Conveyancer forgot to submit searches & is advising I get insurance instead

davidmcn

AdrianC said:

RPC_2 said:
The house building is over 100 years but renovated from shop to a home so classed as new build.
...

I think I would be more confident using insurance instead of searches if it wasn't classed as a new build.

Classed by whom?

A building that has been there for a century is clearly not newly-built, whether the use has been changed or not.
It's an old building that has been refurbished and repurposed.

I presume by the lender - they usually regard a significantly converted building as "newbuild" and want the usual warranties etc.

Tiglet2

I hope you are not waiting for searches from Hackney Council: 

"Hackney has become the first local authority to announce that searches will now miss the stamp duty holiday deadline. As a result of a cyber attack which has left the Local Authority unable to process searches, Hackney now recommend indemnity insurance as the only way to ensure completion before the 31st March 2021 deadline. The latest update on their website has been reproduced below:

Land searches and planning applications
"The systems that the Council uses to process new planning applications and the land searches needed for property sales are affected.

"We are hoping to offer a partial land search service in the coming weeks, but we don't expect to be able to offer full land searches to any resident before the end of the stamp duty holiday. We are therefore advising residents who need to complete a property purchase to speak to their lender or mortgage broker about taking out indemnity insurance. We will be contacting current applicants next week to tell them which elements of the land search we will be able to complete."

TBagpuss

Make a formal complaint to the conveyancing firm.
Tell them explicitly that you want the searches and that as the delay is their fault and that you want them to cover the additional costs of obtaining expedited searched (it's often possible to get them back faster by paying for an expedited service) 

[Deleted User]

AdrianC said:

RPC_2 said:
The house building is over 100 years but renovated from shop to a home so classed as new build.
...

I think I would be more confident using insurance instead of searches if it wasn't classed as a new build.

Classed by whom?

A building that has been there for a century is clearly not newly-built, whether the use has been changed or not.
It's an old building that has been refurbished and repurposed.

Most lenders use the phrase: lived in for the first time in its current form.  so it would likely be a new build

thrifty_pete

Assuming the conveyancer gets a referral fee from the insurance company, this sounds like more suspicious than forgetting. The outsourcing forms who do searches offer more like 24 to 48 hours though?