Landlords Liability Insurance – do flat owners need it?

Mark, thank you very much for your answer and its very helpful.

Cissie

I would normally agree completely with the response above but I would say definnitely check your block insurance policy. Recently I reviewed all mine, and in one block discovered that the buildings insurance arrange with the freeholder included subletting and also included property and public liability insurance for the leaseholder. No doubt we are paying extra for this inclusion but it did occur to me that this would be a good addition for those who own just the one property they are renting, and may not have considered landlord insurance. It is also important to know what your block insurance covers you for, as if you buy landlord insurance and you are also covered with the block insurance for the same area of cover, it might make any claim more complicated to resolve as only one will pay out.

all the scenarios listed above would have excellent defences to any potential claim. if the carpet defect was not reported/known then the landlord is not liable. the contractors fail was due to contributory negligence, as was the the flood or fire (and alternative accommodation cover is in the building policy, not liability policy!)

Thanks Yvette, very good suggestion.!

Exactly the point I was trying to make, who would pay to defend the incoming litigation? I’m sure you can think of other examples where the landlord would have no basis for defence too?

Hi Yvette

I can see how the freeholder could claim on the Public Liability to defend spurious claims and also where he has no defence but I can’t see how you could claim on the freeholders policy where the tenant is litigating against you.

personally i would defend such scurrilous claims myself as i hold the legal profession in low regard generally. in fact i have done and when presented with a robust defence it went away. solicitors do have a conflict of interest to drag out rather than strike out. im sure there are better scenarios, but if the management is good these are very rare IMO.

I already asked this too to a lawyer friend. Yes, it is not required to get landlords liability insurance but just to get prepared you also have to purchase one for yourself.

I always take out additional landlords cover on my flats and this includes public liability – which in my opinion is THE most important insurance a landlord can have. I pay £53 a year per flat for this cover and I hope I waste every penny but I would not be without it.

An on-going case where a child who visited a tenant fell on a stair case is a lesson to us all. The landlord is being sued for loss of earnings and care for the rest of the poor childs life. The landlord is insured and the Insurance company expect to pay over £100k in legalk fees alone and I don’t want to think how many millions for the rest

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Having just bought my first flat, it’s always nice to search the net for an answer to a question, only to find that property118 has already asked and answered it! Thanks Mark.