What can be claimed from landlord insurance?

E

EN710

The bill for property cleanup just came out - $2.2K for all rubbish removal (car parts, etc $650), carpet clean, flea and cockroach treatment (they have dog without permission), replace all window and door mesh, full vacate clean + lightbulbs (as they took most lightbulbs).

Also still arrear for 10 days, plus unpaid water bill. On top of that, property vacant for more ahn 2 weeks now waiting for rubbish to be cleaned.

Bond is $1K, so barely cover it.

I read somewhere that it's best to get all cleaning and repair fees with bond, and claim rent through insurance (currently with EBM)? :confused:

I don't like to claim insurance unless needed, but I think would need to otherwise pretty heavy out of pocket :(
 
Rubbish removal, flea treatment, carpet cleaning etc is a bond expense so unless EBM offer an amount for reletting expenses that exceed bond, thats sorta it.

Arrears for rent should be covered, and they may have cover for rental loss if property not inhabitable on possession.
 
One of my pet hates is insurance companies not covering for cleaning!

Do they think that tenants who skip out on rent and decide to punch holes in the wall are going to clean the damaged property before they skip out?

and what happens if they decide to leave a backyard full of mattresses, garbage bags, car parts, car engines and syringes!!

to me, its like selling you a new car without any tyres!

what I do is before any rent arrears are taken out of the bond, to allocate all of the cleanup costs from the bond, so that the insurance covers the rest,

the agent should do this for you
 
Don't claim, you're only 1.2k out of pocket and it may affect your future insurance policies.
Even if you claim, you will have to pay the excess so you won't get much.
 
miss green eyes said:
Don't claim, you're only 1.2k out of pocket and it may affect your future insurance policies.
Even if you claim, you will have to pay the excess so you won't get much.
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Miss green eyes, from what I remember there's no excess on rent arrear claims, only for damages.

$1.2K is small if that's the only thing I need to pay for, however the property need a new gutter plus a couple of other things that need work on, so that $1.2K is big :(
 
I am very cautious commenting on specific claim situations as the exact details can have a bearing on how it is settled, and that is never clear until the complete claim is submitted. Plus I'm not a claims expert. I can however give some general information on this.

Essentially you should use the bond to cover anything you cannot claim such as cleaning and minor damage, loss of rent is claimable with no excess so use as much as the bond as required for the rest. It sounds like yours will be exhausted which is where it is unfortunate.

The reality is however that if general cleaning etc. was simply included there is the potential for premiums to blow out beyond the reach of people. It also has the potential to promote lower inspection standards if was included. The way it is structured is that in the majority of cases cleaning etc. can be covered from the bond, then loss of rent paid as the claim. Where there is excessive cleaning required it can create the problem, but this is hopefully nipped in the bud along the way with regular inspections, as opposed to damage situations which can effectively happen overnight.

So exhaust your bond through cleaning and minor damage, claim your rent loss. If there are actual damage incidents detail them and see if there is anything to be gained.

As for suggestions people shouldn't claim because they might not get insurance in the future, I can assure you, with us at least, these are extremely rare situations and there is generally a far bigger story behind it than can be aired publicly. The average insured person, even with multiple claims, will not even raise an eyebrow.
 
brettc said:
I am very cautious commenting on specific claim situations as the exact details can have a bearing on how it is settled, and that is never clear until the complete claim is submitted. Plus I'm not a claims expert. I can however give some general information on this.

Essentially you should use the bond to cover anything you cannot claim such as cleaning and minor damage, loss of rent is claimable with no excess so use as much as the bond as required for the rest. It sounds like yours will be exhausted which is where it is unfortunate.

The reality is however that if general cleaning etc. was simply included there is the potential for premiums to blow out beyond the reach of people. It also has the potential to promote lower inspection standards if was included. The way it is structured is that in the majority of cases cleaning etc. can be covered from the bond, then loss of rent paid as the claim. Where there is excessive cleaning required it can create the problem, but this is hopefully nipped in the bud along the way with regular inspections, as opposed to damage situations which can effectively happen overnight.

So exhaust your bond through cleaning and minor damage, claim your rent loss. If there are actual damage incidents detail them and see if there is anything to be gained.

As for suggestions people shouldn't claim because they might not get insurance in the future, I can assure you, with us at least, these are extremely rare situations and there is generally a far bigger story behind it than can be aired publicly. The average insured person, even with multiple claims, will not even raise an eyebrow.
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Thank you brettc
Hoping that the tenant will actually cover to shortage but will need to confirm this with my PM, I never like claiming insurance if I don't need to
 
most LL insurance would specify they would cover the claim if it is malicious damage (and $100 or something for each type)

So paint off the door or being obvious scuff marks would not be claimable but hole through the door that looks like it was damaged would be.

Most insurance would not allow cover for the tenant being dirty or having bad habits. That is what the inspections or bond is used for.

If there are items stolen, that is claimable as well

This is just from my experiences as a landlord.
 
Truly Exotic said:
One of my pet hates is insurance companies not covering for cleaning!
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I'm kinda glad insurance companies don't cover for cleaning because then my premiums would go up to cover what I regard as a normal process of doing business.

All my leases now have what has become a standard stipulation that on the end of a tenancy the tenant is required to engage a bond cleaner of my choice to return the property to the pristine state it had when they entered. (Which it was because that same bond cleaner was in before they moved in.) If they don't do so, then I engage said cleaner and deduct the cost from the bond. If there are significant arrears left after the bond is exhausted, then I can turn to my insurance company.
 
Morbius said:
I'm kinda glad insurance companies don't cover for cleaning because then my premiums would go up to cover what I regard as a normal process of doing business.

All my leases now have what has become a standard stipulation that on the end of a tenancy the tenant is required to engage a bond cleaner of my choice to return the property to the pristine state it had when they entered. (Which it was because that same bond cleaner was in before they moved in.) If they don't do so, then I engage said cleaner and deduct the cost from the bond. If there are significant arrears left after the bond is exhausted, then I can turn to my insurance company.
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This is true, for many cases. Full vacate clean is not usually expensive.
The problems is when the rubbish removal alone is $650, it hurts quite a bit - they left one big entertainment unit inside the living room, with pieces of cloths, broken glasses, etc etc and lots of car parts in the garage. The removal of tyres are charged per tyres, which I am guessing the cause of the high bill.
 
EN710 said:
This is true, for many cases. Full vacate clean is not usually expensive.
The problems is when the rubbish removal alone is $650, it hurts quite a bit - they left one big entertainment unit inside the living room, with pieces of cloths, broken glasses, etc etc and lots of car parts in the garage. The removal of tyres are charged per tyres, which I am guessing the cause of the high bill.
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see you if you can get a trailer and put it in a tip for like $60. that should do it or just put it in your bin (slowly every week smaller parts)
$650 seems a bit steep for that. i use to demolish internal fittings and it never reached that much before.
 
Melbournian said:
see you if you can get a trailer and put it in a tip for like $60. that should do it or just put it in your bin (slowly every week smaller parts)
$650 seems a bit steep for that. i use to demolish internal fittings and it never reached that much before.
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That's what the company that the PM used quote the cleaning for :(
I'm guessing car parts cannot be just dumped into the bin.

RE put it every week, there are quite substantial amount of rubbish and I don't live closeby, so going there weekly is not an option
 
Morbius said:
All my leases now have what has become a standard stipulation that on the end of a tenancy the tenant is required to engage a bond cleaner of my choice
Click to expand...

I wonder if that would stand up at tribunal? I doubt it.

I wonder how many good tenants are scared off by this clause. I certainly would be.
 
EN710 said:
That's what the company that the PM used quote the cleaning for :(
I'm guessing car parts cannot be just dumped into the bin.

RE put it every week, there are quite substantial amount of rubbish and I don't live closeby, so going there weekly is not an option
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there is a recycle bin (which is for recycle items) and general bin which you can put in anything, so yeah you can put it in there if it fits the bin.

PM charging a fair bit all i can say.
 
Ed Barton said:
I wonder if that would stand up at tribunal? I doubt it.

I wonder how many good tenants are scared off by this clause. I certainly would be.
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Spot on. Here in qld anyway, not only would it not stand up at tribunal but it is in breach of the PAMD act. You cannot contractually get your tenant to use xyz for cleaning nor can you tell them to use professional carpet cleaners. They are obligated to leave the property in the condition it was given less wear and tear and you can give them a vacate checklist (available from tenancy websites) but if they choose to do it themselves, they can.
Property managers get around this by adding must be cleaned to australian standards, which impiles the need for professional cleaners without saying it and then being in breach of the act.
That being said, both times I have rented here, I have been 'heavily encouraged' to use the agents bond cleaner and carpet cleaning firm as I was told they always find a number of things wrong when people do it themselves and the call backs to rectify within the 7 day timeframe are continuous and usually result in the agent deducting this cost from the bond anyway....
 
vaughan said:
In Sydney, many councils offer 1 or 2 free waste pickups each year. Might be a cheap way of doing it.
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Not all do, haha!
Been there, done that.
I binned the junk and organised giveaways via gumtree for the useable stuff.
As a side note, I can't believe how rude some people are, even when you're giving them good stuff (useable washing machine etc).
That's why I try to get them to pick up a few days ahead of time - in case they don't even turn up, at least it gives me time to try to find someone else.
 
Ed Barton said:
I wonder if that would stand up at tribunal? I doubt it.

I wonder how many good tenants are scared off by this clause. I certainly would be.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure it is a standard REIQ clause now.

Edit: The standard REIQ clause only requires "professional carpet cleaning". On thinking about it, the clause my agents use stipulates the professional cleaner must be "acceptable to the lessor" and not "of the choice of the lessor - so the tenant is free to use any reasonable cleaning professionals. In general it works out cheaper for them to use the bond cleaners my agents use though. However, the requirement that carpets be professionally cleaned is quite standard and I believe pretty well tested. They were professionally cleaned on arrival and need to be professionally cleaned on departure.
 
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