MOFS Guide to Legal Indemnity Insurance - Flipbook - Page 27
Rights to Light
Information required
There is a very wide-ranging difference in the approaches, policy
parameters and availability between various insurers in the market. At
Mason Owen, we have over fifteen years’ experience helping arrange Right
to Light Indemnity for our clients. We work with all the major insurers in
the market, with several different surveying firms and a large percentage
of the top UK law firms specialising in this area. We assist the developer
helping manage the approach for the right to light risk and structuring the
insurance to their specific requirements.
•Address of the property, full address and postcode or detailed
description of the land.
For additional information about this complex area,
please see our website or ask for a copy of our Right
to Light information sheet.
Policies typically cover the legal costs of defence, settlements or
damages awarded to third parties, demolition, rebuilding costs, abortive
expenditure, loss in land value and can be extended to protect against
delays during construction including contractual obligations and financial
penalties.
To obtain the best possible terms from insurers, we need to provide as
much information as possible and a detailed presentation to help build
a comprehensive understanding of the development. A list of the full
information required is detailed on the next page, however we appreciate
sometimes little is available at an early stage and we can try to obtain an
initial indication from insurers with a basic analysis from an RTL surveyor
and title documentation.
•Title Documentation, Official Copy Entries and filed Plan(s) for the
target property.
•Specialist Rights to Light survey from a recognised firm. Ideally this
should include EFZ figures and a calculation of the potential damages
for affected properties.
•Official copy entries and plans for each of the affected properties with
an actionable loss detailed in the RTL report. A copy of any leases to the
affected properties.
• Current (or previous) use of the property and future use once developed.
•Full details of the proposed development including a layout/
development plan and elevations along with the proposed timeframe for
the development.
•An indication of the fully developed value of the site.
•Level of cover required. If there is a moderate to high injunction risk
then the full value of the development should always be considered.
Alternatively, you may insure for a lower indemnity level to protect
against possible damages awarded against you but should always
include a reasonable extra amount to consider additional professional
fees in the event of a claim and any diminution in value if a cut back
scheme had to be implemented.
•Confirmation the project has external funding and the value
of the loan.
•Details of the ‘cut-back’ loss if the development had to be reduced to
preserve Rights to Light to adjacent properties.
•Planning Information. Some insurers will consider providing terms
prior to planning but developments which pose a higher risk are likely
to require the comfort that the planning process has drawn out any
potential claimants.
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mofs.co.uk
Liverpool 0151 255 2600 | Norwich 01603 393 701 | li@mofs.co.uk
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