This is very true. I saw a title insurance company deny a claim because the insured did not strictly adhere to the requirement of timely notice contained in the policy.

When the insured receives a title insurance commitment it is usually a good idea to have a survey done at some point before the policy is issued. I have also seen claims arising from acreage and boundary disputes denied under a commonly used general exception to coverage for problems that an accurate survey would have disclosed.

Not too long ago I was in the local land records office, and saw some someone frantically reviewing maps of his property. It seems that he had constructed a multi family dwelling partially located on top of an easement his neighbor had on the property. He had done a survey, but the surveyor failed to include the easement on the survey. The title insurance company was dragging its feet on a decision as to whether or not he was covered. The neighbor was squeezing him to either remove the section of the building from the easement or to buy out the easement.