Seller Pulled Out of Purchase & Home Buyer Protection Insurance Claim Rejected

TheJP

bbluvbb said:

mills705 said:

bbluvbb said:

Thank you all for your suggestions. The email from the vendor didn’t state the exact reason for pulling out in the email, but we know it was because they wanted to finalise the sale as quickly as possible. While we were still waiting for the bank to approve our mortgage, the vendor decided not to wait and chose to remarket the property.

I’ve reviewed the terms and conditions, checked what’s insured, and confirmed that I meet the criteria.

We will, subject to what is not insured, the claims provisions and conditions of this policy

pay the costs and expenses following the purchase of the property failing as a result of

an insured incident shown as operative in the schedule.

Provided that:

1. the full premium has been paid.

2. the date of occurrence is during the period of insurance.

3. any claim is reported to us:

a. during the period of insurance.

b. immediately after you became aware of circumstances which may give rise to a

claim.

4. you do not deliberately and knowingly cause a delay or use unreasonable behaviour

that results in the failed purchase.

5. the purchase of the property is not subject to a contract race or sealed bids.

6. you are using a solicitor to conduct the conveyancing of the property.

7. you have not had a survey carried out on the property.

8. you have made an offer to purchase the property and that offer has been accepted by

the vendor or their agent in writing.

9. an application for any mortgage on the property has been agreed in principle.

10. the policy is issued no later than three working days from the date on which you first

instruct a solicitor.

it does not have the wording of official letter is needed from the T&Cs

Insured incidents

1. Withdrawal from the sale by the vendor because of gazumping

The vendor withdrawing from the sale following receipt and acceptance of an alternative

offer providing that the alternative offer is at least £1,000 greater than the property price.

2. Withdrawal from the sale by the vendor for other reasons

The vendor withdrawing from the sale for reasons other than set out in paragraph 1 above

and which are beyond your reasonable control.

We will not pay for any claim:

a. Where the vendor withdraws from the sale due to any delays, action or inaction

caused by you or your solicitor.

b. Where you failed to obtain a mortgage offer.

Did you have an AIP? If so then id say if you were literally in the line to be approved for your mortgage and within normal timeframes of a few weeks then the insurer is being unreasonable and should proceed with the claim payout.

You also have the reason - they want a quick sale and a mortgage buyer isnt going to be quick in moving forward as they want.  

Yes, we were required to have an AIP when viewing the property. The whole thing is so shady because the T&Cs don’t even specify what constitutes a "delay." Our offer was accepted in late September last year, and we proceeded with a solicitor and mortgage broker. Two weeks later, the agent called to say the seller had decided to put the transaction on hold. When we asked for a reason, the agent said they had no idea either so all we could do is just wait from the update from the seller and also from the banks.

Then, a day or two later, the agent called again and said the seller had decided to continue. During this time, we kept submitting the required documents to the bank for the mortgage. However, around early Nov, the seller decided to pull out completely.

So you had no mortgage offer within a 3 month (12 week) window, that's the issue here! I hope you do finally manage to find your home but something is missing here.

GDB2222

eddddy said:

As an aside, have you checked Trustpilot, and other review sites, for reviews of this company that relate to making a claim?

Don't be misled by a flood of 5 star reviews about arranging a policy - like "the website was easy to use", "arranging the policy was very easy", "they [the salespeople selling policies] were friendly and helpful".

The reality is that the premiums are incredibly low - far too low to cover the risk if claims were paid in more than a very small fraction of cases. 

As an example, HOA points out that a third of purchases fall through. So, really, the risk cost of these policies is around 1/3rd of the average claim. That needs to be loaded for admin and marketing costs. Yet, HOA will sell you a policy for £69. 

Myci85

TheJP said:

bbluvbb said:

mills705 said:

bbluvbb said:

Thank you all for your suggestions. The email from the vendor didn’t state the exact reason for pulling out in the email, but we know it was because they wanted to finalise the sale as quickly as possible. While we were still waiting for the bank to approve our mortgage, the vendor decided not to wait and chose to remarket the property.

I’ve reviewed the terms and conditions, checked what’s insured, and confirmed that I meet the criteria.

We will, subject to what is not insured, the claims provisions and conditions of this policy

pay the costs and expenses following the purchase of the property failing as a result of

an insured incident shown as operative in the schedule.

Provided that:

1. the full premium has been paid.

2. the date of occurrence is during the period of insurance.

3. any claim is reported to us:

a. during the period of insurance.

b. immediately after you became aware of circumstances which may give rise to a

claim.

4. you do not deliberately and knowingly cause a delay or use unreasonable behaviour

that results in the failed purchase.

5. the purchase of the property is not subject to a contract race or sealed bids.

6. you are using a solicitor to conduct the conveyancing of the property.

7. you have not had a survey carried out on the property.

8. you have made an offer to purchase the property and that offer has been accepted by

the vendor or their agent in writing.

9. an application for any mortgage on the property has been agreed in principle.

10. the policy is issued no later than three working days from the date on which you first

instruct a solicitor.

it does not have the wording of official letter is needed from the T&Cs

Insured incidents

1. Withdrawal from the sale by the vendor because of gazumping

The vendor withdrawing from the sale following receipt and acceptance of an alternative

offer providing that the alternative offer is at least £1,000 greater than the property price.

