Does the Landlord have to pay for damages?
10:37 AM, 21st January 2019, 7 years ago
5
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I have a terraced house with a passageway between the neighbouring properties. The Tenants next-door have just been evicted, they caused damage to my side of the passageway and I have had to have 25 bricks stitched back in.
I have contacted the Landlady who tells me that the Tenants are liable and she will not pay anything from the Tenants deposit to cover costs incurred.
Do I have to take a hit on this?
Seems unfair that I cannot even contact the Tenants as per GDPR, any ideas?
Alex
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Member Since February 2011 - Comments: 3454 - Articles: 286
10:47 AM, 21st January 2019, About 7 years ago
Generally one person cannot be held liable for the actions of another.
There are situations where a council can take action against a landlord for a nuisance tenant, but I have not seen any examples of damage.
Member Since July 2015 - Comments: 38
3:36 PM, 21st January 2019, About 7 years ago
Presume this would be covered by your buildings insurance.
Member Since February 2016 - Comments: 195 - Articles: 1
6:33 PM, 21st January 2019, About 7 years ago
Hi there
Sorry for this aggravation…. however, you shouldn’t be bearing the loss.
According to our experience of such matters, contact your insurers to make a public liability claim on your neighbour landlord’s insurance policy.
Ask for your insurance company’s loss adjusters to come out to assess the situation and based on their findings they should pay out and then pursue a claim against the landlord neighbour.
You might need to ask the neighbour landlord of their policy details … that’s all. The insurers should take care of the rest and will get the repairs done with your co-operation.
Shouldn’t be difficult… wasn’t for us…. and (for the sake of a brief response) our situation included a lot more ‘distressing stuff’ by the neighbour landlord.
All the best!
Lord
Member Since August 2013 - Comments: 428
4:47 PM, 22nd January 2019, About 7 years ago
You have three options 1) claim under your buildings insurance if the damage is covered and the cost more than the excess 2) find the person responsible for causing the damage and get him to pay the cost or 3) bear the cost yourself.. Anything else is pie in the sky.
Member Since October 2014 - Comments: 423
5:04 PM, 22nd January 2019, About 7 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 22/01/2019 – 16:47
“..Anything else is pie in the sky..” Indeed. I cannot see that a court would decide the neighbour landlord is liable to pay. However, insurance companies can sometimes be unconcerned with what a court would decide and so pay out anyway.