Unsafe premises

Bob-cat

Our insurance company will no longer insure a property we let as a commercial premises (secondhand car sales) as a surveyor has said the building is unsafe. We have advised the tenant as he has public liability insurance which I am sure the surveyor's report will negate. The tenant has said he will put in writing to us that he accepts full responsibility for any accident that occurs. Would that protect us from legal action if the worst was to happen?

antrobus

Bob-cat wrote: »

Our insurance company will no longer insure a property we let as a commercial premises (secondhand car sales) as a surveyor has said the building is unsafe. We have advised the tenant as he has public liability insurance which I am sure the surveyor's report will negate. The tenant has said he will put in writing to us that he accepts full responsibility for any accident that occurs. Would that protect us from legal action if the worst was to happen?

Doesn't look like it.
https://www.stephensons.co.uk/site/news_and_events/uptodatenews/full_repairing_lease_landlord_protection

If the building is unsafe, why don't you fix it? Are you really prepared to put people's lives at risk?

Bob-cat

Bit agressive, antrobus! Of course we're not prepared to put people's lives at risk !! It's not going to be an instant repair due to the nature of the problem and our tenant only has a few months to go before his lease expires. He made the suggestion to help us out but we were unsure if this was a viable solution - hence me asking the question.

antrobus

Bob-cat wrote: »

Bit agressive, antrobus! Of course we're not prepared to put people's lives at risk !! It's not going to be an instant repair due to the nature of the problem and our tenant only has a few months to go before his lease expires. He made the suggestion to help us out but we were unsure if this was a viable solution - hence me asking the question.

A bit aggresive? I was being very restrained. I didn't even mention the possibility that should any 'accident' actually occur, then civil liability for damages might be the least of your problems. You could be looking at jail time.

rs65

Bob-cat wrote: »

Would that protect us from legal action if the worst was to happen?

Very much doubt it. Even if he accepted responsibility, would he have the funds to pay claims?

If it truly is unsafe, should you be relocating your tenant?

ps If this is an insurance surveyor saying its unsafe, I would be getting a second opinion

Bob-cat

Thank you for the link antrobus. It was useful. We just want to do the best for our tenant in a bad situation. We're not big landowners, just the owners of an agricultural barn that has stood for at least 150 years and been rented out for this car sales business for more than 20 years. We don't have anywhere where we can relocate him and now we've had someone say he thinks the building is unsafe we can't (yet) find another insurance co that will touch it. Even the NFU are pessimistic. Ironically we had the local council out to it last year as we were trying to establish whether or not it was a listed building and they seemed more concerned that we would try to get planning permission for residential use. We had this recent surveyor to value it as we wanted to gift it to our children (as my father did for me - and his parents did for him) but it looks like a poison chalice for them.