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Landlord insurance claims - the most common reasons revealed

A landlord insurance company has identified the three most common reasons for landlords submitting a claim.

The 10 most common reasons for a claim combined to result in 603 payouts by Total Landlord Insurance in 2021. 

The most common was escaped water leading to internal flooding - from burst pipes to leaking toilet cisterns - accounting for 35.5 per cent of all claims. This was followed by storm damage (22.4 per cent) and accidental damage (13.1 per cent), 

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The average landlord insurance claim results in a payout of £6,512 . But when it comes to fire, this increases to £31,621 . 

Storm damage resulted in an average claim of £11,568 , with subsidence also one of the most costly reasons to claim, with an average claim of £7,954.

A spokeswoman for Total Landlord Insurance says: “The reasons for claiming are often either common or costly. The most common generally revolve around damage caused to the property. 

"Therefore a claim can often be avoided if a landlord takes the correct steps to care for and upkeep of their property. Unfortunately, the most costly are often out of their control and there is no real way of preventing damage as a result of storms.” 

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    I've just replaced a kitchen ceiling do to a leak from the bathroom above, perhaps I should have made an insurance claim, I've had sealed unit windows smashed, I just get in myself and put things right, insurance is there for major claims like fire

    Daniela Provvedi

    You're right about claiming for major claims only, Andrew. It's not worth claiming for smaller issues as it increases your premiums, even if it's not your fault.
    Our upstairs neighbour caused 6 leaks from their bathroom in the last 15 years. The Owner lives in Australia and they don't respond to calls nor emails from me. Their Agent who manages their flat is also useless.
    Normally we repair our ceiling and walls ourselves, so as not to make an insurance claim. The upstairs tenants are lovely people and helpful too, unlike their LL. They arrange to get the leaking pipe or whatever it is, repaired asap.
    However, this time, the leak was quite big, and I was fed-up with this constant leaking from their flat.
    So I told their Agent that they should arrange to do the repairs and refurbishment to my kitchen and bathroom at their expense.

    Long story short......
    After a year of going back and forth (and my tenant, bless him, has a lot of patience living in that condition) it was pushed back to me saying that I should claim from my insurance for the repairs to the damage caused by their leak.
    They said they're not liable to repair the damage to my flat. My insurance company (RentGuard) said the onus is on me to have my flat refurbished and make a claim. All I needed was a letter from the upstairs Agent or LL confirming that the repairs to the leak were done and the leak stopped.

    Needless to say, we did the repairs ourselves, again. But I am very furious.....!!

    (Apparently this is law in England?)

     
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    Bathrooms are usually above each other especially in Flats for ease of construction, plumbing and drainage. However, the number of times I have been told the upstairs Bathroom is leaking turns out to be misuse, whether someone left a tap running, the Shower Curtain hanging outside the Bath, over reaching the shower hose & attachment to wash their hair in the sink or simply the mastic needed replacing so seldom an actual leaking more often spillage.

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