Protecting ourselves in case our purchase fell through

According to Which?, research showed that “a quarter of sales collapsed before completion in 2019”.  This article also covers the five main reasons for why property sales fall through and has useful tips to avoid them!

After our experience with the new build property purchase which fell through because of cladding, we decided to purchase home buyer protection insurance for the next property that we wanted to buy.

 

We stumbled across home buyer protection insurance when reading other articles from HomeOwners Alliance.  Their webpage is definitely worth a read! 

 

After our previous property purchase fell through, we incurred thousands of pounds of costs, which included conveyancing fees and part of the reservation fee as the developer would only return half of the £3k fee.   

 

Whilst this insurance doesn’t cover every reason for why transactions fall through, it was good to have peace of mind that we might be protected for some situations. For £49, we could get cover for 180 days and if the purchase did fall through, we could potentially claim back some fees.  Please note, this was our experience and decision so others may have a different perspective.  It’s important to read the policy documents in detail.

 

Also, we came across a conveyancing firm which offered something similar when obtaining solicitor quotes. It was called the Residential Purchase Scheme and if you instructed them, you would be part of this scheme and it would reimburse you part of the costs (e.g survey fees, disbursements and legal fees) if the purchase falls through. Similar to the home buyer insurance, there was a list of reasons for reimbursements and certain restrictions.

 

Hope this was helpful!

 

Jess