Who should it for indemnity policies ?

Fidgety31 · 2023-06-22T18:03:53+00:00

Is the seller or the buyer ? for example - I am selling my house . The buyers solicitor has quieried a conservatory I had built many years ago and that it is near a manhole . They are suggesting I should pay for an indemnity insurance for the seller. this was not an issue when I had the conservatory built 20 years ago . Is it a new thing ?

CatsOnTheChair · 22/06/2023 19:13

You buy the indemnity if you can't produce the appropriate paperwork to show its OK.

KievLoverTwo · 22/06/2023 19:14

You.

EL8888 · 22/06/2023 19:14

It’s you

KievLoverTwo · 22/06/2023 19:23

Oh and I think they exist more these days because we have more of a culture of suing people.

My conveyencer advised me to to accept a few of them on a property I was considering, they are not really worth the paper they are written on. But they are also cheap and mean you have no liability if the council turn up and insist it be demolished, and they seem to be used as a smoothing over tool to keep the other party's conveyencer happy.

Shrug. Like I said, they are cheap. Not worth losing a sale over.

KievLoverTwo · 22/06/2023 19:31

My conveyencer advised me not to accept, I should have said. His advice were they will protect you from being sued by the council but the council could still make you demolish and reinstate at your own cost if it doesn't meet planning regs.

And the charming thing about indemnity policies is this. You are not allowed to tell anyone you have them, it invalidates them, and you will never get another for the same purpose.

So if your buyers approach the council looking to get retrospective planning, they invalidate that policy.

They can't even tell their prospective buyers that they have one if they ask about sign offs.

Puppylucky · 22/06/2023 19:58

That's not quite true @KievLoverTwo . It's confusing because each indemnity policy is tailor made to cover the specific concern, so there is no blanket set of conditions that will or will not cover. I've had indemnity insurance in the past to cover the potential legal costs of a neighbour trying to challenge a flying freehold where there were no material costs involved ,but I have also had indemnity insurance that covered building costs specifically.

KievLoverTwo · 22/06/2023 20:00

Puppylucky · 22/06/2023 19:58

That's not quite true @KievLoverTwo . It's confusing because each indemnity policy is tailor made to cover the specific concern, so there is no blanket set of conditions that will or will not cover. I've had indemnity insurance in the past to cover the potential legal costs of a neighbour trying to challenge a flying freehold where there were no material costs involved ,but I have also had indemnity insurance that covered building costs specifically.

Good to know, thanks for correcting me.

Mildura · 23/06/2023 09:53

Puppylucky · 22/06/2023 19:58

That's not quite true @KievLoverTwo . It's confusing because each indemnity policy is tailor made to cover the specific concern, so there is no blanket set of conditions that will or will not cover. I've had indemnity insurance in the past to cover the potential legal costs of a neighbour trying to challenge a flying freehold where there were no material costs involved ,but I have also had indemnity insurance that covered building costs specifically.

I'm really not sure that's true either @Puppylucky

Most indemnity policies are pretty standard, such as lack of building regs policy, bespoke tailor made policies are incredibly rare.

I've never even heard of a policy that covered the cost of building work, would love to see the wording on that!

Puppylucky · 24/06/2023 12:39

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

SweetSakura · 24/06/2023 12:44

Ultimately it depends on negotiating strength, but usually I would say seller should pay if it's a reasonable request

Andrew89 · 29/11/2023 20:24

Mildura · 23/06/2023 09:53

I'm really not sure that's true either @Puppylucky

Most indemnity policies are pretty standard, such as lack of building regs policy, bespoke tailor made policies are incredibly rare.

I've never even heard of a policy that covered the cost of building work, would love to see the wording on that!

Show quote history

So i guess it's not wise to mention this before you place an offer on a property? Because the seller will just ask for more money to cover any indemnity policy they have to pay out for?