Cannabis factory-will landlords insurance cover?

[derby]

Hi all,

I've been renting out houses for about 6 years but have yesterday been made a mug by some vietnemese/chinese tennants!

They paid up 2 months rent on one of my nice end terrace properties, provided a copy of passport and payslips for ID on 9th Feb, I last visited the property on 22nd Feb - all seemed normal they were putting on an act as they were a family, they had a 2 year old girl and 6 week old baby boy.

Yesterday I got a call from derbyshire police as they got a warrant and broke into the property to find cannabis farms growing in 2 of the bedrooms, ducting etc installed and loads of holes in the ceiling!

Bathroom's a mess! may clean up - not sure.

Most of my furniture is wrecked in the cellar.

The only reason the police were alerted was because the muppets drilled ducting into the neighbours house instead of the the 3rd bedroom! the neighbour then called police.

The house is a mess - most of the damage is cosmetic, needs a new UPVC door panel (where police rammed it), needs a few new internal doors, not sure of damage in loft - probably a skip load of rubbish/soil to clear - but I might try and get hold of local alotment owners to get rid of that.

Tenants had changed locks so I had a locksmith out yesterday to put new ones in at a cost of £85.

My question is has this happened to any of you and have you been successful in an insurance claim? I'm insured with Rentguard, underwritten by AXA.

Appreciate any replies, thanks.

[denirosdoll]

There was a programme on tv last night New Homes from Hell (if you didn't see it you may be able to watch it on the internet, i'm pretty sure it was on ITV), where this exact scenario had happened to a couple who rented out a house. Their insurance did not cover the damage, but i'm not sure whether they only had ordinary household insurance or landlord insurance.

Does your insurance policy documentation say if it's covered?

[derby]

There was a programme on tv last night New Homes from Hell (if you didn't see it you may be able to watch it on the internet, i'm pretty sure it was on ITV), where this exact scenario had happened to a couple who rented out a house. Their insurance did not cover the damage, but i'm not sure whether they only had ordinary household insurance or landlord insurance.

Does your insurance policy documentation say if it's covered?

the locksmith that attended yesterday and my brother-in-law both called me just at the end of this but I saw the ducting etc and my house is in a similar state.

I can't see anything about cannabis farms in my insurance - so frustrating!

[denirosdoll]

I think they said it was classed as 'malicious damage', but you can watch it on itv.com if you missed it. does your insurance cover malicious damage?

By the way, meant to say before, i really empathise with your situation, this has to be the extreme kind of situation every landlord dreads happening. I wish you well in getting it sorted out.

[denirosdoll]

If you see this post in time, the programme is repeating now (wed 25 march 8pm) on itv2, and will be on itv2+1 at 9pm

[juliebristol]

I attended a Landlord Forum in Bristol this week on this subject, there was a presentation from the police, very scary!

They are repeating the presentation at Landlord Expo which is taking place on Thursday 14 May 2009 in Bristol, see www.landlordexpo.co.uk for more information.

Every landlord should be warned about this.

[Melboy]

This is a timely reminder for all Landlords reading this forum. This subject has been well documented if you look back over the threads regarding cannabis farming in rented properties.

These people give the front that they respectable families or business people and will fool the most experienced landlords so beware!

In rented propeties right now in the UK factory farming of cannabis is taking place with the associated destruction that goes with it and it is highly likely YOU WILL NOT BE INSURED FOR THE LOSS AND DAMAGE.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR TENANT IS UP TO?

Always carry out a 1st inspection within 4-6 weeks of occupation.

[contactkay]

The same thing happened to me and we are still chasing our insurance company after once being denied. They claimed it was not malicious damage. I am arguing that it was pretty malicious. Not sure what the outcome will be but having learnt some lessons, unfotunately now some legitimate people will find it almost impossible to rent properties. Also, I am going to do some more dedicated research before I take out anymore insurance policies.