2. Withdrawal from the sale by the vendor for other reasons

The vendor withdrawing from the sale for reasons other than set out in paragraph 1 above

and which are beyond your reasonable control.

We will not pay for any claim:

a. Where the vendor withdraws from the sale due to any delays, action or inaction

caused by you or your solicitor.

b. Where you failed to obtain a mortgage offer.

Did you have an AIP? If so then id say if you were literally in the line to be approved for your mortgage and within normal timeframes of a few weeks then the insurer is being unreasonable and should proceed with the claim payout.

You also have the reason - they want a quick sale and a mortgage buyer isnt going to be quick in moving forward as they want.  

Yes, we were required to have an AIP when viewing the property. The whole thing is so shady because the T&Cs don’t even specify what constitutes a "delay." Our offer was accepted in late September last year, and we proceeded with a solicitor and mortgage broker. Two weeks later, the agent called to say the seller had decided to put the transaction on hold. When we asked for a reason, the agent said they had no idea either so all we could do is just wait from the update from the seller and also from the banks.

Then, a day or two later, the agent called again and said the seller had decided to continue. During this time, we kept submitting the required documents to the bank for the mortgage. However, around early Nov, the seller decided to pull out completely.

So you had no mortgage offer within a 3 month (12 week) window, that's the issue here! I hope you do finally manage to find your home but something is missing here.

I'm not sure where you got 3 months from. Offer accepted late September, seller pulled out early November, that's more likely around 6 weeks. Plus the seller in that time started messing around telling them the sale was on hold. Until this post I was thinking perhaps it was taking longer than necessary to get a mortgage offer and that was the problem, but reading this update I think it sounds like the seller was never really committed to the sale. 

TheJP

Myci85 said:

TheJP said:

bbluvbb said:

mills705 said:

bbluvbb said:

Thank you all for your suggestions. The email from the vendor didn’t state the exact reason for pulling out in the email, but we know it was because they wanted to finalise the sale as quickly as possible. While we were still waiting for the bank to approve our mortgage, the vendor decided not to wait and chose to remarket the property.

I’ve reviewed the terms and conditions, checked what’s insured, and confirmed that I meet the criteria.

We will, subject to what is not insured, the claims provisions and conditions of this policy

pay the costs and expenses following the purchase of the property failing as a result of

an insured incident shown as operative in the schedule.

Provided that:

1. the full premium has been paid.

2. the date of occurrence is during the period of insurance.

3. any claim is reported to us:

a. during the period of insurance.

b. immediately after you became aware of circumstances which may give rise to a

claim.

4. you do not deliberately and knowingly cause a delay or use unreasonable behaviour

that results in the failed purchase.

5. the purchase of the property is not subject to a contract race or sealed bids.

6. you are using a solicitor to conduct the conveyancing of the property.

7. you have not had a survey carried out on the property.

8. you have made an offer to purchase the property and that offer has been accepted by

the vendor or their agent in writing.

9. an application for any mortgage on the property has been agreed in principle.

10. the policy is issued no later than three working days from the date on which you first

instruct a solicitor.

it does not have the wording of official letter is needed from the T&Cs

Insured incidents

1. Withdrawal from the sale by the vendor because of gazumping

The vendor withdrawing from the sale following receipt and acceptance of an alternative

offer providing that the alternative offer is at least £1,000 greater than the property price.

2. Withdrawal from the sale by the vendor for other reasons

The vendor withdrawing from the sale for reasons other than set out in paragraph 1 above

and which are beyond your reasonable control.

We will not pay for any claim:

a. Where the vendor withdraws from the sale due to any delays, action or inaction

caused by you or your solicitor.

b. Where you failed to obtain a mortgage offer.

Did you have an AIP? If so then id say if you were literally in the line to be approved for your mortgage and within normal timeframes of a few weeks then the insurer is being unreasonable and should proceed with the claim payout.

You also have the reason - they want a quick sale and a mortgage buyer isnt going to be quick in moving forward as they want.  

Yes, we were required to have an AIP when viewing the property. The whole thing is so shady because the T&Cs don’t even specify what constitutes a "delay." Our offer was accepted in late September last year, and we proceeded with a solicitor and mortgage broker. Two weeks later, the agent called to say the seller had decided to put the transaction on hold. When we asked for a reason, the agent said they had no idea either so all we could do is just wait from the update from the seller and also from the banks.

Then, a day or two later, the agent called again and said the seller had decided to continue. During this time, we kept submitting the required documents to the bank for the mortgage. However, around early Nov, the seller decided to pull out completely.

So you had no mortgage offer within a 3 month (12 week) window, that's the issue here! I hope you do finally manage to find your home but something is missing here.

I'm not sure where you got 3 months from. Offer accepted late September, seller pulled out early November, that's more likely around 6 weeks. Plus the seller in that time started messing around telling them the sale was on hold. Until this post I was thinking perhaps it was taking longer than necessary to get a mortgage offer and that was the problem, but reading this update I think it sounds like the seller was never really committed to the sale. 

Ok lets say 6 weeks then. That's a long time to not have a mortgage offer even with the seller messing around in between. Something is missing from the detail here.