Risks That Landlords Bear But Are Unaware Of
OnTax Accountants In Dunfermline has been privy to a recent case where a landlords insurer is paying out £1 million in damages to a visitor of a rented home. Apparently the visitor slipped and fell down the stairs. OnTax Accountants In Dunfermline has found out that the tenant blamed it on the landlord declaring the stairs as not fit to be in use.
We are of opinion that this particular incident highlights why landlords need public liability cover, not having this sort of cover could wipe you out financially as a landlord.
The nature of injuries this person received due to this incident, hints toward a substantial payout, as the was a relatively young person. We have discovered that any kind of compensation for these kinds of claims means taking care of all the costs required for the repairing and also it could lead to future loss of earnings. We have found the chief executive of the insurance company emphasising this, "The loss could be of several million pounds if the landlord is found guilty i.e. if this incident is the result of carelessness of the landlord. If the landlords do not have proper insurance in place to protect themselves from such unavoidable incidents, it could totally destroy the landlord financially."
Public Liability Insurance Is The Answer!
The insurance company highlighted the fact that these types of incidents are not uncommon as they have resulted in a total loss of 1.7 million in the last two years. We have learned that usually such accidents occur from slips, trips or falls in buy-to-let properties of the landlords.
We would stress that public liability cover is very important for landlords because all the legal fees and compensation are taken care of by the insurance company.
Don't Forget Insurance!
PI Cover Is An Absolute Necessity!
Okay, we are not here to sell you insurance...but most businesses have a business plan of some sort and a contingency fund as well. In our view, public liability insurance is the landlord equivalent of this, it's your backup, your safety net. Why would you not want a backup? Perhaps there is a little of the gambler in all of us, we like to save £300 per year in the belief that it is extra money for us. As a landlord, its not IF an accident occurs but rather WHEN. Now, do you still feel so certain about playing russian roulette with your finances?
We have heard Mr. Hooker of Total Insurance stressing the benefits landlords could gain from this insurance; "Without public liability cover landlords would have to pay for all the compensation." We have also found him reinforcing the importance of having public liability cover stating this case is a wake up call for all those landlords who try to save money by not taking property insurance and maintenance seriously. He highlighted that this could lead to bigger problems, directly or indirectly. We would therefore like to urge all our landlord clients to check today if they have Public Liability insurance and if not, to go and get some. High heels were one landlords downfall (again, no pun intended!), don't let them be yours!
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