Available to order from 22nd March 2021, Future Climate Info (FCI) are delighted to announce a new range of Official CON29M search reports to the conveyancing market. Complete with AA- rated Triple-Tier insurance protection, a robust manually assessed Mine Entry Interpretive Report and a specially tailored report layout, the reports are designed to offer all transactional stakeholders the context and guidance to make the very best use of the search.
Alongside the regular Law Society licensed Official CON29M questions, the new range comes with many unique features, including an impressive Triple Tier Insurance cover which offers unbeatable protection for homebuyers, vendors and lenders as standard, and peace of mind for conveyancers.
The new CON29M module is available as two report options; an Official CON29M and a variation of FCI’s best-selling Premium report, the FCI Premium Plus CON29M which combines the CON29M with an assessment of the core Environmental risks including Contaminated Land and Radon, Flood, Ground Stability and Energy & Infrastructure, all in one clear and concise report.
As standard, both searches include an integrated and dynamic Mine Entry Interpretive Report (MEIR) avoiding the need for additional costly searches, a section dedicated to Development Considerations and clear commentary and next steps designed to create transparency and ensure the context of the Law Society’s questions are understood by all, reducing the number of purchaser queries the conveyancer or solicitor has to respond to.
Triple Tier Insurance Protection
Underwritten by CLS Property Insight and backed by Great Lakes SE, a subsidiary of Munich RE, the complimentary insurances are dynamically appended to the search reports where required. They include:
Market-leading Coal Search Insurance, which along with the expected protection that £100,000 Coal Search Insurance provides, uniquely includes cover for loss-of-value caused by historic coal mining features which were not recorded in the Coal Authority data at the time of reporting but are later recorded and revealed in any subsequent CON29M search. This is crucial because new coal-mining features are constantly being added to the Coal Authority records, and a homebuyer when they later come to sell has no control over the choice of searches obtained by prospective purchasers.
FCI are also the only search provider to introduce a unique Non-Coal Minerals Search Insurance. This offers consumer protection in relation to thousands of non-coal mining features recorded in the Coal Authority data which, were they to be the cause of subsidence damage to a property, may not qualify for assistance under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 (CMSA1991).
The FCI CON29M searches also come with a Cheshire Brine Screen to identify where a property falls within the overlap between the Cheshire Brine Compensation District and the coalfield. Where this is the case, an Integrated Insurance is provided automatically to support the property owner should they not obtain a salt search and after suffering subsidence later discover that the Cheshire Brine Compensation Board (CBCB) will not compensate on the basis that a previous owner of the Property had already received payment but had failed to complete the necessary remedial works, or where the CBCB refuses a subsequent claim on the grounds that future claims were commuted.
Coal Mining Heritage
FCI have a heritage founded in coal mining, with FCI’s Chairman, Geoff Offen a qualified coal mining surveyor, the architect of the very first CON29M search report and co-founder of the standard coal mining search scheme.
Geoff said of the new product range:
“With a deep understanding of the key elements of coal mining risk interpretation, FCI’s team of Chartered property and environmental risk experts, data and modelling specialists have taken care to engineer a new breed of CON29M searches. We have stayed true to the technical guidance issued by the Law Society and the Coal Authority, whilst maintaining a unique focus on enhancing the benefits from the perspective of the conveyancing solicitor and their client.”
Tim Champney, Managing Director FCI said of the new CON29M reports:
“The FCI team is driven by a desire to deliver genuinely useful products and services. We aim to fulfil a real need, and always with an open and transparent approach. From surveying the Coal Searches market we identified an opportunity to create a new suite of products which delivered greater insight, and value. We set out to meet the fundamental expectations of what a CON29M should be but enhanced with new innovations and ideas. Not least, our inclusion of non-coal minerals insurance cover for homeowners where the statutory subsidence safety net of the CMSA1991 cannot necessarily be relied upon is a real advantage, and at no additional cost to the consumer. This is just one example of where we’ve looked to provide transparent advice and where necessary support the outcome with a novel solution.”
FCI is the only search provider regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). They are also Executive Members of CoPSO, regulated under the Search Code by the Property Code Compliance Board (PCCB) and The Property Ombudsman. As such, they seek to protect the best interests of the homebuyer, therefore helping the conveyancer to protect their clients. The inclusion of a triple tier insurance cover for homebuyers is a key part of this commitment.
To learn more about the new CON29M range, visit www.futureclimateinfo.com. Alternatively, you can register to attend the informative webinar ‘CON29M. Creating a New Standard.’ which takes place on 25th March at 11am: https://futureclimateinfo.com/events/webinar-con29m-new-standard/.
