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LOL what she said - and as you pointed out, that tenant can afford to pay the excess. It'll get sorted out much quicker by the insurance company than any other way, and I stand by my comment that this is what insurance is for. That + tenant paying excess = not a penny out of pocket to you, and you shouldn't have to do any legwork either.Let tenant pay excess fee for insurance claim, then whack up his rent ASAP.
Try not to take this the wrong way but you may wish to seriously consider whether being a landlord works for you. Tenants will accidentally damage your property. Tennis balls will break windows, someone will slip and break a shower screen, a car will nudge a roller door. If you don't understand that these sorts of likely events are a cost of doing business and for which you take insurance, you might want to consider a genuinely passive investmernt class.OK let’s see if I can draw a line under this and close it off.
Firstly – If I have offended anyone in this thread I apologise. I apologise to RumpledElf for my outburst and I apologise to everyone about the disparaging remark about the tenant. My first post was made about 5 minutes after getting the email from the agent and I was annoyed (to say the least) at the time. It is not my intent to offend on this forum. I am sincerely sorry.
Second – I am a person of principle and I believe in fighting for what I think is right. But I’m not so pigheaded as to continue the fight to the point where it starts causing grief to others, costing me money or worse. An analogy might be drawn about the pedestrian who continued to cross at a zebra crossing knowing that the car was coming way too fast. It’s pretty difficult to pursue your principles from the grave.
Thirdly – I value this forum and the vast experiences of its members. I have learnt much here and I generally have a calm demeanour. I know many of the members personally and I hope that they consider me generally to be a likeable chap. I’ll continue to be a member and try to contribute where I can.
Thank you all.
I don't understand what you mean. Why would approaching things in a business-like manner suggest that it's not a business?Maybe if you don't get upset..this isn't really a business?
It wouldn't help. Under common law, the tenant is entitled to expect that the landlord has the building insured and that their losses would be limited to the excess.Tell him you were checking your files, and actually there is no current landlord insurance on that property.
I don't understand what you mean. Why would approaching things in a business-like manner suggest that it's not a business? :confused.
It wouldn't help. Under common law, the tenant is entitled to expect that the landlord has the building insured and that their losses would be limited to the excess.
Fair enough too. Imagine if as a tenant if you were responsible for all building damage that you caused accidentally. You are unable to take out building insurance because you do not own the building, so imagine if you took this problem to the extreme, and let's say the whole house burnt down due to the tenant's stupid accident. You wouldn't expect them to pay to rebuild the entire house, whether they could afford to or not.
That has happened here..almost. In Halifax there were 4 college students sharing an apartment.One left a candle buring, and eventually it caught fire and caused $80K damage.Since all 4 were on the lease, they were all deemed responsibel for neglect. The insurance company paid the claim for the landlord and then proceeded to sue these 4 men. Some had to claim bankruptcy.
We use this story..from a newspaper article..on our website to show tenants the importance of Tenant Insurance.
That's a scary story for a tenant! I thought tenant insurance in Australia only covered their contents, not the building, so what option does a tenant have here to cover themselves other than to use the landlord's insurance if the building was damaged/destroyed?
Scary for the tenant?
What about the Landlord?
You could contact an insurance broker yourself and ask them how much it would cost (pretend you are the tenant) for personal contents (15K-25K) and $1,000,000 (1 mill) liability.
The price would depend on whether you would have had any claims before etc....same as for a property owner.
Our tenant insurance also provides accommodation to the tenant for any reason the property is not habitable.Generally a percentage of the policy.
Good value for a peace of mind.
I'm not talking about contents or public liability though. I'm talking about the actual building, which the landlord owns. How does a tenant insure something they don't own? So if the house burns down, how are they covered except to rely on the landlords building insurance?
It covers the tenant when THEY do something negligent..such as overflow the bathtub and it ruins all the drywall on the ceiling below it..or hot oil on the stove and then have a shower. This is the tenant obtaining insurance to cover themselves when they do something wrong. It doesn;t cover an electrical fire due to faulty wiring, that is property insurance form the LL.
Fair enough, I didn't realise tenant insurance covered building damage if they did something wrong. I thought it was just contents; never been a tenant so never had to investigate it. Well if they do have the option to cover this then, in the original question then, I think the tenant should be responsible if he's had the option of taking out insurance but didn't. Probably not worth fighting though if he's prepared to pay the excess.
stuff happens - i had an oil fire when frying chips as a teen. the oil splattered over and hit the element. fortunately i (in my moment of panic) threw a large pan lid over the fire and it went out.