You bought your house only 18 months ago. Nothing significant has changed. Now you are selling, and the buyer’s solicitor wants indemnity insurance for documents that apparently caused no difficulty during your purchase.
It is understandable to ask whether your original conveyancer missed something. But a new request does not automatically establish an earlier failure. Equally, the fact that your purchase completed does not prove that every relevant issue was investigated and explained.
The useful starting point is to identify the precise risk, what evidence already exists and why insurance is being proposed now.
The seller’s account: black-and-white plans and window certificates
In a publicly shared account, a homeowner described selling approximately 18 months after buying. The buyer’s solicitors had raised concerns about plans available only in black and white and missing certificates for replacement windows installed before the owner’s purchase.
The seller reported spending £60 obtaining FENSA certificates and facing requests for several hundred pounds in indemnity policies. They wanted to know why the issues had not been raised when they bought.
This is an unverified personal account. We have not examined the plans, certificates, enquiries, insurance proposals or original purchase file. It does not establish that the requests were unnecessary or that the original conveyancer failed.
First ask: what would the policy actually insure?
“The buyer wants indemnity insurance” describes a proposed response, not the underlying problem.
Ask your conveyancer to establish:
- Which document, approval or legal right is missing or unclear?
- What risk does that uncertainty create?
- Can existing evidence resolve it?
- Does the buyer’s lender require a particular response?
- What would the proposed policy cover and exclude?
- Is there already a policy from the earlier purchase?
Those answers help distinguish a genuine unresolved title issue from a missing copy that can be recovered.
Is a black-and-white title plan a problem?
Not necessarily. The important question is whether the documents still allow the relevant land, rights and restrictions to be identified.
First establish which plan is being discussed. The HM Land Registry title plan and a plan attached to an older conveyance or transfer are different documents.
A deed might refer to land shaded blue, a route coloured brown or an area hatched green. If the only surviving copy does not distinguish those areas, it may be difficult to establish where a right or restriction applies.
By contrast, a monochrome copy does not automatically create a material defect where the relevant information remains clear from hatching, labels, dimensions or other reliable documents.
HM Land Registry explains that the title plan must be read with the register. Documents referred to in the register may also be needed to understand the title.
Find the missing meaning before choosing the solution
Ask the buyer’s conveyancer to identify the provision that cannot be interpreted and the practical consequence of that uncertainty.
For example, does the problem concern the extent of the garden, the route of access, responsibility for a shared area or the land affected by a restrictive covenant?
Your conveyancer can then consider whether a better copy exists in the original purchase file, retained deeds or another relevant record.
If the uncertainty concerns the extent of ownership, it should not be treated as though it were merely a missing window certificate. Different problems require different investigations and protection.
Where the issue affects the boundary or land included in the purchase, When I Bought’s boundary and title-plan guide explains why the original purchase records may matter.
Missing FENSA paperwork is a separate issue
A missing FENSA certificate does not, by itself, establish that the replacement windows were installed without Building Regulations compliance.
FENSA is one route for certification. Depending on the installation and circumstances, evidence may instead come from another applicable competent-person scheme or building control.
Where an installation was registered with FENSA, its certificate service allows owners to search for the record and order a replacement certificate.
Before paying for insurance, establish what evidence exists and whether it answers the actual enquiry. The dates, type of installation and applicable lender instructions need consideration.
Our guide to missing Building Regulations certificates when buying or selling explains the differences between recovering paperwork, insurance and further investigation.
Do you have to pay for the buyer’s indemnity policy?
A request from the buyer does not automatically make the seller responsible for the premium. Who pays is commonly a matter for negotiation, subject to any existing contractual obligations.
However, refusing to pay does not establish that the buyer can proceed without resolving the issue. The buyer may need satisfactory advice and lender acceptance before committing.
Ask your conveyancer to explain the available options, likely costs and effect on the sale. Avoid deciding solely on the basis that a previous purchaser accepted the position.
Check whether insurance already exists
The original purchase file may contain a policy you no longer remember receiving.
If one exists, check its insured risk, beneficiaries, financial limit, conditions and exclusions. Establish whether it protects a subsequent buyer and lender and whether any additional cover is needed.
An existing policy should not be assumed suitable merely because its title resembles the new enquiry. Equally, a second policy should not be purchased without checking the protection already available.
Before approaching a person or authority capable of enforcing the relevant issue, ask your conveyancer whether contact could affect insurance availability or existing cover. This should not prevent appropriate action where there is an immediate safety concern.
Why did the earlier conveyancer take a different approach?
Several explanations are possible:
- The original file contains evidence that has not yet been supplied on the sale.
- A policy or other protection was arranged previously.
- The present enquiry concerns a different document or risk.
- The current lender’s requirements differ from those applicable to the earlier purchase.
- The conveyancers have reached different assessments that need explanation.
- A material issue was previously missed or inadequately explained.
None should be assumed without examining the records.
Ask your original conveyancer what was identified, what enquiries were raised, what protection was obtained and where the advice appears in the Report on Title or correspondence.
What should the Report on Title explain?
Where a document is missing or unclear, the buyer needs to understand what cannot be established, why it matters and what the proposed protection does and does not achieve.
A statement that insurance will be obtained may be insufficient if it leaves the buyer believing that an uncertain boundary has been confirmed or that building work has been approved.
Lexsure’s Report on Title wording on unknown historical restrictions and rights arising from missing deeds is relevant where missing documents leave the content of rights or covenants unknown. That is a different situation from a readable deed with an immaterial loss of colour, so the wording must be selected and adapted carefully.
Our article on missing Building Regulations evidence and conveyancing advice considers the related distinction between insuring an enforcement risk and establishing the condition of the work.
Progress the sale while checking the purchase history
Your current conveyancer should help identify what will resolve the buyer’s concern. Separately, the original purchase file may explain whether the same issue was investigated and reported before you bought.
A new enquiry does not automatically prove negligence. But where a material uncertainty existed and was not explained, the original advice may deserve closer examination.
Missing approval paperwork has surfaced during your sale?
If certificates for work carried out before your purchase cannot be found, the original enquiries, Report on Title and any indemnity policy may help explain what was established.
Were you told about the uncertainty when you bought? Explore the relevant records and tell When I Bought what happened.
Missing certificates? Tell When I Bought →You do not need to decide whether anyone was at fault before explaining what happened.
This article concerns property in England and Wales and provides general information. The homeowner’s account is unverified. The appropriate response depends on the documents, installation history, lender instructions and proposed insurance terms. When I Bought is a Lexsure service, not a law firm. Time limits may apply to complaints or claims.