The Lemon Fool

Clitheroekid wrote:

Only slight issue was that the leaseholder no longer existed, so I felt I did have to try to find some, only to discover that no insurer would insure me as I was not the leaseholder.....

I don't understand this. I presume by the `leaseholder' you mean the freeholder, i.e. the owner of the land on which the flats were built. Whilst mancos do sometimes disappear it would be extremely unusual for a corporate owner of the freehold to do so, simply because the freehold is usually a valuable asset.

Sorry, yes, freeholder.

There was no manco, the builders had gone bankrupt and nothing seemed to have happened since then. I had a lease but I never paid the ground rent, no-one ever asked me for it. I got buildings insurance the first year I was there via the mortgage co at their insistence (which I now know was them scamming me!) and simply renewed it every year until I decided one year to look for a better rate and it was then I was told I not only *shouldn't* but indeed *couldn't* have buildings cover on a leasehold flat. So, I tried to track down the managing co or builder only to find there either was none, or they had gone bust or whatever. I was told when that happens unless the tenants form their own manco the freehold reverts to the Crown. Well, there were only three flats, the rest of the development was houses, and one of the flats was rented out and I had no clue, so we never did anything about it.

I got buildings insurance again via the mortgage company who were happy to sell it to me. Which mortgage company you ask? Oh, glad you did. Barclays bank! Never did like them much. (oh, I recently got an £800 refund from them for mortgage indemnity insurance they never should have sold me - maybe I should write to them about the buildings insurance misselling too)

When I sold I had to buy one of those solicitor insurance policies to indemnify the new owners against a freeholder turning up and asking for 20 years worth of ground rent.

I would never buy a leasehold flat again. Nor deal with Barclays.

I did ask about it on TMF at the time, but I can't easily find the post.

Mel

Clitheroekid wrote:Leasehold flats should never be insured individually. It will (or should) be provided in every lease of a flat that the building as a whole is insured by the landlord / management company, who then recovers the premium pro rata from each leaseholder, either directly or via the service charge.asset.

I agree in principle. But doesn't it depend exactly how the leases are written? In my limited experience, leases can vary significantly in their terms, And some date from 40 or more years ago whilst others are quite recent, again causing the terms to vary.

In my case there were two units, and there was a requirement for three policies - one for the freeholder and one each for the two leaseholders. It helped that the normal contents insurance could be added to the building insurance for the two leaseholders.

As it happened, we all got on well and there were no conflicts or disputes. But it might have been otherwise and I was happy when it was sold. The lease may have been quirky but I assumed at the time that I was nonetheless bound to its terms.

Hi,

Here is a useful resource to create a free will if you think it's necessary.

https://www.lawdepot.co.uk

Sometimes you have to sign up for a trial account to get access.

Paul

I'd be a bit worried about typing a load of personal data into a website form like that.
Perhaps I'm paranoid.
It's generally agreed (not just by solicitors...) that getting a will made up professionally is the best course of action.

AleisterCrowley wrote:I'd be a bit worried about typing a load of personal data into a website form like that.

Ive not really l,ooike at it but could you not put in filler stuff ie non personal data, print/save it as a editable document format file, then edit offline and print finally?

or similar?

didds

some unions certainly used to offer free will writing services. For something as simple as what the OP's situation sounds like they may be fine. (I wouldn't suggest them to anybody that has anything but the simplest of requirements though. As my mum found out when dad died!)

didds

If the OP is over 55 (or anyone else reading for that matter), a cheap way of getting a simple will prepared by a solicitor is to use the Free Wills Month offer described here:

https://freewillsmonth.org.uk/

It appears the scheme runs in March and October so this could be timely!

Hi

Ta for the replies. No, I don't have life insurance as chances are it would be a waste of money. My mortgage is only small so my parents would just pay it off if things got really bad.

So there doesn't appear to be a simple way that my parents would be able to find out about my savings unless I make a list of some sort, best get that sorted

Thanks

They could use mylostaccount.org.uk run by British Bankers' Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association (BSA) and National Savings and Investments (NS&I) - this can be used by executors as well as the individual owing the account. However this can take up to three months, so obviously it would be easier for them if you maintain records.

Clitheroekid wrote:Whilst mancos do sometimes disappear it would be extremely unusual for a corporate owner of the freehold to do so, simply because the freehold is usually a valuable asset.

But it happened on a converted house on which I owned half the units in the building. We were preparing to take them to court, and before we got there they used some mechanism to close/dissolve the company via which they owned/held the freehold. Presumably their risk was greater than their asset value and the impact on their property empire. As I recall the thus ownerless freehold asset then reverted to the Crown under IIRC the law of Bona Vacantia ['Ownerless goods'] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bona_vacantia . We subsequently bought the freehold interest from the Crown Estate for relative peanuts, pennies on the pound compared to what the former freeholder had been demanding.

AleisterCrowley wrote:I'd be a bit worried about typing a load of personal data into a website form like that.
Perhaps I'm paranoid.
It's generally agreed (not just by solicitors...) that getting a will made up professionally is the best course of action.

Yes perhaps you're right to be paranoid, however my gut feeling on this one is that it's fine. I might be wrong.