indemnity insurance policy

[Amunamun]

Hi everyone. I'm buying a house and just before contract exchange, we discovered that the seller does not have a certificate for a conservatory. The seller offered lack of building regulation indemnity insurance. We live in the UK for just a few years so I am not aware of how serious problem this is. Would you buy a property with this or it is a no-no? Our solicitor seems to be like "it is so common that nobody cares" but I am worried that it might cause a problem if I ever want to sell the house. Thanks for the advice!

They are ridiculously common, in my experience somewhere between half and three quarters of all sales end up needing an indemnity policy for something or other. Therefore I would agree with your solicitor.

Essentially what the policy covers is the cost of legal action if the local authority serves a building regulation enforcement notice. However, this is so unlikely it really isn't worth worrying about.

@mildura Thanks a lot! This calmed my nerves a bit :) We would like to build an extension instead of the conservatory in a few years. Our solicitor said that if we have a consultant and an architect, it should not be an issue to apply for permission. Even if there is no certificate for the current conservatory. Do you think this also makes sense?

building regulation completion certificates and planning permission are separate things, so one should not affect the other. Therefore what your solicitor is saying makes perfect sense to me.

The insurance is there to protect you against future issues. They are vey common. I am currently buying and the sellers had to get one. We had to get two when we were selling!

As you are getting rid of it it wont be an issue anyway.

Thanks both! I was so worried that I was really thinking to pull out of the sale. Much better now. Since you seem to be very familiar with this, I would like to ask one last question. I suppose that it is almost impossible to apply for building regs retrospectively (and it would also violate the insurance policy). Does it mean that everyone just needs to go with indemnity insurance forever? Even if you are the fifth owner in a row?

Yes, I think that is how it works. Each time the house is sold there would be a new indemnity policy. They are so cheap though, it isn't a problem.