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raselmahbub
Posts: 55 Forumite
Hi Experts,
I am in the process of buying a house. I am a first time buyer.
The driveway has no drop kerb and I am okay with this.
I have told my solicitors that as long as I can get permissions from the council I will do it myself after moving into the property.
Today received an email from my solicitor saying that I need to pay for an indemnity insurance otherwise my lender may not approve the mortgage!
I am struggling to understand how this can be relevant to the lender now at this stage. The lender has done the valuation at the beginning and approved the mortgage based on that report. I have also paid extra for the full building survey.
I dont mind paying extra couple of hundred for this insurance policy if it is really a legal requirement.
Thanks in advance for your help.
I am in the process of buying a house. I am a first time buyer.
The driveway has no drop kerb and I am okay with this.
I have told my solicitors that as long as I can get permissions from the council I will do it myself after moving into the property.
Today received an email from my solicitor saying that I need to pay for an indemnity insurance otherwise my lender may not approve the mortgage!
"As you are aware, there are no rights of way to pass over the pavement to access the driveway. I requested that the sellers provide an indemnity policy to remedy this situation however they have refused. I will need to notify the lender that there are no rights of access, however they are more likely to provide their consent, if an indemnity policy is in place. Therefore, please advise if you are willing to pay for the costs .............."
I am struggling to understand how this can be relevant to the lender now at this stage. The lender has done the valuation at the beginning and approved the mortgage based on that report. I have also paid extra for the full building survey.
I dont mind paying extra couple of hundred for this insurance policy if it is really a legal requirement.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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Comments
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What do you mean "do it yourself" ? Do you mean arrange it yourself via the council or do you mean do the digging etc and lower the kerb yourself ?
What would the indemnity policy actually provide ? It cant actually lower the kerb, obviously. I wonder if it's more for the solicitor to prove that they advised against buy8ng without a dropped kerb?0 -
Your solicitor also acts for the lender so has a duty to inform them of any unresolved issues which may affect value or saleability.0
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So you don't have a driveway. You have a front garden that's been paved. Which you can't drive into.raselmahbub wrote: »The driveway has no drop kerb and I am okay with this.
OK, but what if you can't get permission?I have told my solicitors that as long as I can get permissions from the council I will do it myself after moving into the property.
(BTW, you know you can't DIY it? You can only pay the council's approved contractors? Not your land...)
Read what your solicitor is actually saying, not what you think he's saying.Today received an email from my solicitor saying that I need to pay for an indemnity insurance otherwise my lender may not approve the mortgage!As you are aware, there are no rights of way to pass over the pavement to access the driveway. I requested that the sellers provide an indemnity policy to remedy this situation however they have refused. I will need to notify the lender that there are no rights of access, however they are more likely to provide their consent, if an indemnity policy is in place. Therefore, please advise if you are willing to pay for the costs .............."
He's saying he needs to tell them. Well, OK, but will they care?
He's saying they are "more likely" to provide "consent" (but consent to what?) with an indemnity in place.
He's not saying they won't lend. He's saying they might be more likely to consent to something unidentified if there's an insurance policy in place.
But let's go back a step... What is the indemnity policy for? What will it do? It won't grant vehicular access over a non-dropped kerb. It won't drop the kerb. It won't pay for the costs of doing either of those, either. What WILL it pay out for? To sue the vendor for there being no vehicular access? No. So...? Apart from being a nice little earner for the insurer and the solicitor, what IS the benefit in it?
If they've had a valuation, and confirmed that they're happy to lend, then the valuer would have noticed the lack of a drop kerb, and would have valued it based on not having off-road parking. The lender are happy.I am struggling to understand how this can be relevant to the lender now at this stage. The lender has done the valuation at the beginning and approved the mortgage based on that report. I have also paid extra for the full building survey.
It isn't.I dont mind paying extra couple of hundred for this insurance policy if it is really a legal requirement.0 -
I wouldn't bet on it. Solicitor will hopefully have a copy of the valuation and be able to check whether they've assumed it has the benefit of off-road parking.If they've had a valuation, and confirmed that they're happy to lend, then the valuer would have noticed the lack of a drop kerb, and would have valued it based on not having off-road parking.0 -
The issue is poster doesn’t give full story like value and location.
