This is scary stuff. If, for example, a tenant tripped, fell and injured themselves and said you were liable, the personal liability claim for that could run into the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, and you would not be covered by insurance.
I don’t want to catastrophise – but I will – imagine if there had been a fire, or loss of life. I cannot stress enough how important it is to always have a valid insurance policy.
What has upset me the most about this entire incident is that I pride myself on being an “on-the-ball” landlord. This is my day job. I make it my business to be up to date with changing regulations and to know what I need to do, but even I have managed to get caught out.
What upsets me most about this situation is how unfair it seems. When I look around and see the Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners arguing that the Government failed to notify them all those years ago, I say: What about me?
What am I meant to do when councils appear to be intentionally rigging the system so that landlords are not informed of their new duties? Why did the council not inform me of its new licensing rules? What is its justification for not notifying me? Why is it that my ignorance of this new scheme is not justifiable?
Councils know landlords don’t live in the property they are renting, but when a tenant moves out, they are quick enough to contact landlords to demand the council tax.
Which is why this whole affair reeks of yet more unfairness and discriminatory behaviour. This is wrong and unjust. Landlords should be informed when selective licensing is introduced. If councils can send council tax demands, what is their excuse for not notifying landlords of these critical changes?
