What is title insurance? Is it worth it?

Your conveyancer may suggest taking out a “title insurance policy”. This type of insurance covers you for certain instances that affect your right to occupy and use the land. Although there are likely to be exclusions these types of policies generally include:

- identity theft and fraud

- incorrect calculation of land tax and council rates

- boundary alignment and structures encroaching on your land

- planning and zoning omissions

- illegal building works

Typically these policies will cost around $1000 and are a one off purchase, meaning you pay once and use the policy if an issue occurs. 

This could be if you plan to sub divide in the future and discover a neighbors garage is on your land when you undertake a land survey

The council may issue you with a building notice about a shed they say is illegal, you may be able to fight it or get some compensation from the policy. 

If there is a zoning issue that lowers your land value you may also be able to make a claim for compensation. 

I am certainly not an expert on title insurance but for the cost it is something I will always purchase especially if there are multiple structures on a property.