Indemnity- can I ask buyer to pay?

[Shadowboy]

Ok so we have been generous to the buyers- leaving them things that weren't in the particulars.
Now their solicitor want us to pay £230 for an indemnity policy that is for something that isn't our fault. Our margins on this sale are mega tight (only selling due to my husband's relocation for work and due to this we have over £6k worth of mortgage repayment fees to pay!!) anyway, the issue is that the house sits on a byway. We paid for a licence that was issued by council which covers us but future buyers would purchase their own. Except the council have decided to stop issuing these licenses (no idea why?!) so we have one and this lasts for the duration of the time we own the property. Do we really have to pay for the buyer to indemnify themselves? If the sale falls through we've paid for nothing. I feel all the extras we said they could have are now valuable things I could have sold to pay for this indemnity policy. Can I request they pay it? The way I see it is they would have had to pay for a licence had the council still been issuing them so they should therefore pay the indemnity surely?

If you mean that there is technically no vehicle access as it's a byway and the licence deals with that then I'd say that that's very much an issue that a buyer shouldn't have to take the risk on and you should have to pay. It's completely different from you deciding (kind though that it) to leave some more curtains than the buyer may originally have expected. In the end though, this sort of thing depends on the market and both parties' view/bargaining power. Sometimes sellers will manage to get buyers to pay but usually the sellers pay for these themselves.

Yes, you can ask the buyers to pay for the indemnity, since your licence is not passed on to successors in title. Be aware though this may be bandied back and forth between the solicitors if the buyers also refuse to pay and it could add a few weeks on to the conveyancing. Either you or your buyer will have to come to an agreement about it eventually in order to proceed.

Yes beau ally that- but my point was that usually there is a licence the buyer purchased (the licence only applies to the names on the deeds) but because the council stopped issuing these in December the buyer can't purchase one. The indemnity is the same price as the licence so why are we paying?

The free items include a £1000 range oven, our flock of chickens and coop and made to measure Laura Ashley curtains- the whole lot totalling over £2k. They asked for them after their offer was accepted. I agreed before we knew about all this (there have been other issues like paying for the boiler to be serviced for them £100 and other odd requests from their solicitor)

You can say no. When we sold our flat, the buyers solicitor asked us to cover the cost of an indemnity for something - think it was to do with the freeholders insurance not covering something their mortgage company insisted on, something rather rare like house being hit by aircraft (in a city centre, not on flight path). We politely declined to pay. They still went ahead.

If you choose to say no, I think the fact the indemnity costs the same as the licence would have sounds a sensible reason for declining. Will your husband's employer not pay the mortgage charges?

In my case it was that a chimney breast had been knocked out (not by me) and I couldn't produce a building regs certificate. I pointed out the house was 100plus years old and it had probably been done before building regs and it wasn't exactly something the council were going g to inspect anyway. I do sometimes think these policies are a money making scam.

When I sold my first house I paid for a policy as the house had a flying freehold so you had to go down a shared passage under the house to reach the front door. Every terraced house in this town has this, really common. I paid for it that time, policy was in case the neighbour tried to refuse access. I really wish I'd refused that one as well. It's a total scam, the neighbour wouldn't be allowed to deny access in a million years. Again house was over hundred years old so access was well established.

Wowfudge sadly not - it's a government body that's made many cuts and they've basically said it's redundancy or move as this office is closing. I've just had a baby so we can't really afford the redundancy in case it takes a while for my husband to find another job. He could Commute - it would take 2hours each way so if sale did fall through that's what we'd do until out of the mortgage repayment charge period.

You are effectively selling the property with a defective title so really you should pay.

Often it is split 50/50.

My friend moved jobs in virtually identical situation and all moving costs were included 2 years ago despite gov cuts. Worth double checking...

I agree they should pay if it
Was a similar cost to the licence, just point that out and if they say no, say that's fine but we'll have to sell the range to fund it.

We were allowed to port our existing mortgage to a new purchase to avoid the redemption fees. It may be too late in the process for you but would your mortgage company do this for your onward purchase? We had a staggered completion and were allowed 6 months face between selling and buying.

However - what are the council issuing instead? Have they reclassified the byway?

We can't port sadly due to the type of mortgage required for the new property.

The council are not issuing anything instead. Basically they were the only council issuing licenses in this way and it's being reviewed to see if it's legal to do so!

Is it a lack of easement indemnity insurance policy?

I would ask your solicitor (or you could) to go to Legal and Contingencies online and get a bespoke quote.

The danger here is that the Council are already aware that the defect exists (i.e. The lack of easement) and therefore any policy you/they try to take out will be voided anyway.

Mention this to your conveyancer, esp if they are some unqualified factory firm you're using.

Other than that you have three choices. Pay in full; offer to pay half it don't pay any.

I'd start with no and point out via the agent just how much they are getting in fittings and contents, gratis.

But ensure that your conveyancer understands that the Council are by definition on notice of this defect due to them having licensed in the past.

It would be a shame to have to pay for the policy and then find out it isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Property solicitor here btw.

Regardless of who should or shouldnt pay - yes, you can ask them to pay i f you cant really afford to or dont want to.