Coronavirus, move and completion

original_subliminal

Hi all,

Background: In a chain of 3 (we are the middle party). Bottom rung moving out of rented, top rung already vacated. We have exchanged already, with completion and move set for 12th March. Moving from London into a village in Surrey. 

Question: I’m starting to get a little anxious about the potential effect of Coronavirus on the move. I’m not to clear on legal obligations in case of a force majeur event (as I’d assume this would be) in a case where a) we had to self-isolate, b) another party on the chain had to self-isolate, c) one of the move areas being quarantined, d) the removals company not being able to move us. What are everybody’s thoughts, and particularly interested to hear from any conveyancers?

Thanks!

RelievedSheff

You are panicing too much.

davidmcn

You won't find a helpful clause in your contracts, and I doubt you'd get far in trying to negotiate one (or insuring against the risk). If you have to self-isolate then best find somewhere to do so other than the house you're moving out of.

AdrianC

Some actual stats and figures to put perspective on the current media hype.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-cases/
* The number of active cases worldwide is falling.
* 94% of those who are no longer active have recovered. There are more people recovered than currently infected. 82% of current cases are mild.
* China still has 90% of cases. The rest of the world only has a growth rate of 1.25x = 5 new cases for every 4 cases that are no longer current (and remember 94% of those are recovered).
* Excluding China, South Korea has nearly half of all worldwide cases - and half of those (a quarter of all non-Chinese cases) are linked to a single reclusive religious sect... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51695649
* If the Diamond Princess cruise ship was a country, it'd be fourth, excluding China. Yet even in those ideal breeding ground conditions, only about 1 in 6 were infected (there have been no new infections linked to it for a week), and less than half of one percent of those infections have resulted in death, despite the demographic skew of your average cruise passengers...
* The UK has 0.4% of world-wide cases. We are now up to just four people known to have been infected in the UK, and all those cases are related. The only UK death so far was one of the Diamond Princess passengers.

Meanwhile, five people per day die on UK roads.

ACG

What happens if you were to have a heart attack or a stroke? 

You can go to the n'th degree. It is just a flu at the end of the day. If someone else in the chain has to delay or pull out, that is not really your problem, ultimately someone else is liable for the costs incurred. If it is you who causes the delay/fall through then you can worry about it. 

If it is the removal men, worst case scenario you get a van and some friends to help you move/move into storage and then sue them for the costs, if they are a reputable company they will have insurance. 

The chances of you being the problem and it being corona virus is pretty slim. 

trex227

Just asked my spouse (who is a conveyancer). She said as with any other reason a transaction fails to complete on the completion day the next step is one of the parties who has not caused the issue serves notice to complete. This gives 10 days from when notice is served for completion to occur. If completion does not occur the contract can then be rescinded and deposit forfeited.

However in a lot of instances when completion fails the conveyancers/solicitors will try to avoid serving notice (as the contract will probably have some clause that interest is payable and most solicitors will charge a fee for serving notice) and work together to get the transactions completed, especially if there is a timeframe for when completion can occur.

So for example if your movers cannot move you and even if worst case you get notice served on you to complete, you should be able to arrange an alternative within the 10 days.

But as others have said, incredibly unlikely for anything to happen with coronavirus that delays your transactions!

ACG

I think the other thing here is that everyone in the chain wants the same thing. 
If something does happen, chances are they would all be prepared to hold on for a week or 2. Obviously we see a lot of chains and the occasional problem. 9 times out of 10 where everyone still wants the same outcome, it usually comes good in the end. 

Cakeguts

Work out the percentage of people in the UK who have the coronavirus and then look up how many people get flu and die from it.  It helps to not panic about what you see in the news.  The way news is broadcast has changed from when I was young.  Years ago the news informed people these days it sensationalises everyday events from around the world.  Someone said to me recently that the news now is to catch people's emotions not to give them information,

Murphybear

36 people in the U.K. have the coronavirus to date.  No deaths yet
Population of the U.K. is 67 million +
number of people in the U.K. with non corona flu, no idea but a lot more than 36.  

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Imho, your concern is not unfounded. As we see happening in Italy, it is not inconcievable that certain towns/regions are forced to go into lockdown if there is a big jump in local transmission. The government has said the same. We are nowhere near that yet of course.

However, as trex227 and ACG say above, in that kind of scenario where you (or others in the chain) have zero influence and want the same outcome, I am sure things will be managed accordingly without punitive measures. 

I personally would not make any changes based on the minute possibility of such a scenario unfolding and impacting the areas you are concerned with.

m0bov

You have a contract you are bound to complete.