Home legal cover

[newhouse12345]

Hi,

Has anyone used home legal protection to file a case for misrepresentation or professional negligence?

We have just logged a case with our insurers but I'm sceptical about the whole process. Will they support us? Will we get the best advice?

Has anyone had a similar case? How were the insurance company? How did you find the process?

We are completely out of our depths with the situation but we really need to get professional advice. I really hope our insurance company will help us.

Any tips would be very welcome

Thanks 😊

I'd want to start with the T&C issues for the cover such as what major exclusions there are and how much, per case, they'll allow in costs and what the excess is.

Any insurance for legal claims is likely to have a fairly high bar for prospect of success and of actually recovering any damages awarded.

DM used legal cover for cover regarding defending a Will. They covered everything and up to £100,000. I think the costs probably ended up around £40-50k! Absolutely amazing and no issues. Need to have a good chance at winning though.

Iv had a look at the policy and I think we do qualify. The T&Cs state that any claim related to buying/ selling a house (which ours does) qualifies as long as cover started before completion, which ours did.

The cover is up to £25k and excess is £300.

Who/ how is it decided what the chance of success is?

Who determines if you have a good chance of winning?

An assessor, you need a 51% chance and they definitely play on the conservative side, apparently nothing is 100%. But it may not need that depending on how far you need to take it.

Sorry if this sounds really stupid but is an assessor independent?
Or is it someone from the insurance firm?

Will they review all the information/ documents about the case before they make a decision?

Prospect of success is a basic thing for anybody starting any sort of legal case. Not just civil stuff like here but even a criminal prosecution need a 50% chance of success.

The insurer is being asked to spend its money funding your case. They will decide whether to cross the line for prospect of success. I'd expect them to do it fairly and with reasons given but they'll inevitably tend to be conservative.

If you had the money to fund it yourself would you press on?

If the answer aint a firm Yes then you might not be surprised if the insurer questions it...

I don't have any legal experience so I don't know what solid grounds are needed to win a case. I struggle to see how we don't have a case though 🤷🏻‍♀️

We were sold a house with off street parking. The seller didn't disclose that the dropped kerb is illegal. All his documents state that it has off street parking and when asked for the council certificate he replied 'it has a dropped kerb, it was put in before we bought the house'
The solicitors took his word for it and didn't obtain the certificate to verify the dropped kerb (because there isn't one) the driveway/ kerb isn't obviously illegal as the kerb is dropped and is in keeping with the road.

The solicitors didn't inform us that the dropped kerb wasn't verified. It wasn't flagged as a risk etc. we weren't offer indemnity insurance or anything.

We only found out when the council installed a parking space across our drive that it's an illegal driveway.

The solicitors are blaming the seller sayings it's misinformation! The seller is saying he answered to the best of his knowledge and the solicitors should have verified!?

So I'm not sure who's fault, if anyone's!

You can only explain what you have said above to the insurance company.

They will ask you a number of questions and ask to see certain documents.
They then get back to you with whether they will take the case on. As pp have said, they will want a 51% chance of recovery.

Personally I’d mention to the house solicitor that it will be your next move if they can’t resolve the issue. They have their own insurance for this kind of thing. But, possibly for not checking a cert out properly.

This may make them more responsive to resolve?

We had an issue with the council and after speaking to our legal cover, they said we had a case. I told the council that I would be passing over the responsibility to our solicitors….. Hey presto, issue resolved!

I'd suggest checking with the insurer and seeing what they say.

Would be interesting to know what the advice is.

Should the vendor have known there was no dropped kerb (or if there was it wasn't properly approved) or had they accepted a similar assurance when they bought.

Would a conveyancer check those things as a matter of course? I guess there could/should be local knowledge as to where there are 'hot spots' for this sort of stuff. My son lives in what I'm certain is an ex council house in Liverpool. Most houses have drives, his included, but very few have dropped kerbs.

Would the council allow a dropped kerb at all and, if so, what would it cost?

The conveyancing solicitors have confirmed that they didn't follow the correct process but they believe the outcome would have been the same regardless.
Obviously we dispute the fact as we wouldn't have bought the house if we'd have know (not for the same price anyway. In London off-street parking is at a massive premium)
They want to place blame on the seller for lying in the property forms.

