> With First Title's Home Ownership Protection Policy buying a home in New Zealand has just become safer and easier.

Although new to New Zealand, title insurance has been used for over 110 years in the United States. Originally designed to cover problems of proving title to land, title insurance has been developed and enhanced over time to provide cover to home-owners and lenders against a wide variety of legal risks associated with owning interests in land.

Many of these risks can't be identified before settlement. Others, only after costly investigations and surveys. If discovered they then require expensive and lengthy action to resolve.

By insuring against these risks:
> the cost and hassle of buying or refinancing can be reduced; and
> the owner or the lender is protected against loss from these legal risks.

Title insurance does not replace lawyers - it provides added value to the services lawyers offer to their clients.

The quickest way to understand what title insurance is all about is to look at a few examples of problems that have arisen and see how the insurance could have helped the home owner deal with the problem.

> You are carrying out additions to your home when the Building Inspector discovers that basement bedroom, added shortly after the house was built doesn't have a building permit. The LIM report noted the original building permit for the house but it doesn't cover the additions. Title insurance would cover the cost of obtaining a permit for the unauthorised additions up to $50,000 > Your purchaser has refused to settle and is threatening to cancel because a Council condition attached to a right of way granted 75 years ago seems to have been breached. Depending upon the consequences of the breach, the title insurer would take whatever action is required to resolve the matter - this could range from agreeing to cover the purchaser from any actual loss they might suffer in the future to covering your costs of an action to force the purchaser to complete. If your action was not successful, compensating you for any loss of bargain or diminution in value of your property.		> When you purchased you obtained a LIM report. You were concerned about flooding but the LIM report said there was no known flooding. After several nasty floods in 12 months, you discover the Council overlooked including in the LIM report details from a file showing an extensive history of flooding. If it was possible to take action to stop the flooding, title insurance would cover this cost. More likely, the title insurer would compensate for the diminution in value of the property. > Your neighbour has fenced off the drive you thought was on your land, stopping vehicle access to your rear garage. The title insurer could do one of three things 1) negotiate a Right of Way grant 2) cover garage relocation costs or 3) compensate for diminished value. > You discover that the septic tank is not on the property and you are asked by your neighbour to shift it. Title insurance would cover the cost of relocating the tank.
Click on Claims Examples to read about situations in New Zealand where Title Insurance would have prevented a lot of hassle and concern for both purchasers and lenders.