Basically, if I had put the same amount of money into a high interest account and or invested wisely, I would've actually got something towards the cost of cleaning up and refurbing the property. As it is, I've lost months of rent waiting for the insurance company and loss adjustors and still have to pay for everything myself. I am also going to try and reclaim some of the loss of rent from the insurance company. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Wished there was such a thing as a decent insurance company.

Good luck though.

[Gee]

The same thing happened to me and we are still chasing our insurance company after once being denied. They claimed it was not malicious damage. I am arguing that it was pretty malicious. Not sure what the outcome will be but having learnt some lessons, unfotunately now some legitimate people will find it almost impossible to rent properties. Also, I am going to do some more dedicated research before I take out anymore insurance policies.

Basically, if I had put the same amount of money into a high interest account and or invested wisely, I would've actually got something towards the cost of cleaning up and refurbing the property. As it is, I've lost months of rent waiting for the insurance company and loss adjustors and still have to pay for everything myself. I am also going to try and reclaim some of the loss of rent from the insurance company. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Wished there was such a thing as a decent insurance company.

Good luck though.

Sorry to hear that. Would you care to name and shame your insurer, as I feel this is the only way the consumer can make their feelings known and then vote with their wallets elsewhere!

Cheers

Gee

[contactkay]

Sorry to hear that. Would you care to name and shame your insurer, as I feel this is the only way the consumer can make their feelings known and then vote with their wallets elsewhere!

Cheers

Gee

Sure thing, it was with Towergate and it goes without saying that I will never use them for anything. Ever!

I am now on the search for decent landlord insurers, and decent tenants. Mind you, so far, the cannabis vandals have not been as much hassle as the H/B tenants found by "foxy mini estate agents" who promised 'High Calibre tenants' and have done little more than saddle us with a very savvy benefit fraud (through bold faced lies and deceit), this tenant has moved another person into the property but still denies it and now said estate agents are trying to bully, threaten, harass and sue into paying upfront for the privilege!

What a great job to be a landlord. I'm thinking of chucking it in and getting a job as a garbage collector as I believe I'll have to deal with less rubbish and I'll get a real salary with a chance of a pension.

Kay

[Gee]

Sorry to hear that. Would you care to name and shame your insurer, as I feel this is the only way the consumer can make their feelings known and then vote with their wallets elsewhere!

Cheers

Gee

Sure thing, it was with Towergate and it goes without saying that I will never use them for anything. Ever!

I am now on the search for decent landlord insurers, and decent tenants. Mind you, so far, the cannabis vandals have not been as much hassle as the H/B tenants found by "foxy mini estate agents" who promised 'High Calibre tenants' and have done little more than saddle us with a very savvy benefit fraud (through bold faced lies and deceit), this tenant has moved another person into the property but still denies it and now said estate agents are trying to bully, threaten, harass and sue into paying upfront for the privilege!

What a great job to be a landlord. I'm thinking of chucking it in and getting a job as a garbage collector as I believe I'll have to deal with less rubbish and I'll get a real salary with a chance of a pension.

Kay

[karimmalhame@aol.com]

Hi there, I have just had a meeting with my insurer's loss adjustor.

I was phoned by the police to say that a house I was renting out had been used as a cannabis factory. There is the usual damage with holes cut into the ceilings and electricity system bypassed and doors taken off.

The insurers are claiming it is not malicious damage !?!?!?!?!

I am dumbfounded. How can it be anything but malicious, it was certainly not benevolent damage!

What's the point in insuring on landlord policy if you are not covered for landlord type problems such as these?

Is anyone else having this issue and have you sought legal advice? If so how far. The loss adjustor mentioned there were 3 cases going on at the moment of landlords fighting the insurers who are trying to wriggle out of their commitments to their customers.

I am considering taking legal action and would welcome joining up to bring some sort of class action against insurers if someone else is doing so.

Let me know.

[Melboy]

We have a case here in Swindon where the property actually burnt down due to a canabis factory electrical wire fault and the insurers are refusing to pay out on that as well as they are saying that a regular inspection of the property would have revealed what was happening and the canabis factory would have been exposed for what it was AND also the Landlord did go through an Agency and secure positve vetting of the Tenants.

