Buyers want me to pay £130 + VAT for indemnity policy for tiny, bike-sized wobbly shed. Thoughts?

user1977

GDB2222 said:

user1977 said:

The reason (which your solicitor ought to have explained to you along with the request, assuming the communication did in fact come via the solicitors) is much less important here than the trivial value of the shed. And the solicitors likely don't know what "shed" means here (for all they know it could be some extravagant working from home annexe or similar). So explaining what the "structure" here actually is should help people see sense.

It’s one of the flaws in the conveyancing system that the solicitors never see the property that they are working on. 

Often a glance at the estate agents' schedule will answer these queries (or a virtual "drive-by" on Streetview).

Section62

Mark_Michalowski said:

My sale is dragging on and on (mainly due to MY conveyancers, it has to be said). But now my buyers are saying they want me to buy a £200,000 indemnity policy for £80 + conveyancer's markup of £52 + VAT for one of the two small, bike-sized, chest-height sheds down the size of the house. I'm guessing it's the one that's more noticeably leaning away from the wall is the one they're referring to, since they specifically say "shed (lean to)" singular, rather than both of them.

As Doozergirl says, "lean to" is a description of a type of building, not the current structural condition.

If you have two sheds, but they are only concerned about one, my guess would be you have a covenant of some type which prohibits outbuildings 'except one shed...' a very common restriction.

If so, just tell them you will be removing one of the sheds.  Use a site like Freecycle or Freegle to get rid of it, someone will be willing to come and dismantle and remove it for free.  If the sheds are the same I'd personally be minded to let the Freecycler take the one in better condition.

deannagone

I agree, I'd remove them along with the bricks.  I suspect this is something if they are that wobbly leaky etc, that should have occurred to a seller before putting the house up for viewing.., just to remove a red flag for buyers.  Make life easier for yourself lol.  The indemnity policy does sound a bit OTT.

eddddy

user1977 said:

The reason (which your solicitor ought to have explained to you along with the request, assuming the communication did in fact come via the solicitors) is much less important here than the trivial value of the shed. And the solicitors likely don't know what "shed" means here (for all they know it could be some extravagant working from home annexe or similar). So explaining what the "structure" here actually is should help people see sense.

Except that I wonder whether the 'misunderstanding' is even more fundamental.

Does the indemnity insurance definitely relate to the shed? (As it seems a little unlikely.)

For example, was the solicitor reporting 2 things - a question about the shed, and indemnity insurance - and the OP has conflated them.

Which is why questions like - 'What type of Indemnity Insurance is it?' and 'Why does the buyer's solicitor say it is required?' might be useful starting points.


(Just in case the OP decides to solve the problem by pulling the sheds down and disposing of them - and then finding out that wasn't the problem at all.) 

BikingBud

Is the shed large enough to hide a hot tub in

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6338443/offer-accepted-but-we-don-t-want-the-hot-tub#latest

canaldumidi

Either you or your solicitor have misunderstood what the buyer's issue is, or it really IS this 'shed' which for some reason should not be there. And the insurance is to protect against thepossibility of 'someone' finding out about this 'illegal' shed and demanding it be removed.

Council Planners? Building Control? Or someone with the benefit of a covenant against the property title (eg 'not to erect any building, shed of other structure within the boundary of the property'.

Solution? Remove the shed.. No further risk of enforcement by.... whoever. Sorted!

And if they then say "But we thought the shed was included in the price." you respond; "Make up your mind! Have the shed and pay for your own insurance (if you want insurance) or don't have the shed."

TBagpuss

As others have said, I think you need to clarify with your solicitor (i) what specifically is the insurance for and (ii) why do they think it is necessary?

Indemnity policies are usually for things such as a structure which is in breach of a restrictive covenant, or which doesn't have planning permission / building regs. 

In your case, if they really want it for the bike store then you can either agree to pay, or say that you are happy to remove the shed if they don't want it left. 
Or you may decide that it's easier and cheaper to agree, depending on how keen you are to sell and how much it will delay things if you don't agree. 

Mark_Michalowski

Thanks so much to all of you for your comments.

This is the wording from my conveyancers:

Please see attached indemnity policy the buyers solicitors are asking for in relation to the shed (lean to) The cost of the policy is £79.00 plus our fee for dealing with this of £52.00+vat. Alternatively, if you would like to confirm that you will remove this prior to completion then there will be no need to set the policy in place.

I've replied, asking for confirmation of the purpose of the insurance and pointing out they've already got me to pay for an indemnity policy (the exact same policy, as far as I can tell from the copy they sent through) to cover the very old building work in the kitchen. I could take the shed down, yes - which is probably what I'll do - but in amongst everything else to be done at the moment, it's just one more thing that I can do without - LOL

I'm still waiting to hear back - I'll let you know what happens

thanks!

Mxx

eddddy

Mark_Michalowski said:

Thanks so much to all of you for your comments.

This is the wording from my conveyancers:

Please see attached indemnity policy the buyers solicitors are asking for in relation to the shed (lean to) The cost of the policy is £79.00 plus our fee for dealing with this of £52.00+vat. Alternatively, if you would like to confirm that you will remove this prior to completion then there will be no need to set the policy in place.

I've replied, asking for confirmation of the purpose of the insurance and pointing out they've already got me to pay for an indemnity policy (the exact same policy, as far as I can tell from the copy they sent through) to cover the very old building work in the kitchen. I could take the shed down, yes - which is probably what I'll do - but in amongst everything else to be done at the moment, it's just one more thing that I can do without - LOL

I'm still waiting to hear back - I'll let you know what happens

thanks!

Mxx

As a starting point, if the indemnity policy is attached to the letter - what does it say it's for?

For example, here's a specimen Planning Consent indemnity policy
https://gcs-title.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/PP-SPECIMEN.pdf

It's title is "Planning Consent" and under the heading "Cover" it begins "Loss sustained on or after the Commencement Date in the event of Enforcement of planning controls and regulations by the local planning authority in respect of the Works."


And here's a specimen Building Regulations indemnity policy:
https://gcs-title.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BR-SPECIMEN.pdf

It's title is "Building Regulations"...


The layout and wording of your policy might be different, but it should be fairly clear what it's for.

Mark_Michalowski

Thanks for that, eddddy - very enlightening

It seems that, since my last email to them, common-sense has prevailed.

My conveyancers have said:

I do apologise about the late reply, with respect of the previous indemnity policy that was suggested to you was for lack of building regulations, this policy is for lack of consent.

We can go back to the solicitors and advise them that if they believe it to be necessary then their client could cover the cost of the same but I cannot give any guarantee that they will accept this.

And since then, my EAs have said:

I have also asked your buyers about the shed and they are happy for it to be left but emptied if that is ok?

So it looks like the job's done! Well, until the next query or objection or quibble - LOL!

thanks again everyone

Mxx