Is your landlord insurance sufficient?
Most landlords think but you could be surprised.
A couple of landlord horror stories we have heard and how to avoid them.
After a row with his landlord over an electricity meter, a tenant in Blackpool went on a rampage, causing £12,000 of damage in his property, including ripping out fittings, letting stray dogs in to do their worst and writing graffiti on the walls.
Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, landlords discovered £8,000 of damage to their property after their tenants used the home to house 14 mastiffs (as well as their five children!) There was dog mess everywhere as two of the bedrooms had been turned into kennels.
To add insult to injury, the tenants had also run up £7,000 of rent arrears.
Whilst these are extreme cases and it may seem hard to understand how things got so far out of hand, even a minor lack of care by tenants can cause delays when they move out and the property has to be brought back up to standard for the next tenancy.
Its important to run thorough checks on your tenants before they move in, and it’s also a good idea to build a good relationship with your tenants and regularly inspect the property to nip any festering hygiene problems or poor treatment of the premises in the bud. Even though most pet owners are responsible, to be on the safe side you may want to include a no pets clause in your tenancy agreements – again, regular inspections will soon reveal any illicit animal companions being kept in the property. Some landlords even prefer not to allow children, but this will limit you to the type of tenants you’ll attract and may not be realistic with certain types of property that are likely to attract families.
Most importantly make sure you have an adequate insurance policy in place that will cover damage by tenants to fixtures and fittings. There are differences between a standard home insurance policy and one that is tailored for landlords.
Occasionally, though, even the most careful landlords run into problem tenants and, if a polite reminder of the standards required by the tenancy agreement doesn’t improve things, the only course of action is to pursue eviction as early and as quickly as possible to minimise damage to the property and enable you to get new tenants in as soon as you can.
Kingsley Bishop can help you put a robust tenancy agreement in place that limits the risk of having your own tenant horror story to share. But if you’re already on the road to hell with your tenants, we can offer advice on how to address the situation quickly and get things back on track.