Questions from buyer - advice please

hivoodoodoll

I am in the process of selling my mothers house. She passed away last year.

The buyer has come back with a couple of questions and I need advice on two of them.

1. My mother made an insurance claim back in 2015 but I can’t find any record of this. It was in my nickname but the buyers want more details can I go back to the insurance company and ask them to provide me with some information?

2. The buyers have also asked for the 2017 heating survey. I think I know who did this and I’m going to do some searching tomorrow but can anyone tell me if the heating engineer would keep records on this?

Thanks

davidmcn

1. What sort of insurance claim?
2. What do you mean by a "heating survey"?

hivoodoodoll

The insurance claim was a leak in the roof and I’m assuming that the heating survey is the service but just going on what was put on the form

AdrianC

Are you selling it as executor, or after it's been transferred into your ownership?

1. Yes, of course you can ask, if you know who the insurer was. They'll have records, and should provide you with the information - if you're acting as executor. What do you mean by "in my nickname"?

2. I presume you mean service, rather than "survey"? They may do, they may not do - it all depends on how organised they are with their records.

hivoodoodoll

Apologies, I did not proof read my message and sent it in a hurry. Ignore the part regarding my nickname. Yes I am selling as one of the executors.

I will call the insurance company tomorrow as my mother had been with them for about 10 years and I will try and find the heating engineers details as well.

davidmcn

hivoodoodoll wrote: »

The insurance claim was a leak in the roof and I’m assuming that the heating survey is the service but just going on what was put on the form

Not sure why the insurance claim is of interest to them or why your buyers know about it in the first place? If the claim was made by your mother and you can persuade the insurers that you're the executor then perhaps they'll dig out the file. I doubt it's a big deal.

As for the heating - just ask. Again, whether it was serviced or not two years ago isn't all that important.

If you've got a solicitor acting for you and you're out of your depth then then best to ask them for advice - it's what they're being paid for.

eddddy

davidmcn wrote: »

Not sure why the insurance claim is of interest to them or why your buyers know about it in the first place?

The seller's property information form (TA6) asks whether any insurance claims have been made - I guess that was answered "yes".

The buyer may be wanting to double-check whether the claim was subsidence or flood related, as that can impact future insurance.

I can't see that other types of claims would be significant.


The TA6 also asks what year the heating system was last serviced. That may have triggered question 2.

A boiler service usually costs about £60. I'm not sure that the heating engineer would think it's reasonable to spend time finding 2 year old records on a job that only paid around £60.

Mutton_Geoff

Without first hand knowledge and selling as executor, simply write “not known” and “not to my knowledge” etc. Let the buyer commission their own surveys/checks. It is the purchaser who must carry out due diligence whilst you should give honest replies. If you don’t know, you don’t know!

AnotherJoe

I'm going to be in this exact position sometime, and the answer as per MG will be "not known".

Unfortunately OP by answering with what little you do know you've opened a can of worms that a solicitor will delight into digging into in excruciating detail. They are duty bound to ask for more info once you give them a clue there's something there even if its irrelevant (as a 2017 survey or a fixed roof tile invoice surely is)

I would attempt to put the lid back on by replying that you have no more information than as far as you know there was a leak in the roof which was fixed, and you do not have the 2017 heating survey (service?) and that's all you know. Let the buyer commission their own reports if they wish to.

Zanderman

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

Without first hand knowledge and selling as executor, simply write “not known” and “not to my knowledge” etc. Let the buyer commission their own surveys/checks. It is the purchaser who must carry out due diligence whilst you should give honest replies. If you don’t know, you don’t know!

The reasons the questions were asked is, presumably, because the Property Info Form TA6 was filled in saying yes there was an insurance claim and yes there was a heating service. If those two facts are known and true then it would be illegal to say 'not known' . The TA6 is part of 'due diligence'.

If there is no supporting documentation for the info given on the form that's a secondary matter - the seller can't now say 'not known' as they claimed on the form they did know, and presumably that's true, they did know something happened, they just don't know the detail. The seller's responsibility is now to find out that detail.

SmashedAvacado

I would answer as follows:

1. There was an insurance claim in relation a leak in the roof in 2015 which we believe was fixed and has caused no further issues. Since then we do not believe there have been any other insurance claims. We don't have any records of the claim, and in any event, the buyer should rely on its inspection and survey as regards matters relating to the condition of the property.

2. We do not have anything further in relation to this. In any event, the buyer should rely on its own inspection and survey.