Good Luck to you on your claim though!

Mel.

[johnhallscott]

Hello people!!!

I have just been notified by CID that my beautiful 4 bedroom detached period property in Cornwall was raided last weekend due to it being used as a cannabis factory.... I actually had to find out most of the details from websites including the BBC news site. CID would not discuss much with me on the telephone yet they were eager enough to put the info out in the public domain, giving statements to reporters and newspapers. Anyway, I must fly back to the UK next week to meet the CID in person. They have arrested 2 men and will not confirm any names. However, he did tell me that one will almost certainly be deported and the other is still in police custody.

I have just had the property renovated at a cost of £58,000 and was very happy to get tenants so quickly after finishing the renovations. They seemed respectable enough. A man and his 'aunty' of oriental origins..... They had been in the property just over 5 months and I was due to do my inspection at the end of this month. I even have my uncle living right next door to the house so I felt secure that my property would be looked after, considering I live overseas.

Having looked at posts on this site, having researched this subject extensively and having spoken to the CID man in depth...it seems obvious to me that the insurance companies have a closed door on this subject across the industry.

I am with Intasure. I have owned a property company in the past dealing in lettings and management and so I am extremely careful when dealing with tenants and applicable insurance coverage etc.... I called my insurance company a couple of days ago posing as a prospective new customer....I spoke to a young girl in their sales department..... I asked her what I would be covered for. I let her speak.... I then narrowed down to mre specific details of examples of what I would be covered for if I had one of their policies.....I let her answer each time and spend as much time as she wanted ...elaborating. The last question I asked her (having got the answers I wanted until then) was ' would I be covered for example if my tenants were found to be operating a cannabis factory within my property....police raids it....arrests people inside....thousands of pounds of damage etc.....would I be covered????' SHE ANSWERED 'YES'......'.If you had one of our Buildings policy'....

I said that that was fantastic as I did have a policy with them already..... !!!! 'Oh really!!???' she said.... I then informed her that I would start the claims process once I had the police report and had viewed the property....

I have since had another conversation with a battle-axe of a woman in their enquiries department.... She assures me that I am not covered. She says that it is malicious damage but it has been caused by persons who are lawfully in the property...ie. my tenants. Thus, it is my responsibility to claim to compensation from them.

I could not friggin believe what she was telling me. Basically we are only insured against vandalism and damage caused by EVERYBODY EXCEPT OUR TENANTS!!!! What the hell is the use of that!!!? When I told her what her sales department had told me (and I said that it was surely recorded) she said that I had obviously not explained it properly to the sales agent on the telephone!!!!

I have since realised something and this may be applicable to a lot of you on this site.... I am pretty sure having spoken to the coppers that the 2 people arrested and found in my property were not my tenants and were not on my tenancy agreement. THEREFORE THEY WERE NOT LAWFULLY IN MY PROPERTY!!!! The malicious damage was caused by people UNLAWFULLY in my property....In which case the insurance company is liable.....regardless of whether or not my tenant gave them a key... In any case, the locks had been changed (illegally) so there is no proof that my tenant gave them a key because there is no sign of the original keys or locks....

I believe this is the avenue I will take with regards to fighting my insurance company .... All there needs to be is one precedent set and the floodgates will be opened... I will try and find a firm of solicitors who are used to taking on the insurance industry. If they win one case they will be inundated with calls from people like us, asking for representation.... The insurance industry needs to be put in its place. It is absolutely disgusting that they can get away with this type of behaviour. My policy actually states that no inspections of the property by the landlord are necessary....

I hope that this has been of some help to you all.... We must all stick together in cases like these as our collective efforts are far more powerful than acting alone. I'm guessing that there are a lot of us out there who have just given up banging their heads against a brick wall where the insurance companies are involved. It would be great to find a law firm which would bring a 'class-action case' against the insurance industry over this matter, representing us all at once. In this way, the laws and regulations are changed immediately after they lose, so as to prevent any further damages being awarded in future cases.

