Chancel tax insurance

is it a pre-reformation church, and is it on former monastary land?

I'm blowed if I'd pay it!

The Chancel Tax is a little-invoked, anachronistic law which successive governments declined to abolish and which can leave some people liable for the upkeep of ancient Anglican churches. The liability only impacts land in parishes where the church is from the medieval period or earlier; however, from October 2013, chancel repair liability will only bind buyers of registered land if it is referred to in the land register.

Says here there is only one company offering this insurance.

They've got to be having a laugh!

OMG!!! The house we have just helped son to buy is very close to a church! (called Church View in fact)

Solicitors never mentioned this one!

Not sure why I'm laughing.

The church is 11th century - Knights Templar - so definitely falls within the liability I would think. And I am gazing at it from my window as I write - I could walk there in 1 minute. We know about local history and it was definitely glebe land that our house is built on.
What I have sussed so far is that if you get a search done and a liability is established, then no insurance company will insure you - but you can take it out without the definitive establishment of potential liability! In other words, don't do a search!
I also found on the net a company who would provide the insurance for £14.95 - but then discovered that they only deal with solicitors - who then go on to charge you c.£300! - what a rip-off!!
We moved here a long time ago before solicitors were au fait with the chancel tax problems so our solicitor will not have done searches or brokered insurance - the neighbour who brought this up with us (and has insurance) has moved in the last few years and her solicitor advised it - mind you, he would if he stands to gain £300!

Honestly Mishap, I'd put it out of my mind if I was you.

It sounds absolutely dreamy though.

Ah yes, you're in Herefordshire!

Lovely county and very historical.

My daughter is in the same situation. The church though is fairly modern and she managed to get insurance very cheaply! I find it difficult to believe it can only be done through lawyers!

Yes jingl - my home village is heaven. Whatever might be happening in our lives we can still feed on the wonderful view - even on a rainy day like today everything just looks fresh and green and beautiful. We are very lucky.

jeni - are you able to tell me which company your daughter used please? I have looked online and am having trouble finding one that will deal directly with the public. Many thanks.

Remind me tomorrow as she will be here!

Mishap, that reminds me. Must book another short break.

Hello Jeni - this is a reminder!!!

Solicitors acting should certainly have looked into whether tax would be payable - sometimes relates to properties that are not particularly close to churches. Sometimes the first people know of the tax is when they get a very, very large bill!

I think this highlights one thing: when we look round countyry churches while on holiday in the UK, we must remember to put some money in their repairs boxes!!!

Hi, jeni,s daughter here. We got insurance for under 100 through our solicitors. The most local church is new but the house is on glenn land for an older church. The church of England though is highly unlikely to enforce this unless the house is known to be beholden. We wouldn't have bothered if the premium was high.
I will have to go home to look up the paperwork and will report , although the solicitors gave us the details, I then dealt with the insurance company directly.

These are the requirements that one lender puts on the Conveyancer/Solicitor when someone is purchasing a property

"As our legal adviser you should be aware of the importance of the decision of the High Court in Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley v Wallbank (2003) in which Mr and Mrs Wallbank were ultimately liable for the substantial cost of repairs to the chancel of their parish church.
If your investigation of the title and enquiries reveals an actual liability for chancel repairs, then you must inform us of your findings as this may affect our lending decision. We will need to refer the matter to the our valuer for consideration.
You should remember that chancel repair liability affects property in Wales as well as England.
Where there is no indication of a chancel repair liability in the title deeds, it is for you - as our instructed legal adviser - to decide whether a chancel repair liability search (eg. Chancel Check) and/or insurance is necessary in order for you to be able to give an unqualified Certificate of Title."

Bearing in mind that at the moment Lenders in particular are trying to blame every negative equity on the conveyancer and not on their own bad lending practices conveyancers are feeling very nervous about where the next Professional Negligence claim could come from and some make the decision "get everyone to insure as much as possible regardless of the cost to the client so they don't blame me when it all goes wrong.

The church will not be able to impose their rights after October 2013

Hello jeni's daughter - huge thanks for this. £100 sounds a reasonable price for peace of mind! Thanks so much for offering to look up the paperwork - I am most grateful.

Thanks too to Pennysue for all that info. There was no lender when we bought this house and I am sure that the solicitor will not have looked into it - it was not a topic in the news at that time and he definitely made no mention of it.

I am in little doubt that we are on glebe land and it has been so for hundreds of years. An inside source on the PCC has told me that they are aware of the situation but that they have no intention of acting on it and indeed they were all joking about it - probably because so many of them are in the same boat!!! However the diocese may decide to move on it and then they would have little say. The October 2013 deadline is likely to make churches more likely to act and register their rights.

How barmy is all this! I did point out to my PCC mole that it does seem a little unchristian to bankrupt one's neighbours!!

Hi,

We recently moved home and had a similar issue - whereby we were advised to purchase a Chancel Indemnity Insurance Policy by our solicitor. I called a company called CLS directly and they were able to help me out over the phone. The policy was sent via email automatically and it was on risk immediately - we also had the option for it to be sent in the post. It meant we didn't have to worry about any additional fees that our solicitor was going to charge us and the policy was a one off flat fee - so we didn't have to worry about monthly payments.

Hope this helps!