Chancel Repair Liability
Discussion
Had a letter through from my solicitor this morning explaining that a house I'm in the process of buying is located within a historical boundary of a tithe district within a parish which continues to have a potential chancel repair liability. To remedy this, they're recommending indemnity insurance to the tune of £100 to protect me in the event that something unfortunate happens to the church.
Okay, £100 isn't much in the scheme of house buying, but it's not really the point. It's half a Dyson vacuum cleaner or a bedroom light and it's money I'm not really thrilled about having prised away. I'm never going to set foot in the place so don't see why I should have anything to do with it. Anyway, is spending the £100 on insurance is a good idea? Part of me thinks yes for an easy life, but the other part thinks a) I shouldn't have to and b) even if the church did need repairs, with the amount of houses in the area the bill for each one would be fairly minimal (I would have thought, anyway!).
If the Church comes a-knockin' for money I think I'll just tell them I'm a Muslim and it's against my human rights or something.
Failing that, I'll just join in with the pikies and have away £100 worth of lead from the roof.
Okay, £100 isn't much in the scheme of house buying, but it's not really the point. It's half a Dyson vacuum cleaner or a bedroom light and it's money I'm not really thrilled about having prised away. I'm never going to set foot in the place so don't see why I should have anything to do with it. Anyway, is spending the £100 on insurance is a good idea? Part of me thinks yes for an easy life, but the other part thinks a) I shouldn't have to and b) even if the church did need repairs, with the amount of houses in the area the bill for each one would be fairly minimal (I would have thought, anyway!).
If the Church comes a-knockin' for money I think I'll just tell them I'm a Muslim and it's against my human rights or something.
Failing that, I'll just join in with the pikies and have away £100 worth of lead from the roof.David87 said:
Had a letter through from my solicitor this morning explaining that a house I'm in the process of buying is located within a historical boundary of a tithe district within a parish which continues to have a potential chancel repair liability. To remedy this, they're recommending indemnity insurance to the tune of £100 to protect me in the event that something unfortunate happens to the church.
Okay, £100 isn't much in the scheme of house buying, but it's not really the point. It's half a Dyson vacuum cleaner or a bedroom light and it's money I'm not really thrilled about having prised away. I'm never going to set foot in the place so don't see why I should have anything to do with it. Anyway, is spending the £100 on insurance is a good idea? Part of me thinks yes for an easy life, but the other part thinks a) I shouldn't have to and b) even if the church did need repairs, with the amount of houses in the area the bill for each one would be fairly minimal (I would have thought, anyway!).
If the Church comes a-knockin' for money I think I'll just tell them I'm a Muslim and it's against my human rights or something. Failing that, I'll just join in with the pikies and have away £100 worth of lead from the roof.
We've just been through this, and are paying a few hundred for the cover... From what I can recall it is very enforceable, there is a recent case where a couple lost their farmhouse as a result of a claim.. Those roofs are not cheap!Okay, £100 isn't much in the scheme of house buying, but it's not really the point. It's half a Dyson vacuum cleaner or a bedroom light and it's money I'm not really thrilled about having prised away. I'm never going to set foot in the place so don't see why I should have anything to do with it. Anyway, is spending the £100 on insurance is a good idea? Part of me thinks yes for an easy life, but the other part thinks a) I shouldn't have to and b) even if the church did need repairs, with the amount of houses in the area the bill for each one would be fairly minimal (I would have thought, anyway!).
If the Church comes a-knockin' for money I think I'll just tell them I'm a Muslim and it's against my human rights or something.
Failing that, I'll just join in with the pikies and have away £100 worth of lead from the roof.Just bought a house that had the same risk, cost of indemnity insurance was approx £50.
Our solicitor advised that it was essential to take out the insurance as there is no legal argument for not paying should the Parish church come knocking and costs have been astronomical in very recent cases.
As stated by the previous poster; my solicitor informed me of a recent case(may be the same case of the couple who lost their home) where the costs were several hundered thousand (£800k I seem to recall my solicitor said) and there was no loop hole to get out of paying up.
Our solicitor advised that it was essential to take out the insurance as there is no legal argument for not paying should the Parish church come knocking and costs have been astronomical in very recent cases.
As stated by the previous poster; my solicitor informed me of a recent case(may be the same case of the couple who lost their home) where the costs were several hundered thousand (£800k I seem to recall my solicitor said) and there was no loop hole to get out of paying up.
The famous case is from 2003 - Aston Cantlow v. Wallbank - so not that recent now. And it's famous because it's unusual; while there may not be any argument as to liability, it's not that common in reality.
Search results are also pessimistic; there is no central record of data and the search provider wants to sell you a policy. A bit of checking historic parish boundary records and whether or not there is a pre-reformation church in the historic parish can be a simple way of ascertaining that there is no liability. Of course, a policy at £10 a throw is cheaper than paying your solicitor to do this, so everyone goes for the policy.
Search results are also pessimistic; there is no central record of data and the search provider wants to sell you a policy. A bit of checking historic parish boundary records and whether or not there is a pre-reformation church in the historic parish can be a simple way of ascertaining that there is no liability. Of course, a policy at £10 a throw is cheaper than paying your solicitor to do this, so everyone goes for the policy.
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