Tons of damages caused by tenants; where do I start chasing for $$?

The tenant moved out and we found heaps of damages like holes in wall, cracked shower screen, major floorboard scratches, etc. All these damages will require big dollars to fix; the bond is a meager change compared to the repair bill.

I started a landlord insurance claim and they are now trying to point fingers to 'tenant negligence', instead of 'malicious damage', and try to wipe their hands clean.

Property manager is being nonchalant and kept saying that the tenant ran out of Melbourne and not much can be done.

Where or who can I go to?

 

When did it happen ? Unless something can indicate it was a single or defined event (eg a party they day before they left) to cause damage then its a series of endless damage claims and no insurer will cover it. The insurer would ask that and if its appalling conduct then did the PM do inspections ? Its not their role to continually monitor tenants and property.

 

Nobody knows. Could be anything.

Yes, but they must've skipped one during the lockdown...
I have the entry report, 3 months after move-in, 11 months after move-in and skipped to outgoing report.
It's a year and half between the last report and the outgoing report.

 

- ~$600 to replace a shower screen.
- get a handyman for $50/hour to patch and paint the wall.
- sand and polish the floorboards would be over $1000 depending on size. Insurance company may argue normal wear and tear. I wouldn’t bother unless it’s really bad. Leave as is for the next tenant and just fix up everything else.
Sure you may be out of pocket a little bit, but just move on and get a better PM.

 

ANZ (QBE is behind them)

Did yours asked questions? How did you handled them?

If only this is true. I'm halfway through the long list, and it's not remotely close to 'a little'. Hence the post (my last post here was more than a year ago) because I'm feeling a little lost now.

 

Not a specialised LL insurer then ?. Many consider Terry Sheer or EBM for their very precise LL policies and focus. Its core business. Typical bad claim exeriences still happen but often with them settling say on 6-10 excesses and deducting that from the total loss to reflect that damage occurred over time. It just depends. The issue of tenant damage IS evident, whats not evident is the progressive or step by step nature of it. The "when". Its not one claim when the damage occurs bit by bit. Think of it like a dozen acts of damage. That often is the arguement to run....You may even need to encourage them by threats to take it to AFCA

 

Apologies. My post was insensitive.
Normally the PM handles the insurance claims? I could be wrong, but mine have all asked for my insurance details at the start of the tenancy so they could handle it in the future.

 

They haven't given me a definite conclusion yet but have hinted that they are leaning towards the route of wiping it off as simply 'tenant's negligence', which I find baffling because tons of massive intentional scribble/drawing scratches on the floorboard doesn't sound like negligence to me.

I'm past the assessor state, the builder who came out did say some are unfortunately a bit hard to argue as 'malicious' from insurer's eye but at the end of the day it is up to the insurer. So I'll wear those and view it as a refresh.

 

Post some pictures of the damages. Honestly I dont think it could be that bad or expensive.

How much does holes in wall, cracked shower screen, major floorboard scratches, etc.... cost to fix? I reckon I'd get it all done under $1500. If I was there myself all done under $500 and 2-3 days work max and thats because of the floorboard scratches due to sanding it back.

Cracked shower scree, hold in wall etc....all 1/2 days work

 

Wasn’t some of this discovered during routine inspections?

Or did a perfect tenant go feral?

 

I think this is still pretty slack of the PM. I had a property in VIC- PM still did virtual inspection (where the tenant had to take photos and state any maintenance issues), and as soon as lockdown lifted after the initial 4 month lockdown period, they quickly went in and inspected the property.

 

The problem at the moment is that all the tradies are booked solid with people doing renovation work etc, meaning that the quotes for any work are coming in as insanely expensive.

I can't imagine that anyone would get away with getting all that work sorted for under $1500. Pre-COVID = maybe; now, I reckon you'd at least double or triple that total.

 

Ah yes, gotta love insurance companies. They will use every trick in the book to weasel out of paying a claim...heck, they will even do a hit n run on their own grandmother if it means they dont have to pay...

 

Trouble is that fixing a hole properly requires time for plaster to dry between coats, then sealer paint, then 2 top coats over the entire wall (if not the entire room if you can't get the paint to match close enough...) to do it properly.
I've done about 30 door handle thru wall repairs and its a PITA

 

When you fill holes with filler the trick is to use a hair dryer. It will dry the filler almost instantly and allow you to do it 2-3 times within the hour and the final time dont use the dryer so you'll get a perfect finish.

Is this only in Melb? I get bombarded with tradies wanting work everytime I post something on airtasker, service seeking or hi-pages in NSW and QLD. Plenty of trades or handymen that can do this work imho.