Search Acumen launches data reports and insurance to help beat the stamp duty cut-off

18^th January 2021, London: Search Acumen, the property data insight and technology provider, has launched new data reports and insurance to enable real estate lawyers to identify risk upfront and help clients progress transactions ahead of the stamp duty cut-off.

Main points:

Data Snapshot+ Insurance launched to enable lawyers to access data instantly, identify risks and help clients progress transactions ahead of the stamp duty cut off
Lawyers and their clients can get to the front of the queue without having to wait for search results from oversubscribed Local Authorities swamped by current demand
Access to insurance gives peace of mind, ensuring clients and lenders are protected in the event that adverse results would have been revealed by an official Local Authority search at the point when the insurance was taken out.

The new product provides immediate access to all relevant property due diligence information necessary to progress a transaction in the absence of an official Local Authority search, while the insurance provides cover to both buyer and lender for up to £5million incurred as a result of adverse entries that would have been revealed by an official Local Authority search, which subsequently lead to an Actual loss.

Data Snapshot + Insurance enables lawyers and their clients to avoid the current wait times for traditional searches. It has been launched at a time when the market is experiencing heightened delays with stamp duty relief putting unprecedented pressure on Local Authorities, which are in some cases being forced to close due to the lockdown.

With the insurance, this digital approach to due diligence enables lawyers to conduct risk assessments more efficiently, with the peace of mind that the client and lender will be protected in the event that adverse entries would have been revealed by an official Local Authority search as at Policy Date.

Rapid property data analysis without the wait – or the risk

Search Acumen’s Data Snapshot enables access to reliable property data crucial to the transaction process instantly, enabling conveyancers to share the report with clients in minutes. Lawyers are given a helicopter view of critical facts that they can then advise their clients on to help them make well-informed decisions about how to progress while also enabling them to get ahead and avoid the current search delays.

Each Data Snapshot is available on demand and draws on essential insight available via Search Acumen’s ForeSite real estate platform. The output provides an overview of a range of physical, environmental, infrastructure and legal risk factors – including new data on areas of conservation, local nature reserves and highways as well as anything that could affect development such as planning, public rights of way and ownership rights.

The insurance will provide cover to clients and their mortgage lender in the case of adverse entries that would have been revealed by an official Local Authority search at the point when the insurance was taken out, which subsequently lead to an Actual loss.

Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director at Search Acumen, comments:

“With the challenges of progressing property transactions showing no signs of abating, it is essential that all parties come together to find solutions if we are to keep the market functioning for buyers in a timely but also safe and responsible manner.

“Data Snapshot + Insurance combines innovation with security. For too long we have relied on outdated processes out of fear of doing things differently. Our approach enables lawyers to embrace a digital mindset and an agile approach to combatting the current delays in the system while continuing to minimise risk for clients.

“This approach is not a stop gap but a solution to making the property market more robust and able to sustain unplanned events in future. The whole industry is needed to forge a modern industry steeped in the consumption of data to the benefit of clients and the UK economy.”

Kindly shared by Search Acumen

Main article photograph courtesy of Pixabay