If anybody would like to speak to me personally please contact me. These incidents should be highlighted more than they have been and certainly more from the house-owners perspective regarding damage to properties and cost of reparations... The police man did say that there may be some course of action in the future to claim for these types cases where monies cannot be recouped from tenants who have been either arrested/ deported and who have no assets or whose assets have been frozen. But that is just speculation at the moment. I believe there is a 'victim of crime' compensation fund but do not know what it covers. Will look into it....

Here are the 2 most pertinent links if anybody wants to have a look at my situation: (am I able to post links on here without breaking the rules???! Not sure)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/arres...il/article.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...all/8549678.stm

Everybody on this site has my deepest sympathies as I know exactly what you are all going through.... I trust that we will continue to fight these unjust situations which are made 1000 times worse by insurance companies intent on taking our money without ever having any real intention of covering us. Let's try and put a stop to it!!! God willing!!!

John Hall-Scott

johnhallscott@hotmail.co.uk

ps.... I am willing to give people a call if you wanted to chat....just let me know your number privately through my email....cheers

[Melboy]

Your case is not unusual and of course I wish you the best of luck in your efforts.

You will see from my entry above on the 25th March that I am aware of this cannabis factory problem and I have to say that from what I have been told from other landlords who have experienced what you have experienced and also from what I know when dealing with insurance companies your chances of a successful claim are finely balanced and more than likely will go against you.

The last Landlord I spoke to had his entire property burnt down and he did not receive a penny from the insurance company and he was through a property Letting Agent as well !

Please keep us all informed of your progress and to all other other Landlords...........

Do you know what your Tenants are up to? When did YOU last have a look at your property?

Mel.

[TONYKEY]

Hello people!!!

I have just been notified by CID that my beautiful 4 bedroom detached period property in Cornwall was raided last weekend due to it being used as a cannabis factory.... I actually had to find out most of the details from websites including the BBC news site. CID would not discuss much with me on the telephone yet they were eager enough to put the info out in the public domain, giving statements to reporters and newspapers. Anyway, I must fly back to the UK next week to meet the CID in person. They have arrested 2 men and will not confirm any names. However, he did tell me that one will almost certainly be deported and the other is still in police custody.

I have just had the property renovated at a cost of £58,000 and was very happy to get tenants so quickly after finishing the renovations. They seemed respectable enough. A man and his 'aunty' of oriental origins..... They had been in the property just over 5 months and I was due to do my inspection at the end of this month. I even have my uncle living right next door to the house so I felt secure that my property would be looked after, considering I live overseas.

Having looked at posts on this site, having researched this subject extensively and having spoken to the CID man in depth...it seems obvious to me that the insurance companies have a closed door on this subject across the industry.

I am with Intasure. I have owned a property company in the past dealing in lettings and management and so I am extremely careful when dealing with tenants and applicable insurance coverage etc.... I called my insurance company a couple of days ago posing as a prospective new customer....I spoke to a young girl in their sales department..... I asked her what I would be covered for. I let her speak.... I then narrowed down to mre specific details of examples of what I would be covered for if I had one of their policies.....I let her answer each time and spend as much time as she wanted ...elaborating. The last question I asked her (having got the answers I wanted until then) was ' would I be covered for example if my tenants were found to be operating a cannabis factory within my property....police raids it....arrests people inside....thousands of pounds of damage etc.....would I be covered????' SHE ANSWERED 'YES'......'.If you had one of our Buildings policy'....

I said that that was fantastic as I did have a policy with them already..... !!!! 'Oh really!!???' she said.... I then informed her that I would start the claims process once I had the police report and had viewed the property....

I have since had another conversation with a battle-axe of a woman in their enquiries department.... She assures me that I am not covered. She says that it is malicious damage but it has been caused by persons who are lawfully in the property...ie. my tenants. Thus, it is my responsibility to claim to compensation from them.

