Damage to carpet by storm

Hi,

Im a tenant in a property. I had left the ranch slider opened but had locked the aluminum sliding doors. Due to the severe storm in brisbane last week, the carpet got wet.

Who is responsible for cleaning the carpet? The agent is asking me to pay for the clean.

Much appreciated.
 
I'm going to differ; I would think it was damage caused by the natural disaster, not by the tenant leaving the door open, so the landlord should cover.

My thinking is that if the damage was large enough to warrant an insurance claim, it would be a claim on the landlord's insurance, and I'm confident the insurer would deem it a valid claim. Therefore the insurer would view it as the landlord's expense, not the tenant's.

Insurers are only too willing to say that an expense is "not their client's", therefore I reckon this one would be the landlord's.

Unless the lease has a special provision requiring that the glass doors be kept closed - which would be absurd, anyway - then the tenant didn't do anything wrong in leaving them open.
 
Hi,

Im a tenant in a property. I had left the ranch slider opened but had locked the aluminum sliding doors. Due to the severe storm in brisbane last week, the carpet got wet.
.
If the sliding doors were locked then you may have a case,the force and power of last weeks storm would push water in everywhere,just stand your ground with the real estate agent,rather then just bend over and let nature take it's course,...imho..
 
Hi,

Im a tenant in a property. I had left the ranch slider opened but had locked the aluminum sliding doors. Due to the severe storm in brisbane last week, the carpet got wet.

Who is responsible for cleaning the carpet? The agent is asking me to pay for the clean.

Much appreciated.

Maybe it is a QLD thing but was the door/window open or closed ?

If it was closed and the storm forced the water underneath then it could be an insurance event but if it was open then I think it is the tenants fault.

It is storm season and Brisbane is the storm capital of Australia, even storms in Darwin are much better behaved that the QLD ones.
 
If the door was closed, water got in - owner's problem
If the door was closed, window smashed - owner's problem
If the door was open, water got in - tenant's problem

If you do nothing, underlay will rot, go mouldy - your responsibilty to have carpet repaired :(
 
If the door was closed, water got in - owner's problem
If the door was closed, window smashed - owner's problem
If the door was open, water got in - tenant's problem

If you do nothing, underlay will rot, go mouldy - your responsibilty to have carpet repaired :(

Agreed.

This is what you can use your tenant insurance for....yes it is available.
 
This is another reason why it is recommended that tenants also take out insurance. To cover them for things that they have a liability to cover, not the least of which is personal injury to an invited guest.
 
Would be tenants responsibility but even if it went through the owners insurance, which I would try for the owner and tenant, tenant will need to pay the excess if any.
 
Would be tenants responsibility but even if it went through the owners insurance, which I would try for the owner and tenant, tenant will need to pay the excess if any.

Why should the LL put another claim on his insurance, for something a tenant did?
The LLs insurance premium will be increased.
Might not be this time....but the more claims a person makes, the higher the premiums.
 
This is another reason why it is recommended that tenants also take out insurance. To cover them for things that they have a liability to cover, not the least of which is personal injury to an invited guest.

Peter, in your experience, is this a cost for the tenant?

I've never had any issue like this before so have never had to think about it.
 
I rang the RTA and got this advice that is relevant to Queensland.

Fair wear and tear - landlord pays 100%.

Malicious damage - tenant pays 100%.

Everything else - is up to the parties to resolve, and is usually contributed to by both parties. If the parties dig their heels in and it goes for arbitration to QCAT, it will be determined on the specific facts.

Basically, the landlord wears the risk of the storm, and the tenant wears the risk of their actions, so it's up to which of these contributed most to the accident in the particular circumstances.

If it's a balcony door with an overhang, i.e. some distance back from the edge, and the storm had to blow almost horizontal for water to get in, then I think QCAT would put more emphasis on the storm and attribute most of the costs to the landlord.

If it's a window right on the edge of a building with no eaves and everybody knew a storm was coming, more might be attributed to the actions of the tenant.
 
Im an Insurance Assessor

landlord..end of story.

water damage due to storm event, they lodge claim, gets fixed, they pay excess,

they may find that the door sill is lower than the ground level, so allows water to enter. May make landlord install drains to cope with event as is not building compliant

If tenant leaves window open or door, they are liable.If tenant tells landlord and makes a note of it..and the landlord does nothing then it has to get removed due to rot etc...the delay may cause the insurance to say..listen mate..you took your SWeet FA time to do anything and now its got worse due to your actions..not paying..

Also you can tell the Agent..listen mate..if you dont fix this..the carpet wll contain pathogens and spores which will eventually move around in the air and can cause respirotory problems. they will open themselves up to be sued fact!.

big emphasis on Insurance now is to of all things..remove mould ! then deal with restoration. but not if it occurrs over a period of 2 months and nothing done..Insurance will say nope..we could have restored that..due to your delay..we have to repalce and we wont...at least thats what id say if i was to assess it.! lol
 
Im an Insurance Assessor

landlord..end of story.

water damage due to storm event, they lodge claim, gets fixed, they pay excess,

If tenant leaves window open or door, they are liable.

So, in the case of the initial post, who is liable.

Your reply seems not too clear, but maybe that is just me...
 
So, in the case of the initial post, who is liable.

Your reply seems not too clear, but maybe that is just me...
I thought the same thing! :)

I *think* he's saying similar to what I was saying.

i.e. If it was a door that led onto a covered balcony, and water came in because either a) the balcony flooded, or b) the water was blowing horizontally, then the landlord pays, because the damage is due to the storm.

If it was a window right on the edge of the building and thus the tenant should have had the window closed to stop water coming in, then the tenant pays, because the damage is due to failure to reasonably protect the landlord's property.
 
HI, ive read it and interpreted as the tenant has stated that he left the slider door open and closed the aluminium door.
im picturing the slider door is a flyscreen or security door. and then the aluminium door is the main door, which will run on a rail, and will have a plate along the base of the door jamb.

whatever is the main door, if that was closed, landlord...if that main door was left open, tenant..
 
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