Warning! Landlord Insurances may not cover fire !

[unclebulgaria67]

Hi

 

Check your landlord Insurance policies.

 

If you have a tenant set fire to your property, the Insurers may refuse to pay out, if there is a malicious damage exclusion in your policy. There are reports of Insurers winning in court, avoiding paying out.

 

The case quoted below concerns concurrent causes of a loss. It  means that where a concurrent peril caused a loss, the peril with an exclusion applying will be relevant. As the property owner you will point to the Fire peril and the Insurers will point to the malicious damage peril which has the exclusion applying.

 

"Wayne Tank & Pump Co. Ltd v Employers' Liability Assurance Corporation [1974])"

 

Your tenants may be lovely, but things can change. A relationship breakdown leads to hitting the bottle, followed by setting a fire in your property. The tenant admits to arson and your Insurers refuse to pay out. It may not be a malicious act against you as Landlord, but are you willing to spend months or years in litigation against Insurers ?

 

it may be wise to check your landlord Insurance policies and if the malicious damage exclusion is contained in the wording, to contact Brokers or companies to find a policy without the exclusion.