We are the owners of a property in Waterloo St, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13.
Cockermouth was subject to a catastrophic flood in November 2009 and our house was under seven foot of water.
We have since moved out into another property and decided to let out our house in Cockermouth. This property has been reinstated and we have been attempting to secure insurance at a realistic and reasonable rate. This has proved to be very difficult. We have been told by numerous insurance companies that they are not quoting for our postcode, and were informed by our existing insurers that the new policy premium would be between £3,000 and £5,000 per annum, possibly more, with a very considerable excess.
They would also require a lot of documentation including a government report on the flooding risk at our property. This seemed unreasonable and unduly onerous. In desperation we contacted the National Flood Forum who put us in touch with Neil Cook at Equity and General. Neil was in a position to offer insurance immediately that was both affordable and reasonable.
We are very grateful to Neil for his assistance and the sympathetic manner in which he handled our circumstances he quoted a premium 75% less than we had been offered.
If you want more information contact Neil by Clicking Here
“I was really surprised because I’d forgotten all about it to be honest,” said Olivia. “It was so long ago that I entered that it came as a bit of a shock. I was on a plane on the way to visit my Dad in America when I got the call.
“I was so happy – it’s such a relief now I think about it because I was quite worried about how I was going to pay my rent before my student loan came through. Now it’s not something that I have to worry about!”
Ian Thornton, Lighthouse Student Lettings Manager, said: “The prize draw is very popular and is now a key part of our marketing strategy, helping to attract tenants as part of our ongoing student lettings campaign.
“Olivia can now concentrate on her university work and on enjoying the coming year without having to worry about finding funds for rent which is an increasing concern among students.
“We are delighted to have been able to run this competition and will look to carry out similar marketing activities in the future to encourage students to use Lighthouse when searching for or renewing their yearly accommodation.”
To date Lighthouse has successfully housed over 7,000 students, offering a range of impressive all-inclusive rental packages starting at just £59 per week.
In addition to the attractive first prize, the second prize of £1,000 rental discount was won by Gina Clark while Katie Sciabica picked up the third prize of £100of Morrisons vouchers.
Properties available include everything from renovated terraced houses to modern luxury apartments and are all located in the city centre close to university campuses. Many also come fully furnished, have wireless Internet access and cater for individuals or groups of up to 12 people.
Lincoln is also the home to Landlord and Tenant insurance company "Letsure". They are situated in Green Lane Lincoln and offer rental insurance for landlords and Tenants and course students. Find out more Here
A couple who were co-landlords of a Bristol property have been fined after admitting breaching gas safety regulations.
Atulkulmar Ratilal Patel, 55, and Chetna Atulkulmar Patel, 51, of Beaufort Street, Brynmawr, Gwent, were fined a combined total of £6,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,800 at Bristol Magistrates' Court today.
Mr Patel pleaded guilty to two charges after replacing a boiler without being competent to do so, and without being Gas Safe registered.
He and his wife both pleaded guilty to another breach of health and safety law for being unable to provide a landlords' certificate.
Ian Whittles, HSE Inspector said:"Working with gas supplies is a specialised job and must only be carried out by trained engineers who are members of the Gas Safe Register, to minimise any risk of death or serious injury resulting from gas leaks or explosions.
"As landlords, Mr and Mrs Patel should have made sure that the boiler was properly installed and maintained by someone properly trained and certified to do so. Landlords must also provide proof that boilers have been checked for safety every year
"It is absolutely unacceptable to take this responsibility lightly, and I encourage all tenants to check that their landlords are doing what they should to ensure their safety."
Mr Patel pleaded guilty to breaching regulations 3 (1), 3(3), and 36 (3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and was fined £6,000 with £1,800 costs.
Mrs Patel pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 36 (3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and was fined £500.
More information for landlords and tenants is available at www.hse.gov.uk/gas[1].
Notes about Gas Safety Regulations
1.Regulation 3(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states that "No person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so."
Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states that "no employer shall allow any of his employees to carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or service pipework and no self-employed person shall carry out any such work, unless the employer or self-employed person, as the case may be, is a member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of this paragraph."
Regulation 36 (3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states that "a landlord shall - (a) ensure that each appliance and flue to which that duty extends is checked for safety within 12 months of being installed and at intervals of not more than 12 months since it was last checked for safety (whether such check was made pursuant to these Regulations or not); (b) in the case of a lease commencing after the coming into force of these Regulations, ensure that each appliance and flue to which the duty extends has been checked for safety within a period of 12 months before the lease commences or has been or is so checked within 12 months after the appliance or flue has been installed, whichever is later; and (c) ensure that a record in respect of any appliance or flue so checked is made and retained for a period of 2 years from the date of that check, which record shall include the following information -
(i) the date on which the appliance or flue was checked;
(ii) the address of the premises at which the appliance or flue is installed;
(iii) the name and address of the landlord of the premises (or, where appropriate, his agent) at which the appliance or flue is installed;
(iv) a description of and the location of each appliance or flue checked;
(v) any defect identified;
(vi) any remedial action taken;
(vii) confirmation that the check undertaken complies with the requirements of paragraph (9) below;
(viii) the name and signature of the individual carrying out the check; and
(ix) the registration number with which that individual, or his employer, is registered with a body approved by the Executive for the purposes of regulation 3(3) of these Regulations."
2.Further information about the gas registration scheme is available at: http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/about.aspx [2]
3.The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement.
4.Workers undertaking gas installation and maintenance work must be registered with Gas Safe Register. Further information about the gas registration scheme is available at: http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/about.aspx [3]
Source: Health and Safety Executive
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Our home has a "history" of subsidence when, in 1989, the house was adversely affected by the close proximity of trees whose roots were drawing water from beneath the house. As our home dates from the Victorian period when foundations were not as substantial as contemporary builds, cracks developed on the front and back walls. Removal of the trees corrected the problem, but now our home has an insurance history which tends to frighten the majority of companies.
This is further complicated since 2007 by an industry fear of any properties near a watercourse. I have been asked if we live within 30m, 150m, 250m, even 1000m of a watercourse that has flooded in the past. Despite the fact that our house has never been flooded, our proximity to the local dyke which affected our neighbours, severely restricted our ability to obtain insurance. Until we were given your telephone number by the National Flood Forum, no one wanted to know about our flood defences since 2007 or steps that the local council had taken to minimize backflow due to a silted up road bridge and the cleaning of local drains.
We're still getting junk mail advertising discounted prices for home insurance, but the minute you tell the "advisor" at Saga, Churchill, More Than and others that you have history, they don't want to know. