- A Search of the Local Land Charges Register form LLC1
- A Search of CON29R and/or CON29O records
- A Search of Water and Drainage records on CON29DW
- A search of the Coal Authority’s records on form CON29M
- An environmental risk assessment (excludes Commercial Express)
- A full Chancel Repair Liability search
Our next webinar is two weeks today, Tuesday 27th April, in association with Stewart Title: Bespoke Title Insurance – When do you need it and what does the Insurer need?
Self-issue and on line policies can often provide the cover against the risks affecting your client’s property but there will be times when a bespoke policy is the best choice.
Join our free webinar to discuss:
- Why bespoke?
- Development
- Pre or post planning?
- What will the Insurer need to see?
- Does it do what your client wants?
- Assignment of the policy? Splinter Policies? Top-up endorsements?
Please click here to register for this webinar. If you can’t make this date and would like to receive a recording after the event, please click here.
During the last year there’s been a dramatic increase in usage of Quick Quote, our integrated quote calculator for all Stewart Title indemnity policies. Available on our online portal, Quick Quote could not be easier to use. All you have to do is fill in a few short details, select your policy (you can also have multiple policies in one quote) and select “Get Quote” – your results are returned immediately on the same page, and you also have the option to print your results.
Quick Quote offers the complete and extensive range of Stewart Title indemnity policies, including:
- Lack of Building Regulation Consent (Inc. FENSA)
- No Local Search (Lender only)
- Freehold Restrictive Covenant(s)
- Chancel Repair (No Search)
- (Fully assignable) FENSA and other installation certificates only
We are happy to arrange bespoke policies. Get in touch if this is something you require.
Click here to download our free indemnities guide!
We’re beginning to see a clearer picture of how the economic stimulus is impacting our clients. Property investors are taking advantage of the stamp duty holiday and expanding portfolios while terms are attractive. Remortgaging activity has spiked and we’ve also noticed a rise in auction transactions and cash purchases. For those investing in buy-to-let, clients are eager to transact quickly in order to start receiving a rental yield.
Economy-boosting initiatives coupled with pent up demand has also resulted in a surge in conveyancing transactions. Due to ongoing precautions associated with COVID-19, however, many cases are being negatively impacted by delays due to furloughed or reduced services in some firms and local authorities.
How we can help
It is with great delight that we announce the expansion of our Express No-Search Indemnity range to assist the conveyancing industry as it copes with a rejuvenated housing market. In partnership with leading Legal Indemnity Insurance Broker Northcott Beaton, our Express insurance policies now allow conveyancers to transact quickly in the following sectors:
If searches are causing unacceptable delays and the transaction is at risk of collapse…
Express gives you the best of both worlds. You have all the security of a No-Search Insurance policy, with the majority of data (over 70%) that you would typically obtain from local authorities. Express means that you and your client can complete quickly, and with more confidence.
- Road, Rail and Traffic Schemes
- Planning applications and Local Development Plan policies
- CIL question 3.10a
- Building Works, Environment, Health & Safety, Housing, Highways and Public Health
- Enforcement Notices, Stop Notices, TPOs, CPOs Listed Building Repairs etc.
- Conservation Areas (proposed or pre 1974)
Our clients have been using Express since 2015 for instances when even an expedited search needs accelerated.
Express addresses a crucial gap in the market where conveyancers are compelled to use No-Search Insurance due to time-pressure, yet still have a duty of care to their clients (and lenders) by providing information to the best of their ability. The Express range can be purchased as a standalone no-search insurance policy or including a supplementary data report.
Who benefits most from Express?
In each property sector covered by Express, the commonality is tight timescales. Auctions, for instance, generally require completion within 30 days of the bid being accepted. Similarly with new builds and shared ownership, exchange is typically required within 28 days of the purchase being agreed. Indeed, New Build Express has proven very popular in the last year.
Express is well suited for remortgages, when property details are unlikely to have changed since the initial local search was conducted and lenders are most concerned with any new proposals in the pipeline that might affect the future value of a property. For cash purchases, searches aren’t typically required, but are really important in order to identify red flags, which would certainly otherwise go unnoticed until it’s too late.
Express means that you and your client can complete with more confidence, make intelligent investments, and tie matters up quickly to get on with your next case.
Click here to download sample reports and see how Express can help your firm
To find out more about OneSearch Express, call the Service Introduction Team on 01782 433 270 or email intro@onesearchdirect.co.uk.
We’ve been speaking with clients to see how best we can accommodate you during these challenging times, and have found a common solution which we think could be of real benefit during lockdown and beyond.
A lot of transactions put “on hold” during lockdown has resulted in an upturn in volume now restrictions are lifted. This is putting further strain on many firms and local authorities who already have impacted turnaround times due to furlough or closure.
A productive alternative to a delayed search, or no-search insurance, is OneSearch Duo: a Regulated Local Authority search which is split into two parts, returning the majority of CON29 enquiries within 24 hours.
This allows you to investigate potential red flags from the outset, not after an already potentially long wait.
OneSearch Duo is made up of the following two reports:
- Part A: Alert contains most CON29 data (over 70% of a Local Authority search), already captured in-house and typically returned within 24 hours.
- Part B: Prime contains the full Regulated Local Authority search including the remainder of outstanding data, which is the Local Land Charges, Building Regulations and Highways. This report is refreshed at point of delivery, so will always contain the most up to date information.
OneSearch Duo: What’s inside?
Part A: Alert
Contains real-time Local Enquiries information captured by our 30-strong data team, usually returned within 24 hours. This includes:
- Planning Decisions and Applications
- Planning Designations and Proposals
- Traffic, Road and Railway Schemes
- Enforcement and Breach Notices
- Conservation Areas
- Land Acquisition
Part B: Prime
This is the full Regulated Local Search, which consists of enquiries obtained from the Local Authority.
- Land Charges Summary
- Building Regulations Approval
- Roads and Highways
- Backed by £10 Million PI Cover
- Benefits from 6 years run off cover
- Accepted by most Lenders
“When you’ve already waited a long time for your local search to come back, it’s highly frustrating when it brings back issues that require further investigation, such as enforcement notices or unknown planning decisions. After a potentially long lockdown drought, this extra hold up could become unacceptable, and can put already fragile transactions at risk of collapse.“
How are we able to return so much data within 24 hours?
Here at OneSearch, we capture proposed, confirmed and even withdrawn notices and orders. By the time a search is requested, we will already have an extensive back catalogue surrounding a client’s property. You can find out more about our data methodology here.
No other search provider has this unique dataset, and we are immensely proud to be able to offer OneSearch Duo to our clients in this time of need. Not only does the search benefit from our Triple Quality Check methodology, it is also backed by £10 Million PI Cover, which further benefits from 6 years run off cover.
For more information on OneSearch Duo, please call 01782 433 270 or emailintro@onesearchdirect.co.uk.
Sceptics have voiced concerns in the past about indemnities being used as an alternative to further investigation, but we’re confident there’s a necessary place for indemnities within some property transactions, whether that’s to protect against a missing FENSA certificate, or absent landlords, or even the Church of England knocking at your door.
The Law Society’s latest Conveyancing Protocol advise that, in some cases, indemnity insurance might be appropriate (such as defect in title).
At OneSearch, it’s in our nature to be on high alert when detecting and mitigating risk, and this is why our own PI claims history is impeccable. Risk prevention is our ethos, it always has been, and this is what makes us especially pleased about our relationship with global leaders Stewart Title.
We’ve written a short guide to highlight the top four considerations to make when choosing indemnity policies. In this guide, we look at why the right indemnity policies are essential for conveyancers, and can even help to save the day in challenging situations.
Click here to download our free guide.
If you would like to try our Quick Quote calculator, click here.
We can also arrange bespoke policies. Get in touch if this is something you require.