Charge against property from previous owner

MrsMonkey04

We bought a house in 2019 knowing that the previous owners had had financial issues. I opened a letter today in a pile of our post addressed to the previous owner and it's from the insolvency service about a charge that exists against our property following their bankruptcy in 2012. 
Obviously I will be contacting the Insolvency Service as soon as possible but I'm not sure how much they will be able to discuss with me since it's not my insolvency. I will also contact our solicitor who dealt with our house purchase and move. 

Until I can get answers from either of these places does anyone know where we stand with this? I'm really concerned that we are now liable for the £14k+ which is owed and, since the previous owners clearly aren't going to pay it, that we will end up with bailiffs at our door! Can anyone reassure me?! 

Keep_pedalling

Have you checked the land registry to see if there is still a charge on your property?

https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/copies-of-deeds

housebuyer143

Check your title to make sure it's registered under your name and their is no charge. If it is and there isn't then you have nothing to worry about.
In general though I don't believe you can register a title in your name with an outstanding charge on the title. 

MrsMonkey04

Sorry if I'm being dim, I can't see where I would check this? Would it be on the Title Register that you need to buy? 
Since the letter from The Insolvency Service is dated 14/05 I'm assuming that there still is. 

MrsMonkey04

housebuyer143 said:

Check your title to make sure it's registered under your name and their is no charge. If it is and there isn't then you have nothing to worry about.
In general though I don't believe you can register a title in your name with an outstanding charge on the title. 

How do I do that? Sorry, this is all outside my area of expertise!

Keep_pedalling

MrsMonkey04 said:

Sorry if I'm being dim, I can't see where I would check this? Would it be on the Title Register that you need to buy? 
Since the letter from The Insolvency Service is dated 14/05 I'm assuming that there still is. 

Yes you have to pay £7 for it, and it will list any restrictions and charges against the property. The charge should have been removed when the property was sold. 

saajan_12

MrsMonkey04 said:

Since the letter from The Insolvency Service is dated 14/05 I'm assuming that there still is. 

Not necessarily, they may just not have updated their records when the charge was transferred or paid from the sale proceeds in 2019. 

It is possible either way. If there is indeed still a charge, then the next step would be to go back to your conveyancer, as they should have ensured all charges were removed. 

You won't have to pay this back, as you don't owe the money. Worst case, the creditor can block any sale until its repaid. You might have a claim against your prior conveyancer who failed to ensure the charges were cleared, and potentially get them to pay off the amount to allow you to sell. However if you're not currently looking to sell, you have some time which is a good thing. 

MrsMonkey04

You won't have to pay this back, as you don't owe the money. Worst case, the creditor can block any sale until it's repaid. You might have a claim against your prior conveyancer who failed to ensure the charges were cleared, and potentially get them to pay off the amount to allow you to sell. However if you're not currently looking to sell, you have some time which is a good thing. 

Thank you so much, that's a huge relief! I had visions of us having to magic up £14k that we don't have!

user1977

What exactly does the letter say?

Bookworm225

when you purchased the property did your conveyancer confirm that all existing charges had been "addressed" leaving only your own lender's first charge?

if not then something went badly wrong with your conveyancing as charges normally die with the owner of the property, not carryover to new owners.

tealady

MrsMonkey04. Go to the Gov.uk website. Follow the links to the land registry and buy your house details from there.
Then check the contact details of the insolvency service (I assume these will be on gov.uk website) and contact them. Dont use the details on the letter in case its a scam.