Product Focus: Mines & Minerals Development of manufacturing site Background
Solution
The land in question was formerly part of a manufacturing site which was to be redeveloped as residential housing.
Following a full analysis, First Title was able to underwrite the risk and provide a policy to the insured ensuring that they would be indemnified in the event of a claim arising.
Planning was granted in outline for phased development. It was intended for the insured to then sell each parcel to a separate developer who would obtain their own reserved matters consent.
Challenge Where cover is given for historical documents or where the entry is generic on the title, it is usually the case that the minerals owner is unknown, and so it is not feasible to make an approach to them to purchase the minerals title or to obtain consent to trespass into the mineral bed in order to lay the foundations for the new buildings. The concern here is that the insured (or their successors in title) commence development works at the land which trespasses into the mines and minerals and by doing so, triggers a third party to either claim ownership of the mineral bed or the benefit of rights to extract mineral reserves under the land. As a result, the insured could be prevented from carrying out works causing a delay to the development / potential for an injunction to prevent trespass into the mineral bed / damages / compensation because trespass has occurred.
Further, because of the nature of the transaction, it was agreed that First Title would structure the policy to allow for the splintering of the main policy to each developer following the sale of the separate parcels out of the main policy. This was offered at a nominal premium, subject to any further underwriting requirements being satisfied at the time.
Client Testimonial “Working in partnership with First Title enabled us to present a robust and workable solution to significant title issues on the site being acquired by our client, which enabled a bespoke developer policy to be purchased by the vendor that will be used by several developers on this multi-let site.� Partner, Weightmans LLP Weightmans is a top 45 law firm with over 1,400 people based across the UK. A leading national player in insurance, highly respected in the public sector and the provider of diverse commercial services for businesses and PLCs as well as private client expertise, Weightmans is a truly full service law firm dedicated to providing results for its clients and success for its people.
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