• December 1, 2023
 Why you shouldn’t forget to insure land during Probate

Why you shouldn’t forget to insure land during Probate

If someone owns land that is not included in any property deeds, then they should consider arranging a land insurance policy.

If someone on their land has an accident, causing injury or damage to their property, the landowner could be legally liable for significant costs, including legal fees, medical expenses, and compensation. Land insurance can provide protection against these costs and give landowners peace of mind.

Even someone on land unlawfully could sue the landowner.

The scope of duty to people on land will vary depending on their status:

  1. Lawful visitors (and their property) are covered by the Occupiers Liability Act 1957
  2. Trespassers are covered by the Occupiers Liability Act 1984.

These Acts say that a reasonable occupier (i.e. the landowner) has to take more care for lawful visitors than for trespassers. But trespassers are still owed a duty of care.

The landowner’s duty of care is higher:

  • If they know or ought to know that there is a danger on their land
  • When preventing injuries to children, as they are less careful than adults.

Claims for personal injury can be significant, so it may be prudent to arrange land insurance in the name of the estate.  Claims.co.uk have produced a number of examples of general damages under Judicial College Guidelines.  The amount that could be paid out depends on whether the injury is classed as minor, moderate, severe or very severe.   Very severe claims can be significant and be several hundred thousand pounds.

You can view these claims examples here.

What is land insurance?

Land insurance is not a complex insurance product.  It is effectively a public liability insurance for land.

The policy provides protection to the landowner against third party claims for injury, death or damage to property suffered whilst on your land.

In the event of a claim, the insurance policy pays for your legal defence.  In the event a claimant is successful, the insurance policy pays for any damages and costs awarded by the court.

Arranging insurance for land during Probate

When the owner of land dies, the duty of care and potential liability will pass to the estate and the executors.

The executors or personal representatives will have a duty of care to anyone that enters land in the estate until it is inherited.  If someone on this land suffers an injury or their property is damaged the executors or personal representatives could be legally liable if they found to be negligent. Land insurance can defend the executors and personal representatives’ personal liability, protect the estate from financial loss and pay any damages following a successful claim.

This is why the executors should immediately insure any land owned by the deceased that is not contained within the boundary of their property.

Examples of land owned by the deceased could be land earmarked for development, grazing land, a private road, carpark and more.

When getting a quotation from Insuristic you can insure the land in the name of the estate.  The Insured name will either be:

  • The Executors of the estate of ‘Name of the Deceased’ (if there is a will)
  • The Administrators of the estate of ‘Name of the Deceased’ (if there is no will)

Check our land insurance page for more information.

How much does land insurance cost?

The cost of defending a claim and paying damages could be significant.  The cost of land insurance is therefore relatively inexpensive.

The cost of land insurance is priced by the type of land, how many acres need insuring and the level of indemnity required.

When buying a policy from Insuristic, our minimum premium is just £106 (plus Insurance Premium Tax, based on the cost of someone insuring up to 5 Acres of grazing land for a £1 million indemnity.

This article was submitted to be published by Insuristic as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.

Insuristic

https://insuristic.co.uk/%20

Insuristic is a digital first insurance broker. This means most of our products can be easily purchased online. We make insurance less complicated and tailored to our client’s needs. Which gives you and them the confidence that the insurance should respond when its needed. What's more, there are no hidden costs. We don't take big commission from our insurers, nor do we charge you fees. This means we don't charge to receive, change or cancel an insurance policy. We are committed to transparency. We tell our clients what we earn up front in our terms of business agreement, which is provided with each quotation. Insuristic has developed a broad range of products for the probate market which could save you and your clients time and money.  Plus, we only work with A Rated insurance providers with a proven claims service. This will give you the peace of mind that comes with working with a probate insurance specialist. If you work with Insuristic, we can also help you embed Insurance into your proposition:

  • We can provide property and estate administration insurance for your clients; and
  • For firms with an FCA exemption, we can provide you with the option to quote and issue policies in-house for some products.
Lastly, Insuristic has an affiliate program that pays commission on any introduced sales for the lifetime of the policy. Key services
Service Website URL
A Guide to Executor Insurance https://insuristic.co.uk/executor-insurance/
Insurance partnership offering for probate firms https://insuristic.co.uk/estate-administration-insurance/
Unoccupied Probate Property Insurance https://insuristic.co.uk/probate-house-insurance/
Probate Pro https://insuristic.co.uk/probate-pro/
Early Distribution Insurance https://insuristic.co.uk/early-distribution-insurance/
Section 27 Indemnity Insurance https://insuristic.co.uk/section-27-indemnity-insurance/
Missing Beneficiary Insurance https://insuristic.co.uk/missing-beneficiary-insurance/
Missing Will Insurance https://insuristic.co.uk/missing-will-insurance/
Unoccupied home insurance (non-probate) https://insuristic.co.uk/home-insurance/unoccupied-home-insurance/
Land Insurance https://insuristic.co.uk/land-insurance/
Insuristic Estate Protect https://insuristic.co.uk/estate-protect/
Key contact Name: Robert Faulkner Email: rob@insuristic.co.uk LinkedIn Acc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmfaulkner/