Demand for title insurance has soared amid disputes over real estate transactions

Scandalous stories in which real estate buyers lose both money and apartments due to the subsequent dispute over the transaction have led to a multiple increase in interest in title insurance. Now such policies are issued not only for mortgages, but also for ordinary transactions on the secondary market. This was announced on December 3 by the Delovoy Peterburg portal.

"Under title insurance contracts in September–November 2025, 150% more requests for registration of policies were received than in the same period last year. This may be caused by social tension due to the increased incidence of fraud in real estate transactions. There is no increase in demand for mortgages. The frequency and number of insured events in 2025 do not differ from 2024. The cost of title insurance starts from 0.15% of the insured amount. The decision to apply the increasing coefficients is made based on the title documents for the acquired property (both primary and secondary)," said Denis Titov, Director of the AlfaStrakhovanie Department of Property Insurance for Individuals.

An apartment in a bag: how unsold apartments will hit buyers' pockets

Builders call the problem "exaggerated"

According to the portal, the title insurance policy protects the buyer if the court invalidates the transaction: for example, in case of fraud, disputes with heirs or violation of the rights of minors. In case of a positive court decision, the insurance company pays the client the amount specified in the policy. However, the consideration of such cases may take six months or more.

Artyom Iskra, Managing Director of Renaissance Insurance, clarified that until September, individual voluntary contracts had been concluded, but over the past two months the number of quotes unrelated to mortgages had almost quadrupled. At the same time, tariffs have not increased yet: the unprofitability of the product remains stable. On average, the cost of the policy is 0.2–0.4% of the cost of the apartment. If the risks are increased, the tariff increases, and if the risks are too high, the insurance company may refuse.

Insurance companies attribute the surge in demand to the fact that citizens are more likely to think about the risks of losing their homes retroactively. Experts emphasize that transactions with a short history of ownership, inherited properties, apartments with frequent resales and the participation of minors are the most vulnerable. In such cases, the risk of legal disputes is much higher.

Amid the growing hype, banks began to be more cautious about making deals. Some credit institutions already refuse to issue mortgages if the client does not agree in principle to take out title insurance for at least the first three years — the statute of limitations for most categories of such disputes.

On November 29, Oleg Silkin, a real estate lawyer, told us what needs to be done to avoid losses when buying real estate with the risks of fraud under the "grandmother's apartments" scheme. So, experts suggest two ways of safety net, the principles of which are also described in the novel "12 chairs".

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.