Landlord non payment Rent

KarenClurow

Hi, my tenant sadly has lost his job and the Letting Agency have told me i cannot claim on my monthly Rent Guarantee scheme as it doesnt cover Coronavirus. I served 3 months notice because my daughter is hoping to move in to the flat in July. My Letting Agency have told me that if he does not vacate on 15.7.20 the Courts would rule in his favour because the current rules protect tenants because of Coronavirus. The problem is i am paying Rent guarantee every month, am i not covered now he is not paying rent. Also my daughter has been stuck in Thailand with 2 cats for past 3 months and cannot fly home because of Coronavirus, when she does eventually manage to get a flight she will have to give the address of my flat to isolate for 2 weeks but what happens if the tenant does not move out in July. 

Galloglass

as it doesnt cover Coronavirus

That is an opinion rather than a fact. You should either seek legal advice or sue the Agency for non-performance. Let a court decide if it is covered or not.

Assume you'll be dumping the agent when your daughter moves in, so you may be getting the run around.

 

Grumpy_chap

KarenClurow said:

Hi, my tenant sadly has lost his job and the Letting Agency have told me i cannot claim on my monthly Rent Guarantee scheme as it doesnt cover Coronavirus. 

It sounds as though you are not trying to claim for anything to do with coronavirus.  You are claiming because the tenant is not maintaining payments because the tenant lost his job.  

Unless the policy specifically excludes a tenant losing their job because of coronavirus, then the standard "tenant lost their job" clause is the one that applies.  Have you read the policy?

rosiesposies

I would prepare yourself for a long process to remove the tenant. There are no guarantees that things can be done timely, even without coronavirus. 

Thrugelmir

Galloglass said:

as it doesnt cover Coronavirus

That is an opinion rather than a fact. You should either seek legal advice or sue the Agency for non-performance. Let a court decide if it is covered or not.


 

Reading the policy document and/or discussing it with the Letting Agent should be the base point.  Little point jumping to costly conclusions. 

sharpe106

Unless it is a very new policy I doubt that coronovirus is in the policy document at all. So ask them to show you where it is. 

hb2

Landlords are not currently allowed to start the repossession process at the moment due to the CV situation (the date has been extended again) so I think you should prepare yourself for a very long wait to get the flat back The tenant will still owe you the rend and you might be able to get this back via the courts at a later stage - if the tenant has it.

Galloglass

if the tenant has it.

As far as I understood the OP's point, he was not concerned if the tenant could pay or not as he has been paying for insurance. This insurance is not paying out which means it needs challenged rather than accepting the word of the people that sold it to them. (Imagine believing the people that sold PPI?)

There will be a dispute mechanism in the policy that will most likely point to going to the Financial Ombudsman who will have a far wider knowledge of the law relating to insurance terms than the average layman. As @sharpe106 points out, first step is to get the insurer to clarify; then put into dispute; then take it to the Ombudsman for compensation.