Chancel Repair Liability !!!

Gremlin

Gremlin

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Ingrid
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I'm in the process of selling my house and downsizing. all the relevant searches have been done on the new place and a chancel check shows that I am liable for repairs to the local church :eek:
So along with all the other expense involved I now have to pay out for £3m liability policy to cover should anything happen
Searched online and found this, seems we could all be liable
following a recent court case
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel_repair_liability

Luckily I have a good solicitor and they use someone that does it for £15 for 25 years but would it be a good idea if someone told us this could come as a nasty surprise
 
Gremlin said:
I'm in the process of selling my house and downsizing. all the relevant searches have been done on the new place and a chancel check shows that I am liable for repairs to the local church :eek:
So along with all the other expense involved I now have to pay out for £3m liability policy to cover should anything happen
Searched online and found this, seems we could all be liable
following a recent court case
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel_repair_liability

Luckily I have a good solicitor and they use someone that does it for £15 for 25 years but would it be a good idea if someone told us this could come as a nasty surprise
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Had exactly the same thing happen to us recently when we bought our new place. I'd never heard of it before and at first thought it was a con until the solicitor explained it to us.

It cost us about the same to insure against any claim. Apparently, if some scrotes were to nick the lead off the church in question, all those in the area without this cover would be liable to foot the bill :eek:
 
Personally, I wouldn't want to live in an area where the church had that much thieving clout!
 
Nod said:
Personally, I wouldn't want to live in an area where the church had that much thieving clout!
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I'd get it checked out Nod, you might be unpleasantly surprised.
It wasn't mentioned when I bought this place but seems our parish church subscribes to it, property up the road straddles 2 parishes and has had to pay out on insurance for both
When I got the letter about I spoke to quite a few people already living near where I will be and seems none of them had heard of it either but seems it will appear on new land registry searches when they sell
 
Wow.

I'm surprised (& disgusted) that this kind of religious nonsense is still allowed.

:-/
 
Wow, pretty speechless at that. I hate to think how mad I'd have been footing £350k for repairs to a church. I would not be feeling very Christian toward them after that!

We probably won't be moving for a couple of years yet so it should all be sorted by then by the sound of it but I shall bear this in mind. (One place we looked at was opposite a church!)

Glad you didn't have to fork out an arm and a leg but at least you shouldn't have a cross to bear :coat:
 
Ingrid, I had a full search and survey done on the property before I made an offer all those years ago - no roads to go through, no church interference on land or buildings etc. Not cheap but well worth it for the peace of mind.

My wife's yoga studio is within earshot of the cathedral and she's tempted to complain about the noise of the bells - decided aginst it when I pointed out that the bells had been dinging since long before the building she's in was built! She's also been turned down by a couple of church halls for holding classes there - seems they're so insecure over the faith of their congregation that they won't let what they see as heathens rent the place! A couple would allow it but now she has her own place so isn't beholden to them in any way! Must leave it there before it gets religious!
 
H2O said:
Wow.

I'm surprised (& disgusted) that this kind of religious nonsense is still allowed.

:-/
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I agree!

As an atheist I'd have serious objections to dipping in my pockets for anything to do with the church (or any other religious building come to that!).

Surely in this day and age such antiquated laws need to be done away with?
 
Money grabbing barstewards!!.... call the inqisition its a witch hunt!

The House of Lords, though not condoning this law and the implementation of it, ruled that PCCs are not Public Bodies and are therefore exempt from adhering to the Human Rights Act (HRA) and Convention.
Taken from a version of the Wallbanks story found here.

Exempt! wow.
 
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Nod said:
Ingrid, I had a full search and survey done on the property before I made an offer all those years ago - no roads to go through, no church interference on land or buildings etc. Not cheap but well worth it for the peace of mind.
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According to link I gave it may not have shown up, as said nothing showed on this place when we bought but it may now and the new owners could find themselves liable


Subsequent to this case, it is now common practice for new purchasers to be advised to request a check as to whether the local parish (one of the 15,000 ecclesiastical parishes which cover England and Wales) includes such a church, and if so to take out chancel liability insurance. However many homeowners who have lived in their current property since before 2003 are unlikely to be aware of their liability or to have insurance as chancel repair liability will not have been previously registered on their title. Through provisions made under the power of the Land Registration Act 2002 the onus has been put on Parochial Church Councils[4] to identify all affected land and register their interest before 13 October 2013 and this process is now under way in England and Wales in some parishes. After that date, new owners of land will only be bound by chancel repair liability if the latter is entered on the liable Registered Title kept at the Land Registry
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I totally agree it's a rip off, an online petition was raised to repeal it in 2008 but the government refused so seems I have no option but to protect myself, suppose £15 for 25 years cover is not too bad should the worst happen but still fuming about it :bang:
 
If/when the thieves come a'knocking, asking for your contribution, tell them to sue and be damned! Take out the insurance so you're covered but they may well decide not to sue due to the bad publicity it would cause them!
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Money grabbing barstewards!!.... call the inqisition its a witch hunt!

