Chief Land Registrar's Report
Indemnity
Facilitate the resolution of disputes and of claims under the State guarantee
as economically and expeditiously as possible.
The Land Registration Act 1925 places a legal liability on the Agency to
indemnify for losses resulting from errors or omissions on the Register of
Title, including errors resulting from frauds perpetrated by third parties.
As a statutory insurer of titles in England & Wales, the indemnity
payments are not confined to mistakes made by the Land Registry. We facilitate
the resolution of disputes and of claims as economically and expeditiously as
possible.
- £2,507, 854 was paid for 712 claims (up from £764,393 for 738 claims)
- The largest payment was in excess of £500,000 (including interest and
legal costs) in respect of an error in the result of a search of the index
map. Although the error related only to a small area of land, the property
was a valuable one. The error led to a loss of £450,000, of which the Land
Registry was found to be liable for £355,000, plus interest and costs. The
Land Registry was not liable for the full amount, firstly, because part of
the loss was paid by another party and, secondly, because the claimants were
found to have contributed to the loss by their own lack of proper care.
- The Registry recovered £83,621 under its statutory rights of recourse (up
from £9,035).
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