Scotland - Property rental agent has invalidated my buildings insurance through mismanagement

gandy666

My tenant of 5 years recently ended up in hospital for 3 months. My building's insurance stipulates that the property cannot be empty for more than 31 days in a row.  Tenants family informed the agent what had happened, and a family member visited the property occasionally, however no-one was staying there. The agent did not inform me so I could could not make  arrangements with my insurance company or inform them.  In my opinion they have invalidated my buildings insurance and this amounts to gross mismanagement. There was also a very, small fire caused by a faulty oven. If the property had burned down, my insurance company would have grounds not to pay out. I want to terminate my contract with the agent immediately for putting my property at risk. Agent is demanding a £600 exit fee. I asked my tenant to pay me direct whilst I dealt with the fallout.  Agent is now threatening both of us with breach of contract.  The agent is a subsidiary of a large estate agent so have a legal arsenal behind them. Where do I stand and what are my options?

_Penny_Dreadful

gandy666 said:

My tenant of 5 years recently ended up in hospital for 3 months. My building's insurance stipulates that the property cannot be empty for more than 31 days in a row.  Tenants family informed the agent what had happened, and a family member visited the property occasionally, however no-one was staying there. The agent did not inform me so I could could not make  arrangements with my insurance company or inform them.  In my opinion they have invalidated my buildings insurance and this amounts to gross mismanagement. There was also a very, small fire caused by a faulty oven. If the property had burned down, my insurance company would have grounds not to pay out. I want to terminate my contract with the agent immediately for putting my property at risk. Agent is demanding a £600 exit fee. I asked my tenant to pay me direct whilst I dealt with the fallout.  Agent is now threatening both of us with breach of contract.  The agent is a subsidiary of a large estate agent so have a legal arsenal behind them. Where do I stand and what are my options?

In Scotland letting agents must comply with the letting agents code of practice. Go through the code and select the sections of the code the letting agent failed to comply with.  

https://www.gov.scot/publications/letting-agent-code-practice/

Then you make a formal complaint to the letting agent based on the section of the code they have failed to comply with. If you’re not satisfied with their response you can then take the letting agent to the FTT. 

https://www.mygov.scot/letting-agent-registration-landlords

I have been through this process myself and in my experience the letting agent is likely to reconsider their stance before it goes to the FTT. 

HampshireH

There was a fire when the property was empty and not in use? How was that dealt with if no one was there?

Im not sure of whether it's different in Scotland but does your contract state they will notify you if the tenant is going to be absent?

pramsay13

Have the insurance company actually told you that the insurance is invalid? I would be strongly arguing that the property is not empty but that the person is temporarily in the hospital. What would you have done if they had told you? There's nothing practical you could do.
As for the management company I think you have overshot. If you want to terminate the contract you need to go through the process correctly so I think you will find they will win any legal action.

_Penny_Dreadful

pramsay13 said:

Have the insurance company actually told you that the insurance is invalid? I would be strongly arguing that the property is not empty but that the person is temporarily in the hospital. What would you have done if they had told you? There's nothing practical you could do.
As for the management company I think you have overshot. If you want to terminate the contract you need to go through the process correctly so I think you will find they will win any legal action.

The OP could have got unoccupied insurance until the tenant returned to the property and as for your comment about the letting agent winning any legal action, what a lot of nonsense. Unless you’ve been through the process in Scotland of holding a letting agent to the code of practice set out by the Scottish government perhaps you should refrain from commenting on such a thread. 

pramsay13

_Penny_Dreadful said:

pramsay13 said:

Have the insurance company actually told you that the insurance is invalid? I would be strongly arguing that the property is not empty but that the person is temporarily in the hospital. What would you have done if they had told you? There's nothing practical you could do.
As for the management company I think you have overshot. If you want to terminate the contract you need to go through the process correctly so I think you will find they will win any legal action.

The OP could have got unoccupied insurance until the tenant returned to the property and as for your comment about the letting agent winning any legal action, what a lot of nonsense. Unless you’ve been through the process in Scotland of holding a letting agent to the code of practice set out by the Scottish government perhaps you should refrain from commenting on such a thread. 

Okay I'll bite. What part of the code are you suggesting they have failed to comply with? The OP has decided not telling them about hospital visit amounts to gross mismanagement and unilaterally terminated the contract. 

EssexHebridean

I’m guessing that this bit might apply: 

17. You must be honest, open, transparent and fair in your dealings with landlords and tenants (including prospective and former landlords and tenants).

Not telling the owner of the property that their property was going to be empty for the foreseeable future would seem not to be particularly honest, open or transparent. Allowing that most buildings insurance policies also prescribe a period over which the property should not be left vacant it also does not sound terribly fair.

dimbo61

Sorry but how is the Lettings agents going to know how long a tenant will be in hospital ?
I take people to hospital every day with my job and I have No idea if someone will be in hospital for a couple of days or 6 months 

Mr.Generous

dimbo61 said:

Sorry but how is the Lettings agents going to know how long a tenant will be in hospital ?
I take people to hospital every day with my job and I have No idea if someone will be in hospital for a couple of days or 6 months 

After 6 weeks they could make a pretty good guess that it was going to be over 30 days.

_Penny_Dreadful

pramsay13 said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

pramsay13 said:

Have the insurance company actually told you that the insurance is invalid? I would be strongly arguing that the property is not empty but that the person is temporarily in the hospital. What would you have done if they had told you? There's nothing practical you could do.
As for the management company I think you have overshot. If you want to terminate the contract you need to go through the process correctly so I think you will find they will win any legal action.

The OP could have got unoccupied insurance until the tenant returned to the property and as for your comment about the letting agent winning any legal action, what a lot of nonsense. Unless you’ve been through the process in Scotland of holding a letting agent to the code of practice set out by the Scottish government perhaps you should refrain from commenting on such a thread. 

Okay I'll bite. What part of the code are you suggesting they have failed to comply with? The OP has decided not telling them about hospital visit amounts to gross mismanagement and unilaterally terminated the contract. 

Like the OP you can read the code yourself and pick out the sections you think the letting agent has failed to comply with. It’s not just failing to tell the OP about the property being left unoccupied but these threats, particularly towards the tenant, about being in breach of contract. The OP had more information than either of us about the situation and the contract with the letting agent so could pick out more. As I said earlier, my experience is that most letting agents cave before it gets to the FTT. What has been your experience of holding letting agents to the code of practice? 

_Penny_Dreadful

dimbo61 said:

Sorry but how is the Lettings agents going to know how long a tenant will be in hospital ?
I take people to hospital every day with my job and I have No idea if someone will be in hospital for a couple of days or 6 months 

It was going to be long enough if a member of the tenant’s family was going to be keeping an eye on the place. Assuming this is a PRT in place and not an AT or SAT then the tenancy agreement will have a section about absence which says the tenant must inform the landlord about any absences for a period of more than 14 days. The tenant did that by informing the landlord’s agent who then didn’t bother to pass that information on to the landlord. 

16. Absences

The Tenant agrees to tell the Landlord if he or she is to be absent from the Let Property for any reason for a period of more than 14 days. The Tenant must take such measures as the Landlord may reasonably require to secure the Let Property prior to such absence and take appropriate reasonable measures to meet the 'Reasonable Care' section below.