see it to get back at them for that" on their To Do List. We're only talking about an amount of money that I very much doubt comes to more than a couple of hundred £s - so peanuts to OP then for the sake of things going smoothly. How many people really want to wonder if their buyer has a motto of "Vengeance is a dish best served cold".?.....

MobileSaver

hazyjo wrote: »

Totally agree. Wouldn't have contemplated insurance for something so minor. As seller, would just fix it.

+1

For the relatively small cost involved I'd just get the fence panels fixed/replaced. Job done; no more stress, hassle or time spent on something that could become a protracted bun fight between solicitors and you and the buyer.

eddddy

As indicated by G_M, under the 5th edition of the Standard Conditions of Sale...

Risk passes from the seller to the buyer on exchange of contract, so the damaged fences are the buyer's problem.

... unless a 'Special Condition of Sale' was added to the contract. But you would probably be well aware, if that were the case.

Although, if you had intentionally damaged the fence, or your negligence resulted in the damage, that would be different.

See: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/help-for-solicitors/practice-advice-service/q-and-as/standard-conditions-of-sale-significant-change/

PlaysNicely

:wave:

Gosh, thanks so much to everyone for the detailed and helpful replies.

:eek: Well, our trek to the next town to the main local DIY store was fruitless because the whole retail park had storm damage as well so they wouldn't let anyone access the park and all the shops were closed.

We've managed to get the existing fence panels back up but it seems it was a post breaking in the wind which caused the fences to come down. If we can replace the whole post before completion we will do, but at least the garden is secured now and doesn't look too bad. It's more whether it would survive a re-visit of the weather, which I doubt. Can't get a fence specialist in as no one has any availability because of course everyone else has storm damage too!

I'm not sure about the 5th edition, but thanks for the heads up GM - will check back on paperwork when I can, but we've been outside for most of the day - trying to get to a shop for posts, out in our garden fixing or at our purchase (see below). No special conditions of the sale as far as I recall apart from an adjustment which has already been agreed in relation to a fixture which had to be removed between offer and exchange (separate long story I won't bore you with).

Trust me, I'm not choosing to make life more complicated, it's bad enough as it is! It's just the thing that made me sure we needed to contact the solicitor was that it had previously been stated that the property must be in the same condition on completion as on exchange and there was an additional Condition of the Property note in the exchange confirmation letter that we received, which stated that any change in the condition of the property between exchange and completion has to be reported to the solicitor. We were going to email tomorrow to report that the fence panels had come down and had been re-erected ... does that sound reasonable, do you think? In the event, the garden is now as secure as it was at exchange, although possibly a bit wobblier!

Sorry to be so late coming back to it all ... in the event we've also got storm damage at the purchase end and ended up meeting with the vendors of the property to try to sort that (probate sale so the neighbours of the property had alerted vendor to the damage - chimney stack down). Garage there is also unusable as roof has failed and it is soaked inside so the 27+ boxes I'd labelled garage now have no home! May well have to claim on the insurance once we get there in the week - buyers' responsibility! The vendors were great (first time we'd met) very, very helpful though and have already started trying to put it right started as they have a brickie in the family.

I do so appreciate all the advice, all of this has been a bit much (wider ripples than I've shared) but hopefully the buyers will accept what's happened, in the same spirit that we've accepted what's happened with our purchase.

Thanks everyone. PN x

Thrugelmir

PlaysNicely wrote: »

:eek: This is quite astonishing really as this whole area of fencing was kept in good repair

A few nails aren't much against a gale force wind. Panel fencing has little strength.

[Deleted User]

All the best PN - you've done 'the right thing' to your buyers. Hopefully your vendors will do likewise to you.

PlaysNicely

:wave:

Thrugelmir wrote: »

A few nails aren't much against a gale force wind. Panel fencing has little strength.

Yes, so it would seem! We live and learn, ironically just at the time of moving on ...!

Sleazy wrote: »

All the best PN - you've done 'the right thing' to your buyers. Hopefully your vendors will do likewise to you.

Thanks Sleazy! I can't imagine being otherwise for our buyers and our vendors certainly seemed like-minded. Your good wishes are really appreciated after such a long day!

As is the time you've all taken to comment and advise, thank you all. Early night now! PN x