The importance of Title Insurance in the energy transition
DUAL Asset
Comprehensive title insurance solutions to protect assets, real estate, shares and inherited assets.
With the energy transition providing opportunities for investors, a growing number of the commercial deals we cover are for renewables. The advice you get around Title Insurance can be a huge factor when considering the viability of a renewable energy project site.
Title Insurance is most associated with a third party arriving to the deal with a superior title, the benefit of rights or easements (including mining/manorial rights) or restrictive covenants to name but a few. It can also be of great comfort around planning challenges, which can be an issue for renewable energy projects.
Get in early, defend objections down the line
Renewable energy infrastructure projects often face many objections. Whether they come from land owners, special interest groups or concerned locals, third-party challenges can eat away at your margins – especially as a development matures.
We highly recommend making Title Insurance a priority, right from the early stages of the project planning. Coverage can be easier to achieve and stand you in good stead later.
Where hidden risks lurk
What looks, on paper, to be the most profitable site could be devalued by hidden title risks.
Landowners may object to energy-transferring cables running through their land (always a challenge when trying to connect to distant battery stations). Protected minerals might not be visible but could still cause a legal dispute. In some jurisdictions, locals can also deploy a variety of ancient rights, from crossing rights for herding cattle in Scotland to turbary rights for cutting peat in Northern Ireland.
Many of these title defects are insurable with title insurance, helping to facilitate both land acquisition and project financing, legal expenses, and settlement costs, maintaining a desired site’s financial viability, and allowing projects to develop.
Overcoming access issues
Access issues are a common frustration for renewables developers. Tracking down a title holder for permission diverts focus away from a project – and there’s no guarantee of success. With developers left at a title holder’s mercy, construction is likely to be delayed until a solution is found.
Title insurance can be used to cover access defects, allowing construction to continue without developers and their lenders being vulnerable to undue financial risk.
Using satellite imagery to identify the necessary oversailing points, we can assess the chances of a title holder coming forward. If a successful claim is made, we release funds towards legal expenses and settlement awards.
Judicial review coverage
With renewables projects often attracting fierce opposition from the local community and environmental organisations, judicial review presents a further obstacle for developers to overcome.
Our judicial review coverage removes some of the jeopardy from the review period, helping to empower developers to secure funding, close deals, and commence works – without fearing the financial consequences of a challenge.
Judicial review cover is particularly helpful when considerable construction progress has been made. We cover legal costs, as well as any demolition, alteration, and wasted development costs.
Stemming operational losses
As title defects can cause problems at any time in a project’s development, title insurance has a lesser-known use – covering operational losses.
At DUAL Asset, we can build in additional covers that could replace the need for separate business interruption and loss of profits policies.
We offer coverage for loss of revenue and profits throughout a project’s lifespan, protecting against unforeseen title claims.
领英推荐
Once a developer is generating revenue and under contractual obligations, claims can be highly damaging. Our business interruption option provides an additional layer of security. If a title defect prevents a project from selling electricity to the market, or forces it to relocate, we’ll cover the losses for two years or more.
Why choose DUAL Asset?
DUAL Asset is powered by an experienced team of commercially minded underwriters. By truly understanding what our clients are trying to achieve, we work to find bespoke and flexible solutions.
When potentially millions are on the line, title insurance is a cost-effective solution to complex problems - we help to make things happen.
Our policies protect against:
? Restrictive convents/title conditions
? Lack of easements/servitudes
? Mines, Minerals and Manorial Rights
? Third party rights
? Missing documents
? Planning, s106 or zoning issues
? Lease issues
? Judicial Review
? Chancel Repair
? Ownership (third parties demonstrating better title)
? Other title risks identified during Due Diligence
For more information, get in touch with Clare Bisset at [email protected] or call +44 78 21 659 828.
DUAL Asset is a trading name of DUAL Corporate Risks Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority No. 312593. Registered in England and Wales under company number 4160680. Registered Office: One Creechurch Place, London, EC3A 5AF, United Kingdom.
DUAL Underwriting Ireland DAC trading as DUAL Asset is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered in Ireland No.633531. Registered office: 98 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 D02 V324. Directors: Barry O’Dwyer (Managing), Ralph Snedden (British), Richard Clapham (British).
Consultant Lawyer specialising in mines, minerals, waste and commercial property
5 个月That is a really good succinct article and as it says trying to trace historic ownership of rights e.g mines and minerals where there is no indication on the Land Registry titles as to who the beneficiary is save that they are reserved to a third party means you are often delaying development whatever it may be by trying to locate pre-registration title deeds that either former solicitors or banks no longer hold or were never passed to the landowner on completion of acquisition.