my suspect loft conversion:

Maybe I am being too cautious but I need to know if my surveyor did an
accurate job by not mentioning any probs with the conversion. We did not
get indemnity insurance when we purchased.

Can I get indemnity insurance now, then pay a structural engineer to come
round and have a look, then claim on the insurance if it needs updating?

I reckon these sorts of insurance can only be taken out during purchase, but
it's worth asking the question.

Regards

Earl

Earl Kella wrote:
Maybe I am being too cautious but I need to know if my surveyor did an
accurate job by not mentioning any probs with the conversion. We did not
get indemnity insurance when we purchased.

There may not be any structural problems with the conversion (apparent
within the remit of a survey) so your surveyor might not be at fault
(within the usual get-out clauses most surveyors put in their surveys).

Can I get indemnity insurance now, then pay a structural engineer to come
round and have a look, then claim on the insurance if it needs updating?

No, you need to get the surveyor to confirm there is nothing wrong with
the conversion then get the insurer to insure against the risk of legal
action. The insurance covers the risk of legal action, not the risk of
the thing collapsing.

Owain

Maybe I am being too cautious but I need to know if my surveyor did an
accurate job by not mentioning any probs with the conversion.

Did you have a full structural survey? If not then you don't have much case
against the surveyor.

Can I get indemnity insurance now, then pay a structural engineer to come
round and have a look, then claim on the insurance if it needs updating?

That would be a fraud on the insurer so no you cannot. A contract of
insurance is regarded in legal terms as "of the utmost good faith" so you
have to disclose any information to the insurer that might affect the
premium.

You might well have a case against the seller. Even if they don't have much
money they may have sufficient equity in their present house. No a
particularly nice thing to do to someone but it may be justified if they
have deliberately mislead you.

Peter Crosland

Earl Kella wrote:
my suspect loft conversion:

Maybe I am being too cautious but I need to know if my surveyor did an
accurate job by not mentioning any probs with the conversion. We did not
get indemnity insurance when we purchased.

Can I get indemnity insurance now, then pay a structural engineer to come
round and have a look, then claim on the insurance if it needs updating?

I reckon these sorts of insurance can only be taken out during purchase, but
it's worth asking the question.

Regards

Earl

As far as I know - the indemnity insurance only covers the chance the
Council requires you to make good the work. It doesn't cover the
situation where the work isn't up to standard and the council isn't
involved. Also there may be clauses stating that you are not allowed to
tell anyone about the existence of the insurance, except for people
who are required to know because they are purchasing the property
covered by the insurance.

One final thing, you are not allowed to contact the council with regard
to the works which are possibly unauthorised etc without first
contacting the insurer to get their permission. I cannot remember
whether it even stops you from contacting the council with regard to
other works not covered by the insurance (ie. new works you're
planning). For some reason that's in my mind - maybe it was something I
wondered - whether getting an inspector in to look at new work, but
seeing the insured work - would that void the insurance? Thinking about
it now - I think it only covered speaking to the council about the
insured works.

Basically, unless the council force you to do the work, you're unlikely
to be able to make a claim, and the council cannot find out about it
from yourself... can you now see why the premiums are so low?

To quote my solicitor "I have never actually heard of one of these
policies being claimed upon". Again - see why the premiums are low?

D

"David Hearn" wrote in message
...
Earl Kella wrote:
my suspect loft conversion:

Maybe I am being too cautious but I need to know if my surveyor did an
accurate job by not mentioning any probs with the conversion. We did
not
get indemnity insurance when we purchased.

Can I get indemnity insurance now, then pay a structural engineer to
come
round and have a look, then claim on the insurance if it needs updating?

I reckon these sorts of insurance can only be taken out during purchase,
but
it's worth asking the question.

Regards

Earl

As far as I know - the indemnity insurance only covers the chance the
Council requires you to make good the work. It doesn't cover the
situation where the work isn't up to standard and the council isn't
involved. Also there may be clauses stating that you are not allowed to
tell anyone about the existence of the insurance, except for people
who are required to know because they are purchasing the property
covered by the insurance.

One final thing, you are not allowed to contact the council with regard
to the works which are possibly unauthorised etc without first
contacting the insurer to get their permission. I cannot remember
whether it even stops you from contacting the council with regard to
other works not covered by the insurance (ie. new works you're
planning). For some reason that's in my mind - maybe it was something I
wondered - whether getting an inspector in to look at new work, but
seeing the insured work - would that void the insurance? Thinking about
it now - I think it only covered speaking to the council about the
insured works.

Basically, unless the council force you to do the work, you're unlikely
to be able to make a claim, and the council cannot find out about it
from yourself... can you now see why the premiums are so low?

To quote my solicitor "I have never actually heard of one of these
policies being claimed upon". Again - see why the premiums are low?

Indeed, thanks for the info.

Earl