In my opinion, the solicitors are paid to verify the property information. The seller didn't falsify certificates or anything, they just took his word for it. If they'd have followed the correct process, we would have been well informed. They should have warned us about the missing certificate, which they didn't.

We told them we have insurance and they basically said they recommend we seek independent legal advice! So they aren't willing to offer any resolution/ compensation.

Iv logged an insurance case today. We'l see what they say. But I was told it could take 2 weeks + for a initial response. I guess it's a long process?

I don't know if the seller knew or not. Iv done a freedom of information with the council to see if there was any correspondence to prove he did know (if he'd tried to apply for a dropped kerb or anything) Unless I can find evidence, I guess he can just deny any knowledge. I don't know how that works legally though?

Verification of a driveway/ dropped kerb is one of the standard property checks. The council issue certificates if approved. They did ask him for it, but he never gave it and they never followed up.

The council have changed the policy so we are now not entitled to apply. Which is very frustrating as our neighbours with identical houses have approved drives.

Legal insurance usually doesn't cost to claim in my experience.

Basically you fill out a claims form, it goes to a panel solicitor who state if you have a claim and likely to win by 51%.

They deal with all the legal stuff.

To be honest I've worked in that field and it's been pretty crap - the yellow break down people.

@newhouse12345 Ahh, you’ve already given them the chance to resolve - just move forward as you have done by going legal (if they take the case)

London off street parking is sort after and you paid a premium for it, so you should follow up.

Maybe ask the neighbours if they are aware of any conversations/issues re the dropped kerb? As a real long shot, also check with the local councillor for your area as there may be some knowledge or history there. Can only ask, it’s worth a try.

@newhouse12345 I made a claim as the house I was bought was sold with "off street parking" but no dropped curb. Complained via estate agent (sellers representative) and than took to the property ombudsman. I was awarded 25% of the cost to instal a dropped curb. Just another situation you could follow.

I still don't have that dropped curb because it's going to cost £2k and I don't think there is actual room to put one in.

I know your case is different but complaint via the estate agent is also an option,

That's interesting, I didn't think estate agent info was legally binding.

Ours was advertised as having off-street parking with the estate agent.

I'm not really sure who's to blame, but it doesn't seem fair.

We really wanted to be excited about our new house and now we have this parking drama.

Yeah it's crazy how much they charge!

We can't even apply for one, so we are snookered!

Did your solicitors not mention the non dropped kerb? Or did the seller describe parking in the property forms? I'm surprised the EA are the ones to blame

Usually for a legal claim, counsel’s opinion on the prospect of success will be sought before starting proceedings.

@Heelenahandbasket before legal proceedings the insurance company will contact their panel solicitors and ask them to assess the claim.

51% chance, they will process

Legal proceedings are usually done when everything else has been exhausted

We have done two escalated rounds of complaints to our conveyancing solicitors. They do admin they were at fault, but claim the outcome would be the same. They have recommended we pursue the seller.

I logged a case with the Insurance yesterday so i guess il have to see what they say.

We were going to pay a private solicitor £2k to review the case to see if anyone is liable, but they recommended we check our insurance. When I checked I realised we do have cover.

This is the legal position regarding the agent. It might matter if they could reasonably have known about the legal position with the kerb. If the other houses have parking, it’s quite likely they reasonably trusted the info given and saw the kerb. (Sorry if I’ve misunderstood).

I would say the solicitor was wrong not to check parking legalities and pass details to you. As you cannot amend the situation you are presumably looking for compensation? In London I think this is a fairly standard search regarding parking. Did you get info from the solicitor about their searches? If they just believed the vendor, they should not have done. In my view. So they have not acted in your interests. Have you looked at the Law Society for advice?

I honestly don't think the estate agents would have know. The house and drive are in-keeping with the road. The kerb is physically dropped so you wouldn't know to look at it. Many houses on our road have legal drives. It just that ours wasn't done legally, which is what the solicitors should have verified.

It's a nightmare I could do without tbh!

Iv been told we should seek compensation of the price difference between a house with or without off-street parking. Also potentially the landscaping cost to turn our large hard standing back to a garden if it can't be used as a drive!

Tbh I just want to use our drive.

Why have the council said you can't have a dropped kerb now? What sort of parking space have they installed in front? Is it a permit space or something?