Insurance for house buy falling through

Estelle77

Hello.
I have this query on behalf of my friend. They were going to buy a house, everything went fine, they paid the solicitors and all the fees and suddenly the sellers decided to pull out for personal reasons. Two grand in the air. I thought... there should be some form of insurance for cases like this... Then I was told there actually is this kind of insurance, I don't remember what it is called. And nobody told the friend about this. To be honest I don't remember to be told about this either in 2017 when we bought our house. Is it a new thing?
If there is this kind of insurance whose responsibility it is to make the buyers aware of this? The agent, the solicitor, the mortgage advisor? Anyone? It would just make sense to pay a small sum as an insurance if this happens.
Thanks.

davidmcn

It's not anybody's job to tell you that such insurance products exist, but they aren't usually all that useful - read this recent discussion to see why: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6001537/on-gazumping-why-not-suggest-home-buyers-insurance

(basically, transactions have a high risk of falling through, so any cheap insurance must by definition be excluding most of the usual reasons).

AnotherJoe

To be fair, that insurance would (AFAICS) have actually covered the OPs friends in this case, sellers pulling out.

G_M

Estelle77 wrote: »

.....
If there is this kind of insurance whose responsibility it is to make the buyers aware of this? The agent, the solicitor, the mortgage advisor? Anyone?......
Thanks.

The buyer.


Similarly it is the pet-owner's responsibility to make themselves aware of the option of pet insurance.

mpr87

Hi Estelle,


I'm a ftb and purchased such a policy when we had our offer accepted.



Obviously they won't cover every eventuality and like all insurance policies there's certain criteria that have to be met in the event of a claim etc.



The one I purchased was with a company called Surewise but I'm sure there are also many other available if you search for home buyers insurance.



I think mine cost around £50 and when you consider the amount spent on surveys and conveyencing fee's it certainly helped put my mind at rest a little bit.

Estelle77

G_M wrote: »

The buyer.


Similarly it is the pet-owner's responsibility to make themselves aware of the option of pet insurance.

Well, pet clinics are full of leaflets for pet insurance. Companies make sure they are advertised. TV is full of pet insurance adverts. I don't remember anything regarding the home buyer's insurance. I would expect that at least the bank or the broker mention this, as it may bring them some commission.

societys_child

I would expect that at least the bank or the broker mention this, as it may bring them some commission

If that was the case, i'm sure they'd tell you.

Prothet_of_Doom

Ah but the FUN of buying a house is the risk that you'll loose your investment in surveys and solicitors fees.

In 1994-95 we had 2 houses fall through, because the vendors both decided they didn't want to move and in 2015 we paid for a survey and then found out the vendor had accepted another offer with the other agent acting for them.

Currently in the middle of buying a house, with no chain, and we are £1500 in. It's all part of the "FUN"

Estelle77

If that was the case, i'm sure they'd tell you.

So should I take it the banks don't want people to buy this policy?

davidmcn

Estelle77 wrote: »

So should I take it the banks don't want people to buy this policy?

If it's similar to the one previously discussed, there isn't going to be much commission out of a £69 premium - there are more lucrative things they could spend their time trying to sell you.

Estelle77

davidmcn wrote: »

If it's similar to the one previously discussed, there isn't going to be much commission out of a £69 premium - there are more lucrative things they could spend their time trying to sell you.

Just sticking a leaflet into the hand would help, at least to give it a thought. But when you don't know you don't know, what are you supposed to do?