I could not friggin believe what she was telling me. Basically we are only insured against vandalism and damage caused by EVERYBODY EXCEPT OUR TENANTS!!!! What the hell is the use of that!!!? When I told her what her sales department had told me (and I said that it was surely recorded) she said that I had obviously not explained it properly to the sales agent on the telephone!!!!

I have since realised something and this may be applicable to a lot of you on this site.... I am pretty sure having spoken to the coppers that the 2 people arrested and found in my property were not my tenants and were not on my tenancy agreement. THEREFORE THEY WERE NOT LAWFULLY IN MY PROPERTY!!!! The malicious damage was caused by people UNLAWFULLY in my property....In which case the insurance company is liable.....regardless of whether or not my tenant gave them a key... In any case, the locks had been changed (illegally) so there is no proof that my tenant gave them a key because there is no sign of the original keys or locks....

I believe this is the avenue I will take with regards to fighting my insurance company .... All there needs to be is one precedent set and the floodgates will be opened... I will try and find a firm of solicitors who are used to taking on the insurance industry. If they win one case they will be inundated with calls from people like us, asking for representation.... The insurance industry needs to be put in its place. It is absolutely disgusting that they can get away with this type of behaviour. My policy actually states that no inspections of the property by the landlord are necessary....

I hope that this has been of some help to you all.... We must all stick together in cases like these as our collective efforts are far more powerful than acting alone. I'm guessing that there are a lot of us out there who have just given up banging their heads against a brick wall where the insurance companies are involved. It would be great to find a law firm which would bring a 'class-action case' against the insurance industry over this matter, representing us all at once. In this way, the laws and regulations are changed immediately after they lose, so as to prevent any further damages being awarded in future cases.

If anybody would like to speak to me personally please contact me. These incidents should be highlighted more than they have been and certainly more from the house-owners perspective regarding damage to properties and cost of reparations... The police man did say that there may be some course of action in the future to claim for these types cases where monies cannot be recouped from tenants who have been either arrested/ deported and who have no assets or whose assets have been frozen. But that is just speculation at the moment. I believe there is a 'victim of crime' compensation fund but do not know what it covers. Will look into it....

Here are the 2 most pertinent links if anybody wants to have a look at my situation: (am I able to post links on here without breaking the rules???! Not sure)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/arres...il/article.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...all/8549678.stm

Everybody on this site has my deepest sympathies as I know exactly what you are all going through.... I trust that we will continue to fight these unjust situations which are made 1000 times worse by insurance companies intent on taking our money without ever having any real intention of covering us. Let's try and put a stop to it!!! God willing!!!

John Hall-Scott

johnhallscott@hotmail.co.uk

ps.... I am willing to give people a call if you wanted to chat....just let me know your number privately through my email....cheers

I have just read your article and find it most interesting. On the 14th of January 2010 my three bedroomed house in Derby was raided by police and found to contain an operating cannabis factory. The pattern seems to be similar to all the other blogs I have read. This is a quick entry simply to throw my hat in the ring and say I will be willing to support/join any action taken against insurers to bring a successful claim to fruition . I am in a rush at the moment but will be back in the next couple of days with more details of my situation in full. I will also be happy to discuss by phone with anybody who wishes to contact me. I think my email is visible to all so feel free to mail me if you wish.

[Mortitia]

Hi all,

I might be going to be getting a lot of flack for this but I don't see why insurance companies should be liable in the case of cannabis factories.

In his post John let his property and went on holiday or to live aboard having let what seems to be an expensive, exclusive property and leaving his uncle 'to keep an eye on things'. Big mistake.

The owner of any property lavish or not has a duty of care to inspect or arrange an inspection by a professional person on a regular and frequent basis to ascertain that the property is not being misused or used for illegal purposes. John did not do this and is now trying to hoist his problem onto his insurers who I'm sure will have none of it. (I'm suspect the poor young girl on the phone was inadequately trained in agreeing her employers to pay out for such damage.) I would say that trying to take on an insurance company over this is a waste of time.

