rent money not received

suky321

Hi,

There was a problem with the hot water not working properly at a property that I let out, and it has taken a while to sort out due to the home emergency cover that I have with Simple Landlords home insurance - who I would highly NOT recommend.

As a result the tenant refused to pay the rent for a whole month, of which after negotiation he kept the majority as "compensation".

Is there any way that I could claim this loss of rent from the Insurance company or emergency cover, as they took around two months to resolve the problem, which most of the time was obtaining and delivering the right parts, getting hold of engineers for the boiler, eventually the problem got resolved after they used the boiler manufacturers fixed price repair scheme.

After all this was an emergency, but the home emergency cover staff did not appear to treat it as such.

Many thanks in advance,

DVardysShadow

Although strictly we would be advising the tenant that they should not unilaterally deduct 'compensation', you do admit that your repair processes were inadequate.

I suggest you negotiate with the tenant but accept that it is you who have failed him and that the failings of your contractor are your responsibility. I think I would set the level of compo at about 30% of rent for the affected period and offer this without prejudice. If it is rejected, serve an S21 and let it go to the deposit scheme for reclaim of rent in full.

And cancel the emergency cover immediately as failing to meet reasonable expectations. Find reliable local traders.