As a landlord, you can usually rely on the calibre of the tenants you have in your property, and trust that they will take good care of it. While accidental damage can always happen, such as a tap left running, or a nail hammered in the wrong place, this is usually something covered by an insurance policy. What you need to watch out for more is malicious damage.
In terms of insurance, malicious damage is regarded as any kind of damage caused on purpose with the intention to harm the property. This could be breaking furniture, smashing a window or graffiti. Tenants could do this if they become disgruntled at you or the property for whatever reason. Malicious damage is on the rise so as a landlord, you want to protect your property from malicious damage as best you can by taking a series of precautions.
So read on for how to protect your property from malicious damage.
References
Before you allow any tenant to move into your property, ensure that you carry out a reference check. This can include a photo ID, a bank statement, a credit check and confirmation of employment. Malicious damage insurance is usually subject to the tenant passing a full reference check.
Insurance Policy
Any type of repair or maintenance that occurs on a property falls to the landlord, even if it is caused by the tenants malicious damage. To help protect from the large costs of rectifying malicious damage, make sure it’s included under your landlord insurance policy. If it isn’t, consider changing your policy to take out any extra protection you may need. It’s best to be cautious and have the policy in place, then be left with high costs after the damage has occurred.
Report It To The Police
If malicious damage has occurred on your property and you want it to be covered by an insurer, you need to prove that the damage has been caused with intent. This involves reporting it to the police so they can investigate, and give the case a crime reference number that can be used on your insurance claims.
All Property Claims
If you’ve been a victim of malicious damage and want to make a claim, get in touch with the team at All Property Claims. One of our surveyors can visit your property to take details about what happened, provide a detailed report for your insurer and request they appoint an insurance adjuster to agree to costs, and then we can help with any restorations that need to be done. When work is finished, we send the bill to insurers and you pay nothing but your policy excess.
We are an extremely reliable company, with only 0.5% of claims we have presented repudiated. We work to save you time and money using our experienced team that is regulated and authorised by the FCA. So get in touch with us today by calling 0203 011 2495 to talk with one of our staff and talk through your claim, or visit our website now to find out more about the types of claims we can assist with.