Just because insurers do not stipulate inspecting every 12 weeks does not mean a landlord can wrecklessly go off abroad and expect all to be well or claim on the insurance when things go wrong big time.

Mortitia

[Burn_Phoenix]

Your case is not unusual and of course I wish you the best of luck in your efforts.

You will see from my entry above on the 25th March that I am aware of this cannabis factory problem and I have to say that from what I have been told from other landlords who have experienced what you have experienced and also from what I know when dealing with insurance companies your chances of a successful claim are finely balanced and more than likely will go against you.

The last Landlord I spoke to had his entire property burnt down and he did not receive a penny from the insurance company and he was through a property Letting Agent as well !

Please keep us all informed of your progress and to all other other Landlords...........

Do you know what your Tenants are up to? When did YOU last have a look at your property?

Mel.

Hi Guys,

I probably won't be the most popoular person on here as i'm an insurance broker but here goes.

I've recently had a client make a claim after finding their property being used as a cannabis factory. In this instance when they arrived for the inspection they found the door open and the place was trashed as per all the above stories. The claim was put through as a malicious damage claim but insurers have declined as they do not class it as malicious damage, the damage was the result of the cultivation of the plants and with no malicious intent.

As a general point it is possible to get cover for malicious damage cause by the tenants but it's usually an optional extra and may only be available on certain risks, i.e. professional tenants, but could be excluded if tenants are students/asylum seekers or anything else out of the ordinary. This still wouldn't help for the cannabis factory problem as the definition of malicious damage is the same.

The only thing I've found in policy wordings which may offer the relevant cover is an extension called Unauthorised Alteration, which basically covers damages caused to the property following alterations made to the property by the tenants not authorised by the landlord (as per the tenancy agreement, which as a rule of thumb does not allow illegal operations!). I would also point out that with this insurer a condition of this extension is that properties are inspected at least once every 6 months and records of these inspections are made.

The insurers have this extension automatically now, but didn't at the time of the claim, which is incovenient, but we're fighting it from the angle that we were not made aware that this extention was available at the time of placing cover, it's a very weak argument now but it's something.

I don't normally deal with claims and have only gotten involved because insurers were being particularly unhelpful but I recommend looking out for this extension, i'm not sure if all insurers offer it or not. It still may not be the elusive answer, but the verdicts still out!

[Burn_Phoenix]

I probably won't be the most popoular person on here as i'm an insurance broker but here goes.

I've recently had a client make a claim after finding their property being used as a cannabis factory. In this instance when they arrived for the inspection they found the door open and the place was trashed as per all the above stories. The claim was put through as a malicious damage claim but insurers have declined as they do not class it as malicious damage, the damage was the result of the cultivation of the plants and with no malicious intent.

As a general point it is possible to get cover for malicious damage cause by the tenants but it's usually an optional extra and may only be available on certain risks, i.e. professional tenants, but could be excluded if tenants are students/asylum seekers or anything else out of the ordinary. This still wouldn't help for the cannabis factory problem as the definition of malicious damage is the same.

The only thing I've found in policy wordings which may offer the relevant cover is an extension called Unauthorised Alteration, which basically covers damages caused to the property following alterations made to the property by the tenants not authorised by the landlord (as per the tenancy agreement, which as a rule of thumb does not allow illegal operations!). I would also point out that with this insurer a condition of this extension is that properties are inspected at least once every 6 months and records of these inspections are made.

The insurers have this extension automatically now, but didn't at the time of the claim, which is incovenient, but we're fighting it from the angle that we were not made aware that this extention was available at the time of placing cover, it's a very weak argument now but it's something.

I don't normally deal with claims and have only gotten involved because insurers were being particularly unhelpful but I recommend looking out for this extension, i'm not sure if all insurers offer it or not. It still may not be the elusive answer, but the verdicts still out!

[Melboy]

This cannabis factory problem for landlords has been well documented for at least 4 years to my knowledge and the warnings to landlords and LA's have been issued in abundance to be aware of the problem.

