Product Overview
Insurance solutions to enable the swift, smooth and secure transfer of commercial assets and protect development opportunities.
Legal Indemnities and Title Insurance encompasses a broad range of legal risks which may affect a property or land. These can range from small technical risks to active litigation. These defects can seriously affect the value of a property and could, in more extreme cases, involve the loss of the entire asset. Many of these defects could be resolved via the legal system, but the cost and/or time required to do so could delay or even abort the transaction.
Our policies indemnify clients from financial loss, should a defect affect the property. The cost of defending any third party challenges and covering any eventual loss in the value of the land ensures that you are fully protected. Our policies allow you to buy in confidence and lenders can secure their loans without fear of financial loss from the identified risks and/or unknown defects.
We have over 40 specific risks on our commercial online comparison site for properties in England, Wales and Scotland, where there is no future development planned at this time. If you are planning to develop the property or you are unable to find a suitable product, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our specialists pride themselves in being able to think outside the box and provide cover for risks, which the traditional legal indemnity providers reject.
We have insured real estate assets in over 35 countries worldwide and portfolios of properties in multiple jurisdictions. We are proud to have the largest capacity in the market, so no deal is too big or complex. Please speak to a member of our team below for more information.
What's Covered
Broadly, cover is placed in two ways:
- Specific risk insurance – where a defect has been identified that needs to be removed/mitigated. Some of the most common risks include restrictive convents/title conditions, lack of easements/servitudes, missing documents, zoning or planning breaches, chancel repair or the mines and minerals under the land being excepted
- All risk insurance – Where there is no specific defect, but cover is required against a number of unknown risks. This can arise where full due diligence has not been carried out, or the seller is unable or unwilling to stand behind the warranties given at exchange/completion (often administrators/receivers or a fund winding up). Examples of insured events include boundary disputes, fraud, forgery, documents which were not registered against the title or otherwise undiscoverable. This product is designed to provide you with complete peace of mind.
- Most specific risk policies provide cover in perpetuity and for any onward purchasers, lessees, mortgagees and their successors.
- All risk policies wrap around the current transaction and protect the owner for as long as they own the property. In some cases, we can extend this to an onward purchaser, where assets will be quickly flipped on.
- Our policy wording has been designed to be easy to understand, but provide expansive and comprehensive coverage. We pride ourselves in our flexibility and our underwriters are always happy to amend policies as and where required to ensure clients obtain the right cover. We are always willing to look at innovative, bespoke solutions and custom wordings, unlike some traditional insurers.
- Please ask for a copy of the policy wording for the full list of insured events.
What’s Not Covered
- Unless covered as a specific risk, known matters that already affect the title/ownership on the day the policy is issued, e.g. legal obligations, pre-emptions, leases, mortgages, rights of way, existing utilities
- Future events causing risks that didn’t exist on the day the policy was issued
- Pollution and contamination
- War and terrorism
- Compulsory taking e.g. by a government (unless the legal process has started before the policy is issued)
- Risks that are insured by a household policy
Please ask for a copy of the policy wording for a full list of the Uninsured Matters.
How Much Does it Cost?
We price our legal indemnity covers competitively and, with the backing of our multiple insurers, we can provide flexible options. Prices range per jurisdiction.
For England and Wales, our Quick Quote facility and My Legal Indemnity Shop can provide quotations for over 40 specific risks in the UK. Where development is anticipated, pricing range as follows:
In Western Europe, pricing is as follows:
In Central & Eastern Europe, pricing ranges as follows:
Make An Enquiry
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Speak to the team
Adam studied law at Durham University before entering the legal indemnity market in 2011 and joining DUAL in 2018. Adam has underwritten policies throughout Europe, but is now focused on the UK market.
Adam specialises in large complex transactions, portfolios and risks with a proven track record of finding solutions to problems where others cannot. In his spare time he, remarkably (given his fitness levels), still plays rugby for Old Streetonians.
Jessica studied LLB Law before continuing her studies in Legal Practice at the University of Westminster.
She started her career in insurance in 2016, with a particular focus on commercial UK real estate and is primarily responsible for DUAL Asset’s right of light product.
Paul brings a wealth of experience to DUAL Asset’s Title and Legal Indemnity offering with a particular focus on Ireland.
He has over 30 years’ experience as a lawyer in Ireland, advising property investors, developers and financial institutions in the Irish market.
His strong understanding of the legal environment surrounding the real estate and property financing sectors add invaluable insights into the delivery of DUAL Asset’s title to share and real estate offerings.
Kirstin Nee
Kirstin Nee
Head of Scotland and Northern Ireland
London
Kirstin entered the legal indemnities market straight from Strathclyde School of Law. She has expertise underwriting across the globe and is especially well regarded for her work on high net worth commercial and residential defective title policies across the Celtic jurisdictions.
Working with DUAL from the start in Scotland whilst at Millar & Bryce, she joined the team full time in 2016. With her chatty nature and numerous CPD talks she has become the “well kent face” of legal indemnities in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Emilia is a qualified legal advisor with over 10 years’ experience on the Polish market. She specializes in real estate and construction law, with a main focus on spatial development, building and re-privatization law.
Emilia has provided international investors and developers with on-going legal assistance in relation to building law issues and assisted and consulted on acquisition and transfer of real estate. She has represented clients in proceedings concerning construction, zoning, heritage and environmental protection, including numerous successful cases before the Supreme Administrative Court. She has advised on regulating the legal status of the properties, being involved in many cases regarding re-privatization and statutory impropriation of state legal entities.
Prior to joining DUAL, she worked at the Warsaw offices of Beiten Burkhard and Wolf Theiss, leading law firms in Germany, Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Emilia studied law and applied linguistics at the University of Warsaw and at the University of Tübingen, Germany. She has also completed a secondment at ThyssenKrupp AG in Essen, Germany. Emilia is admitted to the Polish Bar and is fluent in English, German and Polish.
