Residential Property – Frequently Asked Questions

Conveyancing Questions Answered

Moving home is listed as one of the most stressful things a person will do in their lifetime, but why is this? A lot of the time it is because of being let down by a Buyer or Seller, or timescales being delayed and target moving dates missed, however it can also be due to the whole process seeming complicated and difficult to understand.

I always say to my clients that there is no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to Conveyancing, as after all some of us may only move once or twice in our lifetimes, and so why would this make us experts in such matters?!

Every day when speaking with my clients, I am asked a variety of questions that come up time and time again, and so I wanted to share some of these common queries with you in order to try and explain the Conveyancing process in more detail, and break down some of the areas that often cause the most confusion.

Each week I will be sharing with you examples of some of the questions that have been raised by my clients* during the course of their property transactions, and the advice and explanations given to them to help them understand the process of moving home.

(*names will be not be shown in full for confidentiality reasons.)

"When do I need to start my buildings insurance and life insurance policies ?"

Mr. A. - Nuneaton

Under the standard terms of a residential property purchase contract, the responsibility to insure a property after the exchange of contracts has taken place, passes to the Buyer. Therefore, you would need to ensure that you start your buildings insurance policy once you have received the call from your Solicitor to say that the contracts have been exchanged.

If however, you are purchasing a new build property then the Developer would usually retain the responsibility to insure the property until the day of completion when you will get the keys to your new property, and this will be explained to you by your Solicitor when they are going through the Contract with you.

With reference to life insurance policies, as you become legally committed to purchase the property once the exchange of contracts has taken place, it is at this point that any life insurance/critical illness policies etc. need to start so that should anything happen to you between exchange and completion, your dependants will have the benefit of the cover offered by these policies at that time and they will have the funds available to continue with the purchase if necessary.

This concludes the FAQ for this week. Visit next week for more answers to your questions. If there are any conveyancing issues you'd like Band Hatton Button's assistance with please get in touch.