Moving house council tax/ unifies

Slithery

Antman27 said:

MaryNB said:

TripleH said:

MaryNB said:

TripleH said:

Don't forget home and building insurance (from completion).

It's needed from exchange.

Thank you for that. I thought it was only from completion as the previous owner would be occupying the property and your ownership would only start from when you completed (I assumed exchange meant you were legally bound to buy the property but didn't technically own it).

That has saved me making an error in future, much appreciated MaryNB.

(Edit : have only owned flats before and exchanged and completed on the same day).

My solicitor wouldn't let me exchange without it. I believe some lenders require it from exchange in order to release the mortgage funds. The concern is that even if the house burns down after exchange, you still have to complete. I'm not sure what happens with regards to insurance during this period - whether it's the seller or buyer that claims but obviously for the sake of about £100 it's better to be safe than sorry. 

Halifax have told me it should be in place at the time of exchange as the buyer becomes responsible for the property. So if there is an insurance event between exchange and completion, I think it is the buyer that will need to claim from their insurance.  

I believe that it is actually the sellers responsibility until completion (they are legally bound to hand over the property in the same condition that it was at exchange). It's just that lenders like to cover themselves for the situation where the seller doesn't actually have any buildings insurance.

TripleH

Yes, that makes sense Slithery.

In my mind I struggled to see how the buyer would be the liable party if a house they didn't own burnt down before they moved in.

Kazzam1984

We will be with Halifax. We had to have it In place for exchange and note them on the policy 

MrsBrush

My solicitor said the same - we need the insurance on the new property from exchange. NatWest has also stated that they need to be noted on the policy - which interestingly isn't something that the insurance company does as a matter of course, so needs to be added specifically.

I was concerned about the gap between the dates, so I spoke to the insurance company who have reassured me that this is the normal situation. You can pay for a temporary policy that will cover the buildings between exchange and completion, which we intend to do. They said it is around £30, which is probably a little expensive for what it is, but it takes out any uncertainty of who is responsible should something go wrong and worth if for the peace of mind.