I get an applicant, and he is a homeowner. He suggests that his home was burnt down last week in a fire. He now lives in a hotel and he is looking for somewhere to rent. The rent will be paid by his insurance company until his house gets rebuilt.
is there any way I can verify if this is true? should the tenancy contract be signed involving the insurance company?
thanks.
You can call the insurance company with his permission. I would ask them whether there are any limits on the amount and length of time theyll pay and who they pay. I would still fully reference/credit check him.
Ask to see the letter from his insurance that says all he claims it does
thanks, I will update you on any progress.
also, the applicant suggests that he will sell the house when it is repaired. so he would like to continue renting the flat after the period for which insurance pays the rent. He also suggests that I will sign a contract with the insurance company. I am not sure about that because in another post in Openrent mydeposit only refunds the deposit to individuals.
I am not sure I believe that the insurance company would sign a rental contract with you, but that may be his misunderstanding. You need to think about the period immediately after the property is repaired and the insurer stops paying. It will likely take him several more months to sell the property. Does he have the funds to continue paying the rent himself whilst keeping an empty property?
With all respect Colin3, letters are too easy to fake now-a-days. I would go one step further and contact the Insurance company. Having said that, the Insurance company could never be the tenant.
yes i get that But with a copy of that it can be checked out directly with them?
If you can drive by his burnt out house first , then ring with caution!
Hmmm renting to someone whose house burned down… better make sure you have good insurance, especially for fires….
Need check house actually burnt down and it was his house . Contact the insurance company. Agreement has to be in the tenants name. Not sure about payment? Insurance company May pay tenant, will they pass on to you? Once house rebuilt and sold? Tenant wants to continue renting? Why? That is so much in the future and uncertain it’s irrelevant I would suggest to their immediate requirements
thanks, everyone, just to update you, the applicant has chosen to rent another flat he viewed, but I decided not to accept the application anyway.
many thanks.
that is a very good point, I did not asked how his house was burnt down, but he mentioned that he cooks a lot :S
sounds like a near miss to me (cooks a lot) made me laugh
The most common cause of house fires is cooking. In the 1970s when I was a kid it was mainly caused by chip pan fires, but seems people don’t fry chips much anymore due to oven chips. I guess by your name you are Chinese, then you will understand people like my wife (also Chinese) who thinks our domestic gas supply is pathetically weak and basically impossible to use for wok cooking, so people instead get restaurant-grade jet burners installed in their kitchens…
As the applicant to provide evidence that the rent will be paid this way - the onus is on them to provide it not you to find it.
Once they have provided it you can then check it .
Remember the insurance may not pay out (their are lots of exceptions) or they may ask for an excess from the tenant.
You have no rights to personal information from the insurance company and if they give it to you without the applicants authority they are breaking the law.
You can ask that the insurance company acts as guarantor or pays 6 months rent in advance. .
Interestingly I’m in exactly the same situation having rented to a family that suffered a flood.
I have a contract with the tenants and they are responsible for paying the rent, I refused to accept that the insurance were responsible for paying the rent as there are too many loopholes if the insurance decide to refuse their claim etc.
So the insurance co are not named on the contract and the tenants are responsible for making sure that the rent is paid. It may be that the payment comes from the insurance Co but the tenants are responsible for making sure it gets paid.
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