In 2014, it took a friend of mine well over a year to buy a property in London. His problem wasn’t finding somewhere he wanted to buy, or making an offer and having this accepted -  it was that the market was just so competitive that there were always a  minimum of 100 other people competing to buy the same places and willing to increase their offer.

Being outbid is one thing, but when you’ve been gazumped more than once or the chain has broken down somewhere along the line, how do you move on to the next property – both financially and emotionally?

The conveyancing market is only becoming more fickle. As house prices continue to rise, so do commissions for Estate Agents and until a better system with some degree of integrity comes into being, do we just have to accept that when we move we are always likely to end up out of pocket…. not just for the house were buying, but for the other two that we were gazumped on along the way.

Also, If we take a minute to look at this situation from the law firms perspective, how much money is being lost to those firms offering a ‘no completion, no fee’ deal?

Move Smart, MoveSafe

With this in mind, here at Box Legal, we developed the MoveSafe policy. A policy that covers both potential  buyers and sellers as well as the conveyancer, should there be a break in the chain. The policy simply puts everyone back to where they were before the purchase collapsed. So if you had taken out a survey, you’re covered. As a Solicitor, if you have sent out your initial letters and started your searches, again you’re covered. You can claim whether exchange has taken place or not, but in general, the policy will make a payment if the failure to exchange is caused by events outside the client’s control.

So what about the London friend and his property situation? You’ll be relieved to hear he is finally happy in his new home. Sadly, our policy wasn’t available at the time of his move, but you can guarantee should he move again, it will be the first thing he looks into.

For more information about our MoveSafe policy go to https://www.boxlegal.co.uk/movesafe/ or contact us on 0870 766 9997.