Anyone living in the south of England can’t fail to have noticed the fact that a massive storm passed over the UK at the beginning of last week. The media was awash with pictures of storm lashed coastlines and fallen trees everywhere, which is all very interesting when it is happening somewhere else, but not quite so good if your house has just been flattened by a huge tree. But if you were affected by the storm in any way, fear not because the NLA has just issued a guide for landlords with properties damaged in the storm.
Check Your Insurance Policy
Hopefully you will have insurance cover in place, so now is a good time to pull out the policy documents and check the small print to see whether (or not) your property is covered by storm damage. And if you don’t have insurance cover or your policy doesn’t include storm damage, consider this a valuable and very expensive lesson well learned.
Do Your Tenants have Contents Insurance?
Flood damage may be a problem in some areas affected by the storm. Your landlord insurance should cover fixtures and fittings affected by water damage—for example kitchens and carpets—but the tenant will need to have contents insurance in place if his own possessions have been damaged by water.
What’s the Damage?
If the damage to the property is not too severe, consider whether it is worth making a claim on the insurance. Claiming will cause your premiums to go up, so weigh up what the repairs are likely to cost against paying extra on future insurance premiums.
Whatever the damage, do make sure your tenants are okay and if the property is no longer habitable, check whether your insurance will pay for alternative accommodation.
