Turn the taps off! Most common damage to properties by tenants revealed
Leaving baths running, red wine spillage and cracked shower trays top list of most common damage inflicted on buy-to-let properties.
The most common way tenants damage properties and the average cost of clearing up and repairing the mess have been revealed.
This includes leaving a bath running and flooding the property, dropping a shower head and cracking the tray, red wine spills on carpets, and windows being smashed by children playing football outside.
Insurer Total Landlord Insurance says the average bill for damage to rental properties is £759, although one claim it processed recently totalled £19,000.
The case involved tenants who flooded their home while out at work all day, returning to find the brand new kitchen wrecked, the whole house water logged, bulged ceilings and walls throughout, ruined light fittings and destroyed smoke alarms.
The huge bill included paying for the tenants to live elsewhere while the property was repaired.
Eddie Hooker (pictured, left), CEO of Total Landlord Insurance, says the cases highlight how seriously landlords should take securing proper cover for their rental properties.
“Landlords should be mindful they need to be as accurate as possible to ensure they have sufficient cover, and if you have a new kitchen fitted, for example, keep hold of the invoices so you can prove its value in the event something gets damaged,” he says.
Such stories of woe appear not to have put off investors entering the buy-to-let market. This week data from HM Revenue & Customs revealed that the number of landlords has hit a record high of 2.5 million, up 27% compared to five years ago.
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