UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, we are being sued by our tenant for negligence.
Our tenant fell outside our property down a step on to an uneven path with gravel and slabs.
She is saying the gravel caused her to slip and the patio slabs are dangerously loose. She is also saying that she had expressed her concerns about the uneven finish to the path but nothing was done. This is absolutely rubbish. We have never had any complaints regarding the matter before  her fall.
She had quite a nasty break resulting in her having to have an operation (also, she is suing the NHS!!)
The problem is, after going through our landlord documentation, our insurance had run out a few months before. We were under the impression the insurance would carry on running (as does with all our other insurances).
We have no money what so ever and are struggling to make ends meet with four young children.
We are so worried. What will happen is we can't pay?

Well...

I take it you've watched programmes like Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away (as opposed to Can't Cook, Won't Cook)? So, assuming the claim is successful and you cannot pay, you could - possibly, eventually - be looking at burly fellas visiting your home with a High Court Judgement in their armoury, removing things that you own... failing that, I suppose they could go for bankruptcy.

However, there is no debt in existence yet. There is only the precursor to that possibly becoming the case.

Maybe links like this are helpful - but they assume a debt of some kind already exists...

http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/08/you%E2%80%99re-in-debt-but-what-can-your-creditors-actually-do/

The Tenant has obviously really had a fall. It's not made-up. Although personal responsibility is a big thing for me in this world, you can probably understand that someone down on their luck might perceive suing as an easy way to ease their problems. A break is fully recoverable, though, the Tenant hasn't lost a leg, or lost their sight or anything like that... so any 'award' would surely be on the lower end... I mean, my public liability insurance line item in Insurance documents is quoted in millions of Pounds - but I don't think we're talking about that kind of thing here. I would ask... have you investigated a gesture of goodwill with the Tenant that might dissuade them from the path currently being taken? Realise you say you have no money, but you must have some... and even an offer of a rent reduction could help the Tenant and you if you tighten your belts... not sure what's possible. I'm making an assumption, here, that the Tenant is still in the property and paying rent.

I think others will contribute to this thread.

We have legal cover attached to our home insurance, we have had some legal advice from them and they have said it will depend on what our tenancy agreement states. It says we are not responsible for outside the house apart from the guttering and drains.
I am really hoping that is our lifeline!
We have not been in contact with our tenants since receiving the letter as we wanted legal advice first.
Our mortgage is more expensive than our rent at the moment so we are not really in a position to reduce their rent.
If it comes down to it, I have no problem giving up our rented property. We never intended on being tenants long term, it was just a means to an end because our house wouldn't sell.
Yes the tenant is still in our property paying rent. I am annoyed more so as last year we put their rent up by £25 to cover our mortgage and they never changed the payment because they couldn't afford it. My husband was very sympathetic and said we would review the situation in 12 months (now, coincidentally!).
We don't really have anything for anyone to take apart from an iPad with a cracked screen and a TV.
Unless they want to take a battered kettle and a toaster!

Well, you do have a property with some equity in it, I assume?

Obviously the coincidence doesn't exist as far as the Tenant giving themselves a nasty injury... just rent increase and time. I think I would stick with the legal advice you're getting. For my answer, you really only asked what will [could] happen if you can't pay any award that might be made to the Tenant, I think it could be - taking assets, forcing sale of house and bankruptcy... but it's all premature as there is no debt in existence yet.

You really should get insurance. Have you renewed it now?

I know my liability insurance extends to the grounds of properties.

Yes we have now.
I doubt they would cover something that happened before the insurance started though.
Our house has about 20,000 equity in it.
If we were to put the house on the market now, what would happen with the tenants?
Can they just up and leave? Our new insurance covers loss of rent, but not sure how things stand if we are in the process of selling.
Thank you for responding!

No, I wasn't suggesting the Insurance would cover you now for something that happened before, when you weren't covered - just that you must have Insurance in place.

If you put the house on the market that doesn't affect the tenancy in place at all. If the Tenant is in their fixed term then they must remain. If the Tenant is on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy (SPT, month-to-month rolling) then they would have to serve the appropriate notice to you - at least 1 calendar month. They cannot just up and leave. They are liable for rent for as long as they are in occupation.

If you wanted them to leave so you could, possibly, get a better price on the open market, then you would need to serve appropriate notice too (but hard if they're within the fixed term, as mentioned above).