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How can
I ensure my second-hand boat purchase is finance-free?
I am looking to
purchase a second-hand motorboat up to £20k. This would be my first boat.
How can I be sure that the person selling the boat actually owns it and
confirm it is finance-free?
It can be quite difficult
to reach an unequivocal determination with respect to the ownership of a
boat. This is largely due to the fact that the law is not prescriptive
over the title documentation that must accompany a boat (as is the case
with conveyancing).
A good starting point is
to ascertain whether or not the boat is registered. Marine mortgages can
be noted on Part I of the British Register, thus if a purchaser buys a
Part I Registered vessel following sight of the Register upon which no
mortgage entries were contained, the purchaser is free of any mortgage
there may be. However, Part I is rare on small boats.
If the boat is on Part
III of the Register or indeed unregistered it can be tricky to protect
oneself from the existence of an unknown marine mortgage.
I suggest that
at the very least ensure you have a written contract that includes
provision that the seller is the owner and sells the boat free of
mortgages, deeds, charges, liens, encumbrances, etc.. The benefit of such
a clause is that should the seller be in breach of it you may sue for
breach of contract and recover damages.
Mandy |