Japanese knotweed plans. How long is too long?

Idiotwind

Hello.

This is rather a niche question.

We bought our house 6 years ago. There was a small amount of jkw found in the garden about 4 years before. It was treated and under a 10 year guaranteed management plan. It is has never come back since initial treatment. The guaranteed plan has now ended and they are trying to sell us an extended plan. At £1200 for 10 years.

I know you can never prove jkw is gone but at 10 years the risk is very very minimal. I feel this is something of a scam at this point However we are likely to want to sell up and move in the next few years and I suspect that this will make our lives much easier when it comes to selling.

has anyone had any experience with similar?

Thankyou

Ayr_Rage

How can the offer of a plan ever be called a scam?

That's a ridiculous statement.

Think of it as insurance at £10/month which seems a bargain, especially if it is transferable.

Idiotwind

scam may be extreme choice of words fair enough but I am very unconvinced by the value of the offer hence this posting.

I thInk given the hype around jkw I suspect you are probably right. I’m just thinking it through out loud.

Exodi

What would be the cost for a new 10 year plan if a reinfestation was discovered?

If similar then I might consider there's no need to proactively take out the policy.

If you plan on selling the house soon, you'll eventually need to fill out a TA6, which as you are likely aware, you will need to answer whether your property is affected by Japanese Knotweed with the options of "Yes", "No" or "Not known". Inevitably selecting "Not known" will spur questions from the buyer and this will all come to a front. Selecting "No" and the "very very minimal" risk of it returning occurs, you could find yourself facing legal action for misrepresentation particularly when it is realised you had a prior infestation. E.g. https://taylorwalton.co.uk/insights/sellers-must-be-aware-of-the-knotweed-question/

daveyjp

If it ever does come back killing it off is easy enough, £1200 buys 350 litres of weedkiller!

Albermarle

You could try going back to them and saying as there have been no sign of a problem for 6 years, then £1200 seems excessive when most likely they will never have to actually do anything. Then offer them say half ( or less) if you ideally would like the policy in place.

On a similar vein, there must be other companies offering similar and hopefully cheaper, so could be well worth shopping around and negotiating.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81917263#Comment_81917263

As discussed on at least one previous thread, the wording of that question is a bit daft as it presumes that sellers can give a warranty about the period before they owned the property. Should really be qualified with "to the best of my knowledge" or similar in relation to the past.

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81917296#Comment_81917296

Yes agreed, sorry didn't mean to kick up the tired debate about the TA6 form.

As you highlight, you're forcing buyers to almost provide an ironclad guarantee about something that is effectively unknowable. How's the OP or anyone supposed to know if a dormant JKW rhizome exists (which can remain inactive for up to 20 years)!

I think the point I was trying to make was that the OP probably shouldn't respond 'No' to that question (but if we're being totally risk averse, no-one should, even for a property with no history of JKW!). At least it starts a conversation - much like the common scenario we see where an indemnity policy is requested for an old shed or conservatory or something, you can suggest the cost to the buyer but insist if they're excessively worried, they're free to take a policy out themselves (or use it to sweeten a deal).

MyRealNameToo

Whilst not legally the same a warranty has a lot of similarities to insurance. You exchange a "small loss" (premiums) to avoid the risk of a big loss. As non-mandatory is matter of weighing up how much it would cost to fix the problem if you dont have the warranty and balancing it plus the probability of it happening against the fees charged.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81917267#Comment_81917267

Which if you believe Google needs to be applied regularly for 2-4 years to be confidence that you've killed it. It's not a normal weed where a quick single spray kills everything.

daveyjp

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81917355#Comment_81917355

Well established outbreaks may take multiple years of treatment, but the OP states there is no sign of new growth many years since treatment.

If a stand does start to regrow a single season of spraying (once a month July, August, September) will destroy a new outbreak in one year. That's why early treatment is the best course of action.

Idiotwind

thanks everyone.

I think we need to go for this but I will see if there is any movement on price.

There was only a single application of treatment 10 years and no regrowth/retreatment needed since