The Landlord Appliances Most Likely to Lead to an Insurance Claim

Being a landlord can involve a constant worry about how your tenants are looking after your property and its contents. If you let a furnished home, you need to consider maintenance of the items you provide for your tenants, as well as ensuring they are safe to use. Sometimes either misuse or faults can lead to an incident with landlord appliances, and that means making an insurance claim.

Insurance comparison site Confused.com has released a study of the appliance most likely to lead to an insurance claim in a property and the results provide interesting reading for anyone renting to tenants. It is one thing to be in control of your own appliances, but for landlords who do not see them on a day-to-day basis to check their condition, it can be a real worry.

Landlord Appliances With the Most Claims

The most insurance claims from incidents relating to appliances involved cookers and ovens. The study found that there were 111,426 claims in the UK relating to these items in the past ten years. Grills and toasters were second, with just five fewer incidents over the same period.

After that, the next most common appliance issues come from microwaves, rings and hotplates.

The incidents leading to the insurance claims could generally be put down to misuse or equipment being in poor working condition.

How to Reduce Insurance Claims on Landlord Appliances

There are a number of ways in which you can reduce the need for insurance claims on landlord appliances. They include:

● Fostering a trusting relationship with tenants, where they feel comfortable contacting you with any concerns over the condition of appliances.

● Adding in a requirement to check appliances and to use them correctly in the tenancy agreement, backed up by leaving instruction manuals in the property for them to refer to.

● Including appliance checks in your regular landlord inspections. This includes ensuring there is no build up of grease or damage to power cords and electrical plugs. A qualified electrician should inspect your appliances before a new tenancy and at least every five years. But you might opt to carry out more regular inspections to be certain of the safety of your appliances.

● Providing a range of cookware to use for different appliances and levels of heat. Having the correct equipment reduces the chances of tenants using inappropriate and potentially dangerous solutions.

● Taking out extended warranties on any landlord appliances that you buy for the property. This means that you can often get a manufacturer-approved repair on any small problem, which should be of high quality and guaranteed. For major issues, there will usually be a replacement, rather than continually trying to fix the issue.

Landlord Maintenance Responsibilities

Landlords have a responsibility to maintain:

● electrical wiring

● gas pipes and boilers

● heating and hot water

● chimneys and ventilation

● sinks, baths, toilets, pipes and drains

● all common areas including entrance halls and stairways

● the structure and exterior of the building.

In addition, the landlord is responsible for maintaining any equipment they provide and this includes landlord appliances.

Want Help With Maintenance?

Property maintenance is one part of our property management package for landlords and letting agents. We take on this massive responsibility to free you up and take the pressure off you. Take a look at our outsourcing options and call us on 0208 5757630 to find out more.