At Hunter Legal & Conveyancing, in addition to providing full property conveyancing services in the Maitland area, we also offer to help our clients set up Title Insurance. Recently, Title Insurance has been becoming a more popular option for individuals purchasing houses or other property. However, despite this growing trend, people are still not entirely familiar with what title insurance is or what it covers.
What Is Title Insurance?
When you engage our property, and conveyancing services in Maitland, Newcastle, or anywhere throughout NSW you can ask for guidance on whether or not you need Title Insurance. However, going into that conversation, it’s a good idea to have a basic idea of the purpose of Title Insurance.
Title insurance is a specialised insurance policy which protects against possible risks that can threaten the legal ownership of purchased property or affect a person’s right to occupy and use their land and therefore cause financial loss.
Title Insurance covers risks that were unknown when the contract was signed because it is outside the range of a settlement agent or conveyancer’s instructions when acting in a routine settlement to make every possible enquiry regarding the new property.
In the worst case, it is possible to lose the legal ownership of the property due to a fraudulent sale. Another scenario is financial loss caused when the council forcibly removes an illegal structure built by the previous owner or loss of land due to survey errors, boundary defects, or non-compliance with zoning obligations or development laws.
Title Insurance provides lifetime coverage for a one-off premium.
How does it work?
In the above-mentioned scenarios title insurance operates as a normal insurance policy. A person needs to make a claim and, if eligible, the insurer will cover the costs involved. For example, a home-owner cannot ascertain prior to settlement whether a shed or extension on the property has received council approval or not. Title Insurance is purchased to cover the cost of rectifying the non-compliant structure, or of gaining retrospective approval.
Do I Need Title Insurance? How Can My Property Conveyancing Firm in Maitland Help Me Find Coverage?
Anyone concerned whether the property of interest may have risks involved that is not readily seen, such as:
- Illegal or unapproved building works or extensions
- Survey and boundary problems
- Fraud, counterfeit and identity theft
- Unpaid rates or taxes
- Unregistered easements
- Disadvantage due to non-compliance with zoning or development laws
should consider obtaining Title Insurance prior to settlement.
If you or someone you know has any questions in regards to title insurance or anything else, do not hesitate to contact our office to speak with one of our friendly team members today on 1300 224 828.
