Pipeline under garden of potential new house and mortgage company concerns.

pensionpawn

My eldest is approaching the final stages of buying her first house and her mortgage company has thrown a spanner in the works regarding a government pipeline that runs under their prospective new garden. They are insisting on a written statement (which would cause problematic delay, and cost, at this late stage), even though her insurers building insurance state that they are covered. This didn't come up as an issue when the current owners moved in. Has anyone any experience of such matters and can advise?

davidmcn

What sort of pipeline? Oil?

What "written statement" is the lender expecting?

unforeseen

I'm guessing it's a fuel pipeline to an airport? 

pensionpawn

Aviation fuel to a military base however as the RAF have moved out it's disused. The lender is expecting a written statement of how the insurer will cover any costs to the property resulting from failure of the pipe. The insurer is stating that the policy documents cover this however the lender wants almost a personalised statement of cover. This will cost time and money resulting in a delay to the move and my eldest having to move out of her rental home with nowhere to live (other than returning to the family home and putting possessions in storage, at cost). Changing lender will also incur cost and delay. We need a way of convincing the lender that their demands of a written statement are unreasonable.

davidmcn

Never heard of some sort of bespoke statement from the insurer. Also seems a bit pointless given that your child might ditch the initial insurer after a year anyway. I take it the lender's valuer doesn't have a problem with there being a pipeline in the garden? How far is it from the house? These things don't normally pass through residential properties, so must admit I'd be wary just from the point of view of future marketability. Obviously it also restricts what you can do over/near the pipe in terms of building or planting. If permanently disused, is anyone proposing to remove it?

pensionpawn

davidmcn said:

Never heard of some sort of bespoke statement from the insurer. Also seems a bit pointless given that your child might ditch the initial insurer after a year anyway. I take it the lender's valuer doesn't have a problem with there being a pipeline in the garden? How far is it from the house? These things don't normally pass through residential properties, so must admit I'd be wary just from the point of view of future marketability. Obviously it also restricts what you can do over/near the pipe in terms of building or planting. If permanently disused, is anyone proposing to remove it?

It was known for the valuation and it runs through the garden, which is not unusual where we live.

Davesnave

pensionpawn said:

resulting in a delay to the move and my eldest having to move out of her rental home with nowhere to live (other than returning to the family home and putting possessions in storage, at cost).

If it comes to it, your daughter could stay in the rental property. No one would be able to get her out for many months. The landlord is running a business and unforeseen things happen.

martindow

This chap

http://rayfox.info/

was convinced that a pipeline under his garden connected to oil tanks actually contained radioactivity from a secret nuclear reactor.

As far as I know his neighbours can still get house insurance.

davidmcn

The easements for these things invariably include indemnity by the operator for any damage caused by the pipes, so unless the government disposed of them to somebody without funds or insurance to meet claims, it would seem very unlikely that the house insurers would end up footing the bill.

[Deleted User]

I had a case recently where the lender required the insurer to confirm that they were specifically aware of fairly recent movement and were still happy to cover on standard terms

Took weeks to get someone to put it in writing but luckily I use paymentshield for home insurance who are almost designed for brokers so had access to more senior people than just a telephone operator. 

Are you using a broker who can arrange insurance for you?  Maybe they can use some contacts to get it sorted.  Otherwise there are a couple of more specialist firms where you can communicate with the person making decisions.  Adrian Flux and TowerGate come to mind