Lloyds found that 25% of tenants have damaged their landlord’s property accidentally, while a 25% have caused blockages to sinks and toilets. Meanwhile, more than one in ten say they’ve failed to pay rent or bills, and a further 12% say they have smoked at their rented property, increasing the risk of fire and smoke damage.
Other things which landlords need to be aware of include tenants causing noise disturbance (10%), damage caused by pets (9%) and leaving the property unsecured and therefore at risk of burglary (6%). One in 20 (5%) say that their rental property has, in fact, been burgled while they’ve been living there.
The top five tenants’ confessions were:
1. Accidentally damaged the property 25%
2. Blocked the sink/toilet 25%
3. Smoked inside the property 12%
4. Defaulted on rent/bills 12%
5. Caused noise disturbance 10%
The research also highlights the lengths tenants have gone to in order to hide their domestic mishaps and avoid losing their deposit money. Almost a third (31%) have cleaned the carpets themselves, more than a quarter (29%) have repainted the walls, and one in twenty (5%) have hired a professional cleaner to blitz the property from top to bottom.
Damien McGarrigle, Head of Business Insurance for Lloyds Banking Group, says: “The results highlight just how important it is for private landlords to have adequate landlord insurance which will protect them from a range of common problems, from break-ins and accidental damage to loss of rental income and plumbing issues.
We know many small scale private landlords with just one or two properties rely on regular home insurance to protect them, but this often falls short of covering the specific problems they could face.”
