Rented Garage

Nightroamer_2

Hi Guys,

Not to sure where to post, so please feel free to move Mods.

Basically i have a garage i rented from a local estate agents.
Only had it 3-4 weeks.
The guy who rented it to me said that there is never any trouble there and that they have never had any breakins.
Saturday i turned up with my mini, having just spent £100 getting it brought up on a lorry to find my garage door lock broken and everything gone.
I have probably lost over £2K in stuff.

Now i know the estate agents cannot be blamed for this but having spoken to other clients of theirs they say they have had there garages broken into 6+ times and the estate agents are well aware of this.

I spoke to the legal advice team at my work union and they said i should write to them (estate agents) stating that i feel the garage was misrepresented to me when i took it on (it has loads of break ins) and that i feel i should be compensated for my losses.

My request is for help with writing this letter, i have no idea what i should and shouldnt say in a letter of this legal nature.

can anyone help?

many thanks

fluffnutter

What are the T&Cs of your rental agreement with the estate agents? Is the garage covered at all by any type of insurance policy?

pinkshoes

You should be able to get the rental agreement cancelled from the estate agent due to them lying about the garage being in a safe area, but I'm quite sure that any loss needs to be claimed from your own insurance covering your goods. This is what insurance is for...

Nightroamer_2

There is a clear statement on the rental agreement that i need to sort my own insurance which i have no problem with.
Unfortunatly i have been to many insurance brokers and companies and you simply cannot insure a garage away from your home

All i am looking for is something from them as they have totally misled me, i honestly wouldnt have even consdered the garage if i thought it was a high risk area. I mean i lost not only things of value but things of great personall meaning.

Thanks guys

fluffnutter

Hmm, the fact that the insurance companies don't cover it suggests it's high risk. But that's not your question. If you can demonstrate that you chose to go ahead with this rental based on the fact that you were told it's a safe area, then I think you have some redress. I'm not too hot on the legal aspects (help! other MSE'rs...) but I'm pretty sure you can't deliberately mislead someone into agreeing to a sale/rental nor misrepresent the product. This would appear to have happened here... but... got any proof?

somethingcorporate

Safe is a fairly subjective term, everywhere has crime so this is going to be a difficult one to swing.

fluffnutter

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Safe is a fairly subjective term, everywhere has crime so this is going to be a difficult one to swing.

I agree. But it could be argued that the estate agent lied. If the direct question were asked "How many break-ins have there been?" and the answer was "None" when in fact there have been six (and that was known), that could be construed as deliberate misrepresentation regardless of what 'safe' means.
It might be his word against theirs, however...

Nightroamer_2

fluffnutter wrote: »

I agree. But it could be argued that the estate agent lied. If the direct question were asked "How many break-ins have there been?" and the answer was "None" when in fact there have been six (and that was known), that could be construed as deliberate misrepresentation regardless of what 'safe' means.
It might be his word against theirs, however...

I asked have there been any break ins or trouble, and they said no and that someone who rents 2 out always looks out for anything untoward. turns out this is the guys whos had 4 break ins.

fluffnutter, just to clarify when i said they wont insure it, its not down to the area or anything, there just doesnt seem to be a policy to cover a garage unit. only cover i can find is if it is within 50 eters of your house (contents cover) or an authorised storage facility like storage king or big yellow etc.

Freddie_Snowbits

Nightroamer wrote: »

There is a clear statement on the rental agreement that i need to sort my own insurance which i have no problem with.
Unfortunatly i have been to many insurance brokers and companies and you simply cannot insure a garage away from your home

I think OP has answered their own question

fluffnutter

Nightroamer, hopefully someone will be along who can advise you whether the estate agents have any legal obligation here. Morally, it's pretty clear that they haven't exactly been instrumental in helping you correctly assess the risk. To my mind, that's deliberate misrepresentation but I'm not an expert.