This is an oversimplification, but the Owner’s Title Insurance policy would normally provide coverage for a situation in which there are defects in the legal title to the insured property. For example, a forged deed, an error made by the person doing the title search which failed to pick up an undischarged lien or a prior sale out of a portion of the insured premises, a defect in a prior deed, etc. The policy essentially provides that the owner has legal title to the real estate described in the policy. The survey exception which I noted above is not usually deleted unless a current survey of the property is produced, showing the boundary lines and the location of improvements on the property in relation those boundary lines. If in fact the owner has legal title to the insured property, but for whatever reason, a portion of a building is located on property not owned by the insured owner, then there is no claim under the title insurance policy. The actual survey exception, at least in New Hampshire as of 5 years ago, is:
“Any encroachment, encumbrance, violation, variation, or adverse circumstance affecting the title, including discrepancies, conflicts in boundary lines, shortages in area, or any other facts that would be disclosed by an accurate and complete land survey of the Land, and that are not shown in the public records.”
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