Updating post from Reddit.
I’ve had a tenancy for three years which recently ended. There was some water damage due to a leak in the boiler which I’m claiming repairs on Landlord’s insurance.
The insurance company have sent inspectors round, I’ve got a contractor, everything is approved, all good.
The final hurdle is the insurance company requires details about the tenants which only the letting agent have. Now, the agent is refusing to share the information with the insurance company for GDPR reasons.
The letting agent has said the only way forwards is them getting written consent from the tenants to share their information with the insurance company. Since I’ve raised deposit disputes I’m not hopeful this will play out in my favour.
Has anyone experienced this before? Does anyone have any advice on how to move forwards?
The letting agent is an agent of *you*. Any details they hold are yours to share as you see fit. Obviously if you share them in illegal ways you might be opening yourself up to prosecution under the GDPR.
This sounds like a standard case of "I'm lazy and/or incompetent so I'm refusing and blaming GDPR".
When I asked for the details myself, they touted GDPR as the reason they couldn’t give them to me. Fair enough, I personally don’t have a use for them. But the insurance company does.
OP fyi you should also be registered with the ICO since you are/will hold personal details. Its not much to do. Also you can hit them back with it since you are acting legally.
Do you not have a copy of the tenancy agreement? this usually has some form of contact information on it.
I do, but the insurance company requires details of the background checks then letting agent ran. Proof they collected ID and references
Likely your agent doesn’t have these details on file or they didn’t run the checks.
You are entitled to a copy of these or lodge a complaint with the agents ombudsman.
WTF? I made a claim against my insurer on a damaged floor caused by a leak while the place was tenanted. They asked for nothing except for a quote from a builder to fix.
Have you tried escalating with the insurer? Do your policy T&Cs require this?
The onus should be on them to provide a reason that they need this information and it should, IMO, be stated explicitly in the policy T&Cs.
Is there a realistic chance the insurance company believes the damage was done by the tenant and wants to sue them to recoup their losses?
I don’t believe so, I’ve never blamed the tenants. It was a faulty valve on the tank. They say this is just a blanket policy for any pay outs
I'd just give the tenants name at the property address and call it a day.
Surely you can request a copy of the tenancy agreement from the agency. I have a copy of the agreement on my two rentals and contact details are usually outlined in that.
If they refuse to give it to you then do a gdpr claim and any document with your name on will have to be given including the rental agreement which will contain hopefully all their details.
Unfortunately, the insurance company want more than just the agreement. They want information on the background checks run at the start of the tenancy. ID, references etc.
Your insurance company is dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. If you can’t provide proof of a legitimate tenancy and that you complied with their terms and conditions. It may give them an out to refuse your claim. Hopefully they are just being thorough, chase your agent and threaten action against them should this hold up or put your claim in jeopardy.
Why does the insurance company need the tenant's details? Are they proposing to pursue them for the damage after they've compensated you and been somehow subrogated?
If that's the case, that would mean you as a landlord have a claim against the tenants for the damage to the boiler other than the fact that they were the tenants at the time, which would mean proof of deliberate and intentional damage.
I don’t believe this to be the case. I’ve never blamed the tenants, and was clear it was just a faulty valve on the water tank. I think this is just a blanket policy they have before they make any payouts.
Maybe they need evidence that the boiler was actually in use (i.e. the home was occupied) and didn't deteriorate through lack of use? I can't really think of any reason why they'll need this information, but I'm not in insurance, and will assume they'll have one.
However, in this case, your agent may be right then, whether they know it or not. Data protection, however maligned it may be, exists for this reasons like this. However, as the landlord, I'd say you do have grounds to know who lives in your house even if you had an agent, so you can ask for this information from the agents (are you registered as a data controller?). But before you pass it on, the insurers must have a need to know the tenants' personal data (who the tenants were) for the purposes of handling this claim.
You could ask your insurers why they need the information (was this mentioned in the policy?) and if they do have a valid reason to know it for the purpose of the claim handling and aren't just reading from some long-unreviewed playbook, then you'll have a case for demanding it from your agents.
Sounds like insurance tactics to me anything not to pay out!!