Chancel repair liability mentioned in title deeds - can you get indemnity insurance?

[Labracadabra]

We're buying a house and today our solicitor sent through the deeds plan and vendor's documentation. I read the document and the vendors have said that the deeds mention that there is chancel repair liability for the church in the next village (about 2-3 miles away). I've checked the title deeds and it's true :-(. The PCC have "informally" said to the vendors that they wouldn't pursue liability from properties outside the village in which the church is situated, but of course they're entitled to do what they want and that's no guarantee. As the liability is "known" not "potential" is it possible to take out insurance and does anyone have an idea of rough costs for the policy? The purchase price is £287,000. I've read that having this on the deeds makes the house "worthless" and "unsaleable" so we don't want to land ourselves with that. Should the vendor take out the insurance/cover the costs instead? We're on a tight timeline and it's taken over a year to find this property so don't really want to pull out (no similar properties available) but we will if there's no other option. Thanks

Yes.

You must have this.

Absolutely must.

It should cost less than £100 quid (not an annual policy - i think it's a one off kind of thing) but well worth it.

Yes definately get a policy in place. It'll be more expensive than a standard chancel indemnity policy (as if there is actually an express mention of liability you can't get an "off the peg" policy your solicitor will need to ring the insurer and give details of the potential liability and get a bespoke quote) but still not too expensive. We got a quotation (at work not me personally) for just over £100 for a known liability. If you're using a mortgage your lender would require a policy to be in place.

But your solicitor should also be asking the sellers to meet the cost of the policy as it is a defect with their title, you shouldn't have to pay for it (worst case split the cost).