Obtaining details of charges on a property
Discussion
Bit of an odd one here. We've lived in our house, mortgaged, for 6 years. Prior to that it was owned by the same couple for many years (around 10 years) although in the two years before we bought it, they let it to another family. We know the names of the previous owners, and of the previous occupants, and that takes us back, including our ownership, at least 15 years.
Incidentally, the renting family ran up significant debt and disappeared, and for some time after we were receiving debt letters, bailiff letters, etc. Anything vaguely official-looking was returned, until eventually we contacted the frequent senders, and those letters all stopped a long time ago.
A few years ago, we received a letter addressed to a "Dr D xxxxx and Dr J xxxxx". These names are not those, nor even slightly close to, of any of the known-to-us previous occupants. Through the window on the envelope we could see that it referenced a mortgage application; unclear as to which property this was on. This was from a major, well-known High Street institution. We returned it to the sender.
Around a year later, we received another letter address to the two doctors, and on the outside it said words to the effect of "Important: Insurance renewal Documents enclosed". We RTS that too. I believe we've done that a couple of times until we received another this week. Enough was enough; I opened the letter and contacted the sender by telephone.
Whilst they were (completely understandably) unable to discuss the matter with me, I did say that since they were sending renewal, and not proposal, documents, presumably that infers that a policy has been in place in the meantime. The policy documents clearly reference our home, with no errors in the address at all. The person on the phone said that they couldn't do anything unless the policyholder contacted them, so I suggested that perhaps they should telephone the policyholder to discuss. They said they had no phone number on file for them - odd, surely, isn't that something everyone asks for these days when doing business. He also said that he could see on file that we had been returning letters to them; why then continue to send more?
I'm concerned, but struggling to see what, that there may be some sort of fraud going on; after all, who would keep allowing a premium of some £400 to be automatically taken from their account with no notice nor documentation?
The first thing I would like to check is whether there are any charges on the property, other than our own mortgage. If I apply to the Land Reg, will there be enough detail on that output for me to be able to check this?
Any suggestions as to what else we could/should do? Or not do. Or do we just leave it as it's not an issue?
Incidentally, the renting family ran up significant debt and disappeared, and for some time after we were receiving debt letters, bailiff letters, etc. Anything vaguely official-looking was returned, until eventually we contacted the frequent senders, and those letters all stopped a long time ago.
A few years ago, we received a letter addressed to a "Dr D xxxxx and Dr J xxxxx". These names are not those, nor even slightly close to, of any of the known-to-us previous occupants. Through the window on the envelope we could see that it referenced a mortgage application; unclear as to which property this was on. This was from a major, well-known High Street institution. We returned it to the sender.
Around a year later, we received another letter address to the two doctors, and on the outside it said words to the effect of "Important: Insurance renewal Documents enclosed". We RTS that too. I believe we've done that a couple of times until we received another this week. Enough was enough; I opened the letter and contacted the sender by telephone.
Whilst they were (completely understandably) unable to discuss the matter with me, I did say that since they were sending renewal, and not proposal, documents, presumably that infers that a policy has been in place in the meantime. The policy documents clearly reference our home, with no errors in the address at all. The person on the phone said that they couldn't do anything unless the policyholder contacted them, so I suggested that perhaps they should telephone the policyholder to discuss. They said they had no phone number on file for them - odd, surely, isn't that something everyone asks for these days when doing business. He also said that he could see on file that we had been returning letters to them; why then continue to send more?
I'm concerned, but struggling to see what, that there may be some sort of fraud going on; after all, who would keep allowing a premium of some £400 to be automatically taken from their account with no notice nor documentation?
The first thing I would like to check is whether there are any charges on the property, other than our own mortgage. If I apply to the Land Reg, will there be enough detail on that output for me to be able to check this?
Any suggestions as to what else we could/should do? Or not do. Or do we just leave it as it's not an issue?
A second charge would likely require the consent of your lender, so you would have heard about it. They couldn't charge the property if the debt is in relation to another name other than the registered proprietor.
I wouldn't worry about there being anything on there. I had a similar issue on one of our rental properties, I just contacted the company concerned and told them no one of that name had ever lived there.
I wouldn't worry about there being anything on there. I had a similar issue on one of our rental properties, I just contacted the company concerned and told them no one of that name had ever lived there.
TooMany2cvs said:
Is the mortgage/insurance for THAT property, or has your address just been given as a correspondence address for a different property - a BtL, perhaps?
No, the insurance renewal specifically references insuring our house! We didn't open the letter which mentioned Mortgage in the title but the assumption is that it was for our house?CAPP0 said:
Thanks - will it tell me who holds the charges, eg if there are more than one will it specify? I'd be happy to pay £3 for peace of mind, but never seen one of these docs before.
It will tell you of all registered charges and who holds them.I wont tell you how much.
It really is very simple and only takes a few minutes.
CAPP0 said:
Thanks - will it tell me who holds the charges, eg if there are more than one will it specify? I'd be happy to pay £3 for peace of mind, but never seen one of these docs before.
Yes. What would be useful for you if you are concerned is the land registry alerting service which will send you an email whenever anything affects your title in any way.Johnd52 said:
I wonder if they have had a policy in the past and it has been automatically renewed. If so I would assume the charge will hit their bank account which will trigger a reaction.
You would think so but as far as I recall this is at least the second renewal, i.e. the third year of insurance!Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff