In the heart of this NW London suburb, our landlord client’s 6-bedroomed house had been let to a foreign businessman on a one-year tenancy.
References had been taken, identity evidence validated, and credit checks passed. Rent was paid on time and there were no complaints from neighbours – a seemingly model tenant. Until our client had a call from the Police to say they had just raided the house as it had been turned into a cannabis farm!
The insurers argued that this was a landlord and tenant matter and the cover did not extend to repairing the damage caused by the installation of hydroponic lighting and ventilation equipment causing numerous large holes in ceilings and walls, and massive amounts of water damage from the cultivation process. We went through the policy fine print in even finer detail and defeated the insurer’s arguments on every point. After they accepted liability we negotiated the scope and quantum of damage, plus loss of rent, and settled the claim at £250,000.
