We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Land contamination indemnity insurance - special case
arrianam
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hello, all.
The Council in my area (this is in England) has just announced they are starting an investigation into potential land contamination that is historical. There is an old chemical site, still active today, quite close to me. However, my house was not built on any factory land - it is just the proximity that I am worried about. The council have said there is no restriction on selling and buying houses and from what I understand, for the moment, the environmental searches still come back as a Pass.
I've got 2 questions, please:
1: Is it still possible to buy Land Contamination Indemnity Insurance to protect against future house devaluation and more importantly, land remediation costs - in this situation, where the Council has already announced the investigation? I talked informally to a solicitor and they seem to think that no, it's not possible once the Council went public. From what I read on the internet on some very old posts, though, it might still be possible to insure while the investigation is ongoing and the results of the analysis haven't come back. (This is to cover for the worst case when I come to sell my house - if they do find contamination and if they class the land as contaminated - and if the Chemical Companies won't pay for remediation - I know there are a lot of "if"s here
)
2: Can people please recommend where to start and who to talk to about this? Most insurers that come up on Google searches for this type of insurance don't even want to deal with the private individuals, only with businesses.
Thank you very much for your time.
The Council in my area (this is in England) has just announced they are starting an investigation into potential land contamination that is historical. There is an old chemical site, still active today, quite close to me. However, my house was not built on any factory land - it is just the proximity that I am worried about. The council have said there is no restriction on selling and buying houses and from what I understand, for the moment, the environmental searches still come back as a Pass.
I've got 2 questions, please:
1: Is it still possible to buy Land Contamination Indemnity Insurance to protect against future house devaluation and more importantly, land remediation costs - in this situation, where the Council has already announced the investigation? I talked informally to a solicitor and they seem to think that no, it's not possible once the Council went public. From what I read on the internet on some very old posts, though, it might still be possible to insure while the investigation is ongoing and the results of the analysis haven't come back. (This is to cover for the worst case when I come to sell my house - if they do find contamination and if they class the land as contaminated - and if the Chemical Companies won't pay for remediation - I know there are a lot of "if"s here
)2: Can people please recommend where to start and who to talk to about this? Most insurers that come up on Google searches for this type of insurance don't even want to deal with the private individuals, only with businesses.
Thank you very much for your time.
0
Comments
-
I very much doubt you would be able to I’m afraid - as a general rule indemnity insurance is a “no” once an issue has been “flagged up” which in this case it clearly has.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Or rather, you might be able to get insurance but only after some complex underwriting and at a significant cost.
How close is "quite close"?0 -
The house is approx 300m (crow's flight) from the chemical plant. House was built in 1970s and the plant was there way before that. But there are many trees and office buildings and 2 other rows of houses in between the plant and the house. So I can's see or hear the plant.
So in this case, if indemnity insurance is not an option, what are the options? Just wait and see what the Council will find and what will they decide? This might drag on for many years and in the meantime, just worry about it?
Are you aware of anything similar in any other part of UK in the past - so I can read about and see what happened? There must be lots of chemical sites around the UK potentially polluting the land and affecting the houses in their area?
Thank you for your responses
0 -
Specifically, do house prices tend to drop in such areas? Can Councils give a verdict of contaminated land on thousands of houses? If the Chemicals Companies don't pay, then the house owners are liable under the legislation. So if I want to sell my house, I can't until I fork out tens of thousands for land remediation? And this can happen to thousands of houses?
Will there not be riots?
Sorry, just feeling quite stressed now. Thank you all.0 -
Do you have reason to believe any contamination might have somehow travelled 300m?0
-
What sort of chemicals are on the site? Are they liquids, powders? If the county library has a local studies section, you could see if there are any cuttings or other information as to whether the factory has experienced spills in the past (and of what).The HSE has a list of companies that have breached regulations0
-
Hi all, thank you for the responses. The chemicals are liquids, so theoretically possible that they have gone up the stacks and then been washed down with the rain into the ground, even at 300m distance because we have strong winds in the area.
So it's anybody's guess what levels the Council may find in the ground - but this speculation is not helping me.
My actual concern is about the indemnity policy, but I now got 2 responses that such insurance might not be possible or it might be very expensive since the Council investigation already started.
So thank you all. I'll have to look into this indemnity insurance more.0
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.4K Spending & Discounts
- 247.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 604K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards