Indemnity policies against adverse possession when buying property and finding oddities on the land owned.
We've had it before where an odd parcel of land used as part of the garden turned out not to be on the LR for the property so a policy was paid for and job jobbed.
But has anyone been involved in when this actually needs to be used?
Either you found out land was being claimed by another property that was yours and you had to reclaim it or someone came out of the ether and had proof of ownership of a parcel of "your" land.
How did it go?
I gather this is vanishingly rare, otherwise you wouldn't get a policy in the first place.
I'm guessing that if the owner of land really wanted to be a pita, a policy paying out might recompense you but you still don't get the land.
I'm trying to figure out how much of a "problem" this is, especially should the worst happen.
We have this currently in and amongst settling my mum's estate. The buyer of the property has this very issue with the property they are selling. Their solicitors have advised against any indemnity policy and are insisting that the land involved needs to be included on the deeds. There is a process to adopt land in this way, but it is a bit long winded.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Had this very situation and was given assurances that the "indemnity" would cover any future problems.
Old house and LR drawings were very vague, I proceeded with purchase with the cover and it was worth bugger all when the land ownership was questioned. Luckily the local authority had messed up numerous times historically (including allowing a garage to be built with full permission and all building insepctions on thier land) so let it transfer over with token payment. It could have been so much worse.
I didn't even get redress from the solicitors that I used as they went bust under a background of questionable practices.
I think that's where we are but the Land Registry apparently make snails look speedy and a delay is inevitable in a falling house market and as we are buying...Originally Posted by Chris_in_the_UK
There is always the chance that LR refuse the adverse possession claim too. We have 30+ years of signed statements over the use of land but even so.
You have to apply for possessory title first anyway I think which is a start but not bullet proof. Vendors need to get their ducks in line before going to market.
Thanks. Since they are insurnace companies there is always a fight I can imagine. Effectively I was told that if they are willing to sell a policy it is highly highly unlikely it will ever need to be claimed on. Of course if they won't sell a policy then alarm bells ring.
Interestingly, I just took a phone call now from the Estate Agents who are acting for us - the LR have finally given title, so we are good to go. From memory this has taken 8 weeks or thereabouts.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Hi - I recently had some issues similar to yours on a purchase. We were able to get an expedited LR review because there was a live chain and the issue was holding everything up. It might be worth you trying the same.
However I must say we found LR to be fairly awful to deal with, and they knocked our application back. BUT at least we found out (relatively) quickly and were then able to pursue other avenues. Thankfully it all worked out in the end. Good luck
Interesting. It had been suggested that LR could expedite things if it was holding up a sale but I wasn't entirely sure what constituted expediting so figures are useful.
If memory serves me I think it was a two week turnaround. If you need I’ll dig it all out and check (send me a PM if you’d prefer)
Thanks. I'll see how it goes. In theory it's the vendor's problem but somehting tells me it is going to become mine..
Oh it’s 100% their issue… if the sale to you falls through then what’s to stop the next doing exactly the same. They need to get it sorted.
Our vendors were pretty good in trying to get things arranged. Our agent was great and kept things moving well and pushed LR hard especially re the expedited review.
Good luck. Happy to help if I can
Any Conveyancing Solicitor worth their salt will be able to advise you on this, they will have to provide all the risk information to Underwriters. Have a look at the website for First Title Insurance who are one of the market leaders, Aviva also write quite a bit.
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