Chancel Repair Liability

[pommymike]

Bikemedic

I am surprised about the letter you mention as solicitors would not normally write letters to people worrying them unnecessarily, without their services having been retained, to act for anyone. Is this a genuine solicitors' letter? Who are they acting for? I don' think they would not get a commission on a chancel check search and even if they did it would not cover the cost of sending out batches of letters on spec. The Wallbank case was a one off. There has been no other reported case in which the church has actually sued anyone for chancel repair liability in the past 50 years. That is not to say it hasn't happened, only there is a lack of law reports of actual court cases.

[Bikemedic]

Hi Pommymike,

Thanks for your reply.

The letter received was on headed paper purporting to be from a local company of Solicitors in Banbury, Oxon. I assumed that it was genuine for that reason. The tone suggested that they were attempting to drum up business with scare tactics, otherwise why quote Wallbank (?) and the obvious implication was that it was in our best interest to get the search done through them when they would be in a position to offer an insurance policy to preclude a "Wallbank scenario"? I was not impressed, however as I said, I had never heard of this clause before and it was sufficiently unsettling for me to consider researching the subject...hence my posting on this forum.

On the balance of probability of requiring the insurance, I do not think that we will be availing ourselves of their "services"!

[ey143]

Now that we are approaching the all important 12 October deadline date, could someone please confirm: If my chancel check shows a potential liability and if I exchange contracts after 12 October (and probably complete one month after that time) AND if there is nothing showing on the land registry document at the point of completion, does taking out chancel liability insurance serve any purpose at all still?

[Fredsie]

Although your may get some responses here, this is really a question you should put in writing to your conveyancing solicitor. If he agrees and that turns out to be wrong, you will have some redress. If you follow the advice of someone on the forum here and it's wrong, you're on your own.

[pommymike]

Now that we are approaching the all important 12 October deadline date, could someone please confirm: If my chancel check shows a potential liability and if I exchange contracts after 12 October (and probably complete one month after that time) AND if there is nothing showing on the land registry document at the point of completion, does taking out chancel liability insurance serve any purpose at all still?

It was the intention of the Parliament when it passed the Land Registration Act 2002 that chancel repair liability would continue to be regarded as an unfair tax and contrary to Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights (which was what the Court of Appeal decided in the Aston Cantlow PCC v Wallbank). However shortly afterwards the House of Lords judicial committee reversed that decision and so the Lord Chancellor amended the Land Registration Act by a statutory order (known by the snappy title the Land Registration Act 2002 (Transitional Provisions) (No 2) Order 2003) making chancel repair liaility an overriding interest for ten years until 12 October 2013. The assumption has been made by many that chancel repair will not affect a buyer if it is not registered at the Land Registry before the transfer to the buyer (and your solicitor will do a search which will give priority over any application made after completion but before the transfer is lodged). There is doubt about this as interests in land are not defined in the Act - and chancel repair liability is arguably beyond the scope of registration as section 2 of the Act says that only interests affecting land may be registered. What interests affect land? Interests affecting land do. It is a circular argument. Chancel repair liability actually affects the owner of land but not the property itself. It is not a charge on the land. I would therefore recommend that insurance is still obtained. The Law Commission is considering whether to include land registration in its 12th review of the law. There are many ambiguities in this poorly written law and I think this is certainly one.

[ey143]

pommymike - thanks for the detailed answer. I will most likely take out the policy if the vendor does not pay it, and of course this is a question for my conveyancing lawyer, but just wanted to get the feedback from others to see what opinion was. Cheers.

[unclebulgaria67]

If you google about this issue, there is a firm of Solicitors who have good knowledge about this subject, but cannot mention here, as against CAG rules.

 

Most of these chancel liability policies are for a one off fee and they don't cost very much. If there is any slight chance of liability, perhaps it is worth paying for peace of mind. These policies can also be transfereable to future owners of your property.

[ey143]

Thanks. I have already spoken to [insurance company name removed] or some variation of it and they say that based on the points I mention above, it is probably not going to be an issue for me, but I agree for the sake of a hundred pounds or so, better to take the insurance.

Edited October 2, 2013 by honeybee13
Insurer's name edited.

[CAGhoul]

Hello everyone, well I have received two unilateral notices on two of my rental properties registered just a couple of days before the deadline........in respect of certain "Manorial" rights. I assume that this relates directly to the CRL issue discussed here. Both properties have CRL insurance taken out on purchase...so what do I do now? Investigate via solicitors to see if the UN is valid? Or sit tight until I decide to sell?

Many thanks

[unclebulgaria67]

Hello everyone, well I have received two unilateral notices on two of my rental properties registered just a couple of days before the deadline........in respect of certain "Manorial" rights. I assume that this relates directly to the CRL issue discussed here. Both properties have CRL insurance taken out on purchase...so what do I do now? Investigate via solicitors to see if the UN is valid? Or sit tight until I decide to sell?

Many thanks

 

I would guess that you have to register 'possible' claims with your Insurers, just in case the terms of the policy require you to notify them as soon as you become aware of potential liability. If you failed to do this, I would hate for the Insurers to decline a claim down the road because you did not inform them.

 

Suggest that you send copies of the notices with a covering letter to the Insurers by recorded delivery. Ask for written confirmation that they have received the information. Then keep it somewhere safe with the policy details.

 

That is what I would do. Better safe, than sorry.