Is title insurance really worth the money. What is the percentage of claims.?

Answer 1

I'm curious to see the answers to this as I've always had the same question about Title Insurance.

It perplexes me that you have to pay a Title company a whole lot of money to legally validate that the property you are buying doesn't have any outstanding leins or other disputes . . . and then you have to pay extra insurance to make sure they do their job correclty. Wouldn't it make more sense for the Title company to buy this insurance in a blanket policy for themselves?

I guess it's like all insurance. You don't need it, until you need it.

With a house, you could lose everything, so unfortunately, it's a no brainer.

Looking forward to seeing the % of claims (if anyone knows) or if anyone had any horror stories of losing their houses. My guess is that very few have had problems and that the number of claims is almost negligible.

F'n lawyers.

Answer 2

Mechanic liens were the leader for claims, but now it is forgery. The title policy protects against forgery and other matters which would constitute a defect ,lien or encumbrance upon the land. If you know how to run the public record to determine if the seller really owns the land and has no trust deed or other liens, such as judgments, state or federal tax liens, bankruptcy or other issues, go for it. Also be sure the property taxes have been paid. Really best money you would ever spend. In most cases the owners policy is paid by the seller and "you" wouldn't be spending the money. BIG mistake not to have title insurance.

Answer 3

The percentage of claims is very, very low.
Title insurance covers some other things you may not think of like if the property is not properly titled because of fraud, etc.
Even with the very high unliklihood that you will need it, you should get it because of the high value of what you have to lose.

Answer 4

Don't know the percentage of claims, but it only takes once to lose your property. Can you afford to lose your property with no recompense and start again? If so, then it's not worth it. If not, pay for the peace of mind.

Answer 5

if you have a mortgage, in most states the lender will require "lender's protection" title insurance and you pay. if your property has been bought and sold at least a few times, you probably don't need "owner's interest" title insurance. if you are buying new development property, owner's interest title insurance might be a good idea.