The House of Lords, though not condoning this law and the implementation of it, ruled that PCCs are not Public Bodies and are therefore exempt from adhering to the Human Rights Act (HRA) and Convention.
Taken from a version of the Wallbanks story found here.

Exempt! wow.
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The ECHR and therefore the HRA grants rights to residents and limits the powers of the state and its agencies. If parish councils are not agencies of the state (public bodies) then they are not bound by the HRA, which is why the case failed in the Law Lords. The judgment does not imply the Law Lords consider the Chancel Repairs Act (which reaffirms the legal position going back to Henry VIII and the dissolution) a good or just law, as they can't base a judgment on that - in the UK parliament is supreme, not the courts. What the higher courts do is interpret the laws parliament gives them when there are apparent conflicts.

I know very little about the legal position of parish councils, I tend to ignore their existence. If it had been a county or district council then they would have been bound by the HRA.


As an aside, I think the whole concept of chancel liability is wrong and should be entirely abolished.
 
Go to church on Sundays Ingrid and put a few Jaffa`s in the collection box :D
 
There have been some very nasty experiences in the past, it's a disgrace ... tread carefully!
 
onomatopoeia said:
The ECHR and therefore the HRA grants rights to residents and limits the powers of the state and its agencies. If parish councils are not agencies of the state (public bodies) then they are not bound by the HRA, which is why the case failed in the Law Lords. The judgment does not imply the Law Lords consider the Chancel Repairs Act (which reaffirms the legal position going back to Henry VIII and the dissolution) a good or just law, as they can't base a judgment on that - in the UK parliament is supreme, not the courts. What the higher courts do is interpret the laws parliament gives them when there are apparent conflicts.

I know very little about the legal position of parish councils, I tend to ignore their existence. If it had been a county or district council then they would have been bound by the HRA.


As an aside, I think the whole concept of chancel liability is wrong and should be entirely abolished.
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Thanks for the clarity Mark, I was being sensational but then its crazy medieval madness hey.

Same Wallbanks story source...
In the House of Lords , the PCC was financed by the Archbishops' Council (chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury) which had requested donations from dioceses (approx £10,000 each) to help pay for the action. (To coin a phrase 'this speaks volumes'!)

Why was it seen to be so important to crush us in this action? Have we been unwittingly caught up in other hidden agendas? Dis-Establishment? Avoidance of Public Body status? Is it just the temptation to amass huge financial advantage from their grass-root communities? Is it really their religion to put buildings before people?

gramps said:
There have been some very nasty experiences in the past, it's a disgrace ... tread carefully!
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Sorry I may have failed. :)

. ..anyway its not the religion its those that have amassed power in its name we're talking about here..
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Sorry I may have failed. :)

. ..anyway its not the religion its those that have amassed power in its name we're talking about here..
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:thinking:

I mean there have been a number of very expensive situations for some householders because of this 'law', some being forced into heavy debt to pay the costs so caution is needed when this situation arises.
As for the religion/those who have amassed power in its name ... same thing ... if it were not so, those who had amassed power in its name would not be permitted to remain in the religion.
 
my guess is your search came back with "potential"liability.

Most searches do - and chancel liability stops in 2013 unless it's been registered against the property. ;)
 
Gives the church several months to lodge registrations on as many properties as they can.
 
Ami-Jane said:
my guess is your search came back with "potential"liability.

Most searches do - and chancel liability stops in 2013 unless it's been registered against the property. ;)
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Yes it did, and as such I feel that although I don't agree with paying a small sum like £15 for peace of mind for the next 25 years is not a bad thing.
The church probably has millions stashed away and yet every time something needs doing they beg for the money to do it from the local population :bang:

I only go near a church for the odd christening/wedding/funeral when I really have to, cant abide the the p
way politics seems to have crept into things in some sermons.

Adam say what you like about religion, I don't subscribe to any of it so fire away :thumbs:
 
It shocked us too. We paid extra so that it is transferable to the next owner..
 
We bought our house nearly 2 years ago and opted to pay for this. Complete rip off, but for peace of mind, I did it. We live in a Parish Council so you never know.

Another reason religion should be separated from state / law completely.
 
the previous owners paid for a policy when i bought my first house, it appeared to be transferable as i didnt have to pay when i sold the property on.

are there any recent cases where the local parish has attempted to get money off the local home owners? regardless of policies i cant see it going down well at all!
 
If I remember rightly they only have until october this year to register and inform you of your liabilty, I'm covered for £25 years so won't be my problem anyway
 
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Now I too am an atheist, but to be fair, a little research reveals that many parishes themselves are taking measures to have the local properties absolved of responsibility, and of those who have notices to pay, the resulting court cases have classed the law as archaic and the residents have either not had to pay, or have subsequently been refunded.

Insurance to cover against it is widely available, and cheap.
 
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