The solicitor acting for us has charged £11.75 for a Chancel Check report, a copy of the Chancel Repair Liability Guidance Notes from Chancel Check (Chancel Liability Services Ltd) and a list of their insurance policy premiums. It says that ChancelSure insurance can be ordered on-line at www.clsl.co.uk. Have you checked there and can you confirm that registering an account is for solicitors only ? We phoned and spoke directly to Chancel Liability Services Ltd to ask for more information, which they were happy to supply. We have not tried to obtain insurance at this stage. Hope this helps.

Fair 'nuff and 'Nuff said for now. Opinions are all I'm looking for here, and we're bound to take a legal opinion from soltr next up. The thot plickens... All the same most helpful, and thanks for your time.

Hmmm. Thanks for the prompt reply. This rather puts me in mind of flood risk. When a property appears on the Environment Agency Flood Risk map it may well be insurable at a reasonable price depending on the 'commercial decision' of the insurer. However, once a claim has been made for flood damage, the same insurer may very well suggest that you take your business elsewhere in future. By then of course, there's almost nowhere else to go. I would welcome any further opinions on the subject of parishes pursuing householders for repair costs. I'll come back and post our decision regarding the house purchase at some point, too.

Hi Angi Thanks for the directions, I'll have a look at the thread sure enough. I'm fortunate in not having to reclaim bank charges myself, but have been following the campaign from its exposure on MSE and it is proving very interesting. I need to get to work right now but will be back s'afty to have a rummage around the site. Cheers R

JonCris - this is a brilliant thread, we found it just as we were scratching our heads over a letter from our conveyancer on precisely the same subject as JamesBooker. We are still agog ! Thanks for your very helpful and informative posts. Now, if I understand correctly, our solicitor is telling us that the house we are proposing to purchase has a potential liability which she has identified through ChancelCheck. If we buy the house, and at some point between now and 2013 the house is registered by the parish, it will then become a registered liability. So even if we, (or indeed the vendor purchases on our behalf,) have purchased insurance cover for 25 years, there will be a renewal date some years ahead at which point insurance may not be available. Then the house we bought may not look such an attractive prospect to another purchaser. ?? In short, is the best way to avoid this problem, to avoid buying the house in the first place ? We like the house, but not enough to saddle ourselves with a lemon in years to come. It really stinks and I feel we would be doing ourselves a favour to keep well clear. Or is this just paranoia ?

Hi - new to the site, l've wandered over from MSE and like what I see so far, but need to get in on some chancel check action so off to post on the thread concerned. Back later for more chat, look forward to more conversation with folks here during the week. Cheers R