Your title insurance policy covers you more than you may realize

Even the most diligent of title searches cannot uncover 100 percent of title defects 100 percent of the time. Title insurance not only covers mistakes made during a title search, it covers many more issues that a title search may not reveal. 

Sometimes tardy record keeping at the government clerk’s office is to blame. Other times, it may be a forged document. No matter what the issue may be, without title insurance the homeowner will be on the hook for any costs to defend title as well as any losses incurred.

While it’s true that the title insurance claims rate is somewhere around 5 percent – relatively low in comparison to other forms of insurance – this number can be somewhat misleading. That’s because a lot goes on behind the scenes at the title company to ensure a smooth, stress-free closing. The behind-the-scenes work doesn’t always show up in the statistics.

When a title cloud is detected prior to a real estate closing, the title company-to-insure contacts the title company who handled the original settlement on behalf of the seller. In our experience, this occurs in about one out of every 10 transactions. When it does, we’re usually able to resolve the issue without having to alert the seller or report a claim.

Keeping in mind that an owner’s title policy ranges on average around $1,100 for a house in the District of Columbia, and the cost of legal fees to clear title could run into the tens of thousands of dollars, it just seems like good fiscal sense to purchase the added protection.