Chancel Indemnity

[Gizlotsmum]

Just had our purchase pack from the solicitors and they have included a chancel indemnity policy. The t and c's seem to state that searching to find out if there is a chancel liability would invalidate the policy.. but how do I know if we need it?

I emailed the vicar at the parish church. If you are in a suburban area it is highly unlikely there is a repairing obligation. Tends to be in more rural, village type locations. You could contact the vicar and not give the specific address, just ask if they are aware of a chancel repair liability in the parish. What is the cost of the policy?

My solicitor told me that the indemnity policy for chancel liability was cheaper than the search, and if a search was done it would invalidate the possibility of the cheap policy. Mine was around £10 if I remember correctly.

You can't get the policy if you alert the church to there being a potential claim. Probably about a quarter of searches come back with either an issue or a potential issue. It is cheaper just to buy the policy.

NJcr that's what we have been told. I'm happy just to pay it (£15) but hubby wasn't sure. I think it's such a small price to pay but will hold off until our mortgage has been accepted

You don't put the insurance in place until completion anyway so there is no risk of paying for it and then the sale falling through.

My solicitor told me that the indemnity policy for chancel liability was cheaper than the search, and if a search was done it would invalidate the possibility of the cheap policy.

This. Also I think (not sure, I slept through Land Law lectures) that any repairing obligation not registered/noted by a particular date (which I also can't remember) won't be capable of claim. Hopefully your solicitor didn't sleep through these lectures and can be more helpful.

If it's just £15 then pay it - not worth stressing over in the scheme of things.

If you contact the vicar, you alert them to the possibility of there being a chancel repair liability in the parish so make it more likely they'll find the details and enforce it.

So contacting the church at all, or making any efforts to check (other than a formal search) invalidates your insurance.

The formal search costs more than the insurance, and maybe a third of the searches come back with a potential issue that needs to be insured against.

So just get the insurance!

We had the same, just got the insurance and that was the end of it.