What are your concerns?
I don’t think anyone can say whether or not to buy title insurance, but if you are considering it, it means you may be worried about something associated with the purchase of the vacant lot.
If you are worried about fences being on the boundary or neighbours use encroaching on the land, these can be readily checked by a surveyor. A surveyor can confirm the extent of land you have purchased through a simple land survey, which could be wise investment if the title is old/registered some time ago (any previously surveyed corner pegs are likely to have disappeared over time).
If you are worried the title could have something on it which may impact on you ability to use the land, then a laywer which specialises in property/conveyancing should be able to review the title to identify if there are any issues (such as caveats, easements/others interest in the land or restrictions). Some of these should be identified through property searches by a good conveyancing firm. If you want additional advice, a town planner can also provide advice on land uses and what is required to facilitate that use.
If you are worried there is an error on the survey (folio) plan or title, these are relatively uncommon. A surveyor should be able to review folio plans to identify potential errors.
If you are concerned there might be an error/confusion in the land you have purchased (e.g. the wrong land is on the contract of sale), desktoo assessments were covered here. A surveyor can carry out a simple land survey, such as pegging corners, which is the next step beyond a desktop assessment.
Another factors which might change one’s approach is the type of land purchased - land in a urban subdivision, large rural block through to a lifestyle block in a less developed area where fencing or any land improvements are nonexistent. Rural or ‘bush’ blocks a land survey to establish extent of the land may be important to ensure one knows where their block of dirt is.
Whether one should take out title insurance and/or carry out additional assessments like those outlined above will be dependent on how risk adverse one is. This is something an individual can only weigh up themselves… but, if one has concerns, one needs to determine whether additional assessments are needed or title insurance is taken. Title insurance should also not be seen as the easy option to negate the carrying out of property searches and additional assessments when required. I haven’t checked title insurance terms and conditions, but wouldn’t be surprised if they require some level of searches/assessments to be carried out to mitigate their own insurance risks.