In some places driveway adds £10k value in others £250k so of course, if you were the lender would you magic off 1/4million, I wouldn’t.
Nobody will steal your house if you post more relevant details.0 -
Thanks everyone!
Sorry for that confusing "I will do it myself" sentence. I actually meant that I will get it done through the council and bear the cost of it.
Fortunately, I have a copy of the valuation report and it says..Legal advisor to ensure appropriate rights of way and management arrangements for the shared vehicular and pedestrian access.
So it looks like the solicitor is doing what he is supposed to do....correct me if I am wrong here.
The main term of the insurance policy is..Known Risk Easement - Vehicular and Pedestrian Access: The Insured is prevented by the legal owner of the access way from exercising a right of way on foot and/or by vehicle to gain access to the Land.
What if I deny to pay for the insurance and ask the vendor to get required permission from the council.
@Alan2020
Sorry Alan, Its not about someone stealing my house... its not even my house yet!
I am just not sure what level/type of information I can provided in a public forum. This is a semi detached house at the end of a cul de sac road in Stechford, Birmingham. Please let me know if you need any more info.0 -
The solicitor seems focussed on the dropped kerb, but depending on when the driveway was built there may be still enforceable planning or building regulation contraventions (in relation to the driveway) for the OP (and lender) to consider the risk of.But let's go back a step... What is the indemnity policy for? What will it do? It won't grant vehicular access over a non-dropped kerb. It won't drop the kerb. It won't pay for the costs of doing either of those, either. What WILL it pay out for? To sue the vendor for there being no vehicular access? No. So...? Apart from being a nice little earner for the insurer and the solicitor, what IS the benefit in it?
The lack of a dropped kerb may be an indicator the driveway itself is not consented work (if required)."In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"0 -
Well, that's lovely, an' all, but how much does it pay out to cover what expenses?raselmahbub wrote: »The main term of the insurance policy is..Known Risk Easement - Vehicular and Pedestrian Access: The Insured is prevented by the legal owner of the access way from exercising a right of way on foot and/or by vehicle to gain access to the Land.
And what if he says "no"...?What if I deny to pay for the insurance and ask the vendor to get required permission from the council.
And is there any reason why the council would refuse permission? What's it going to do to the on-road parking? Have the neighbours got drop kerbs? No junctions or the like nearby?This is a semi detached house at the end of a cul de sac road
Post a link, and we can see what the environs are like, and whether there's anything likely to be a problem.0 -
Thanks Adrian.
Policy Amount: £220,000.00Well, that's lovely, an' all, but how much does it pay out to cover what expenses?
Additional Exclusions This policy does not cover the costs and expenses, in all instances,
associated with the maintenance, repair, resurfacing and/or improvement of the land used for access or any dispute arising out of a failure to pay or contribute (in whole or part) to the maintenance, repair, resurfacing and/or improvement of the land used for access.
Period of Insurance: In perpetuity
Well, I am willing to pay for the job, all I want the vendor to do is apply. If he says no, I dont know, probably I will apply myself to see if the council has any issues with this...And what if he says "no"...?
Ah... wait, I actually did email the council regarding this and their reply was...
"Without a site visit and proper assessment we cannot give a definite decision. There appears, from looking at Google Maps, to be a streetlight in the footpath which would need to be re-sited if a dropped kerb were to be provided. The cost for this would be approximately £1800 plus the cost of the dropped kerb, which is likely to be in the region of £1000-£1200"
Property link:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4891762,-1.8083143,3a,75y,232.24h,88.98t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slVnULRIKRiJtNdzNVWWxHw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
In this street view its all grass, but the vendor has recently paved the whole front.0 -
OK, so now we know that (as suspected) the indemnity won't pay for doing the work. We still don't know what it will pay for... But it'll pay £220k max. Woo.
Anyway, if you've actually approached the council already, then usually that'll rule out any indemnity against them taking action.0
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