It is essential for ALL private landlords and LA's to keep a check on what is happening in their properties and that includes an inspection or at least a minor check-up on the property and the tenant within the first 2-3 weeks of occupation to make sure things are OK.

READING THIS THREAD FOR THE FIRST TIME?

WHAT'S YOUR TENANT UP TO?

WHEN DID YOU OR YOUR LA LAST LOOK AT YOUR PROPERTY?

Mel.

[bozman]

This happened to me too last year. The tenant even managed to get a crisis loan to buy the growing equipment and made the national newspapers when convicted ! I wasn't able to claim on my insurance and had to chalk it down to experience. I now focus on prevention rather than cure.

Although this type of activity is common amongst Chineese and Vietnameese gangs there are a lot of British tenants doing this too - my tenant was British. Since then I 've caught another 2 tenants before they caused any damage. I consider myself a bit of an expert on this now and have written a couple of articles about it.

These people are well organised and efficient and will usually pass most referencing checks. As tempting as it is to take the cash flow be wary of anyone who wants to pay up front for several months. My tenant also took an unusually keen interest in the electricity supply when he viewed the property, which I later discovered was for the purposes of bypassing the meter.

When you have chosen a tenant the key is to make sure someone is monitoring the property for the first month or so of the tenancy. This can be a simple as a driveby every few days looking for tell tale signs such as the curtains/blinds being closed all day, and lights always being on during the day, checking for any unusual smells coming from the property. If anything arouses suspicion give 24 hours notice of your inention to inspect the property. If they're doing anything dodgy they'll probably be gone by the time you arrive.

[stevie-b]

If they're doing anything dodgy they'll probably be gone by the time you arrive.

[martin johnson]

We let our property through an agent; the first we knew about it was when the agent called to say that we wouldn't be getting any rent because the tenant had left.

Our agent hadn't noticed the big holes in the chimney breasts where they had installed extra ventilation, nor had he noticed the big marks and damage to the walls and ceilings where they had gaffa-taped blackout/insulation over the windows. Our agent hadn't noticed the extra lighting insta;;ed in one of the rooms, nor the damage to the alarm panel where another DIY light installation had caused damage. Our agent hadn't noticed the extra (leaking) pipework in the kitchen. He was really surprised when I emailed him details and the crime number.

Our agent tells me it will be six weeks or so before we can get the deposit back because of new regulations which mean we've got to assume the tenant might be in a coma in hospital and not able to communicate, this despite the damage being reported to the police and a crime number issued. Our agent then had the nerve to call me and say he'd noticed the excess on our insurance was £500, he thought he could get it 'done' for less than that. I asked him what he thought he could get 'done' for £500 because I've had a quote from a builder for £65000...

Now, about the insurance company, AXA.
They are proving to be an absolute nightmare - the policy covers 'malicious damage' (it is under investigation as 'criminal damage') but theres a limit of £5000 and an excess of £500; it is supposed to cover lost rent, but that too is limited (surprise, surprise) to a maximum of £1800.
They are dragging their heels over even accepting the claim and I'm guessing they're looking for ways out.
We won't be renewing with them, thats for sure.

Between them and the agent, I'm wondering what I'm paying for.......

[Melboy]

There was a recent case here where I live where the house was very badly damaged by an electrical fire due to a cannabis farm operation.  I know for a fact that the insurance company did not pay out for this damage probably due to small (or large print ) clauses in the landlord's insurance contract.

You could have a claim against your agent for negligence which is always hard to prove but that would require legal advice and employing a solicitor to advance any court action required.

[Mortitia]

Martin it might have been good to start a new post  as this one started back in 2009!  Perhaps mods can do this now?

Does the agent belong to ARLA, NAEA - if so contact them and report him.  When did tenancy start and was agent supposed to inspect at regular intervals?

How many inspections did he miss?  This forms the basis of your case for the small claims court cos that is where you need to go not your insurer.

Agent has not carried out his contract with you - sue for breach of contract or better try and get him to cough up funds to avoid you prosecuting him and the bad publicity that will kill his business stone dead.