what is indemnity insurance and should i be liable?

[tiggs123]

hi, i am in the process of selling my house and are due to exchange but there have been some enquires raised, one of which states about my lounge through diner wall. it was a lounge through when we moved in and i cannot find any documentation on this. the sellers solicitors are asking if i cannot provide evidence of building regulations approval i should at my expense obtain indemnity insurance. i do not know what this is and wnat to know if i should get it, how much would it cost and how long will it take? many thanks

[Ethel]

How long have you owned the house?

The indemnity is to cover any losses incurred by the council demanding the wall be reinstated due to lack of building regs.

Your solicitor should have picked this up when you bought te property.

[tiggs123]

thanks ethel;

we have owned the property only 1 year, but we moving due to a growing family.
i understand the indemnity insurance reasons now, but would like to know:
1. how do i find out if building regulation was sought?
2. how much is indemnity insuarance?
3. how long does it take?
4. what would it mean if i refused to get the insurance, could i lose my buyer?

[Ethel]

Contact building regs at your local council to see if there is a record of it.

Indemnity insurance can be set up very quickly.

Your buyer may pull out because of lack of building regs.

Insurance should cost between �150 and �250.

Contact your own insurance company for advice.

The solicitor who dealt with your purchase of this property should have picked this up. You may have a valid claim against him/her.

[buildersmate]

Ethel is right.
The issue is created because you removed a structural wall between lounge and dining room and put a steel joist in (I hope). This required Building Regs approval.
Solicitors are now very hot on checking for this - they weren't a few years ago.

[tiggs123]

we never removed any wall, this was done before we moved in and not by the people who lived here before us, and they were here from 2002, we been here a year.
i will be contacting my solicitors back to find out why they never picked this up when we purchased it.
ive found out if it is non load bearing i wont need br, however if it is and the people that did it just bodged it then im in for a stressful, costly and lengthy time!
is there any way to do it at little cost, due to funds quickly draining?

[buildersmate]

Agreed - if its non-load bearing, there never was an issue. It depends on whether the first floor joists rely on the wall to support them, or whether they span right across from outside wall to outside wall.
The cheapest way to resolve it (if load bearing) is exactly what you are doing - professional inspection and indemnity policy. There probably isn't a problem - it would have moved by now if there was - it doens't stop those professionals digging their heels in though.