What takes place if a landlord features a difficulty of a major water leak within a rental house? Picture the buy-to-let house in question was a leading floor flat. The result was that harm had not merely been caused for the carpet in their flat but additionally for the carpet of the tenanted flat beneath. As well as the carpet, the ceiling within the flat beneath had also been damaged resulting within the plaster bubbling up and falling off.
The house investor who owned the downstairs flat, the landlord was told by him that the structural harm for the flat beneath was covered by their buildings insurance coverage but meeting the cost of a new carpet will be the upstairs landlord’s responsibility.
Who in fact is accountable for the repairs and which landlords insurance coverage policy should be claimed against?
Legal responsibilities of the landlord
Firstly just before finding into the facts of the Landlord Insurance policy a landlord should be clear about their responsibility for maintenance of their buy-to-let house underneath the terms of any tenancy agreement.
One of the most crucial pieces of legislation governing repairs is the fact that contained within Section 11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 and which applies to leases or tenancy agreement granted on or after 24th October 1961 for less than seven years.
The vast majority of Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements are periodic or for terms of less than seven years and therefore Section 11 applies to these tenancy agreements.
The landlords implied obligations underneath Section 11 are:
* To keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling (including drains, gutters and external pipes) to fulfil the tenancy agreement.
* To keep in repair and proper working order the installations within the dwelling for the supply of water, gas, electricity and sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences) to fulfil the tenancy agreement.
* To keep in repair and proper working order the installations within the dwelling for room and water heating to fulfil the tenancy agreement.
Within the example given above the landlord will be accountable for the repair of the ceiling as it is part of the structure of the building. The reality is the fact that the ultimate responsibility may not lie using the owner of the leasehold flat. This is because the landlord themselves may only be a leaseholder and it could nicely be that it is their landlord, the freeholder or any appointed management company that will ultimately be accountable for carrying out the repair work.
Beneath s.11(2) of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 the landlord is not accountable for works or repairs for things which the tenant features a duty to use in a tenant-like manner such as carpets or decoration. However, the exact responsibilities may be set out in any explicit terms contained within the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement. Therefore, unless otherwise stated within the Tenancy Agreement; if the water harm resulted within the carpet or decoration becoming shabby it will be the tenant who is accountable for the repair. The reality though is the fact that when faced with a shabby house and an uncooperative landlord most tenants will ultimately give notice and leave.
Who pays?
The next step for the landlord is to establish who pays for the repairs in both flats.
For a start any landlord insurance coverage on the (upstairs flat) will only cover harm for the landlords flat unless there is block insurance coverage scheme in location. This is likely to be the case where a freeholder and a management company exist who arrange the building insurance coverage for the entire residential block and then recharge each leaseholder for their share of the insurance coverage costs.
Contents insurance coverage will be the responsibility of the individual flat owner or leaseholder. Therefore, providing the landlord has contents cover they will probably be able to claim against the harm caused for the carpet in their leading floor flat. The landlord is likely to have liability cover included in their buy-to-let insurance coverage policy, but this is only if it can be proved that they were legally negligent.
This means that underneath the scenario underneath discussion, the only way the landlord of the upstairs flat would have been legally negligent is if the downstairs flat owner “officially” warned the leading floor landlord that they had a leak (or something that may cause a potential leak) that could harm the downstairs flat. Then, following this, the leading floor landlord ignored this warning and then the leak occurred. In practice, there is almost no chance of this happening as by the time a leak is discovered, the likelihood is the fact that the harm has already been caused. This is therefore classed as an accident as far as the buy-to-let insurer is concerned and therefore would not be the leading floor landlord’s fault.
Therefore, the house investor who owns the downstairs flat has several options. Firstly, depending on the terms of the tenancy they could insist on their tenant paying for the repair. The tenant if insured could claim on their contents insurance coverage. It may nicely be that the insurance coverage company that provides the buildings cover also includes cover for floor coverings such as carpets within the policy. This will be the case underneath the policy provided by Alan Boswell’s Insurance coverage.
Therefore, where a residential block insurance coverage policy is in location the costs of both carpets could possibly be claimed for together together with the costs of repair for the ceiling. This would have the benefit for both landlords of not having to get into an argument using the tenant about who is accountable for the costs and then for on the list of parties to have to make a separate claim.
Where this extent of cover is not in location then the house investor may decide to claim off their own buy-to-let insurance coverage. In this case the house investor and owner of the downstairs flat is not likely to be happy, but it is down to them to pursue their insurer for further advice. Their insurer could ultimately pursue the leading floor landlord’s buy-to-let insurer underneath the negligence clause. The reality is unless the amounts are large and the case clear cut that it is very unlikely to happen. Landlords ought to always remember that a conciliatory approach is likely to produce a more effective long-term solution than an aggressive confrontational 1.
For more information check out Landlord Insurance
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