Mortgage offer - states they have the right to buy insurance for me!

Silverclarity

First time buyer (mature).
Just got mortgage offer from Bank of Ireland and ploughing through it.
Came across this section: 
c We will have the right to insure the property if we do not give the approvals you need under condition 10b(ii). d We may also insure the property if you do not keep it insured at all times, or if you are insuring it in a way which does not meet the requirements of condition 10b. If we insure the property, the following will apply. (i) We will choose the insurer and the risks insured. (ii) We will decide the amount of cover and any excess. (iii) We will decide whether to insure the property through an agent or broker or directly with the insurer. (iv) We will have the right to keep any commission the insurers pay us. (v) We will ask you to pay the premium for the insurance when the policy is taken out and when it is renewed. If you do not do so, we may include the premium in the monthly payment due in the month after we have paid the premium. We will charge you interest on the premium until you have repaid it.

While I understand they can reject mine - I didn't think they had the right to just go ahead and insure themselves?  All of the research I have done agrees with me.

Would really appreciate your thoughts as finding this all a bit of a minefield. 

user1977

What "research" have you done? It's fairly normal for lenders to want to have the right to sort out anything you haven't done yourself in order to protect their interest in the property. It's hardly a "minefield", just insure it in a manner which complies with their requirements.

jlfrs01

It's always a pre-requisite to provide buildings insurance to a lender, never known this not to be the case. Sometimes the lender will provide a quote if they have their own product, sometimes proof of insurance is provided to them via the Conveyances and if not adequate, you are notified to rectify it so it is acceptable. Buildings insurance isn't complex but could be complicated or expensive if there's a history of subsidence or is near water/trees and of course there is always the chance lenders may decline on one or all of those reasons.

Exodi

To be honest I'm not surprised. If the owner refused to properly insure the property, I can't expect the lender to be willing to just sit idly by and watch, hoping and praying every night that the house they have secured hundreds of thousands of pounds of their money against doesn't burn down.

It's probably easier to do this than the nuclear option of repossession (and the house would still be uninsured in the interim) or paying for appropriate insurance out their own pocket because the owner refuses to.

I think I'd save my energy for other battles to be honest.

housebuyer143

This is a standard clause. If you find out you are not insuring it they reserve the right to do this themselves and charge you. Chances of them getting back their money if it burns to the ground with no insurance is low, so obviously they want to be able to take action if needed.

400ixl

Standard on all of the mortgages I had in the past. If you don't insure the property then can and charge you for it.

Keep it insured as you should do and its a moot cluse.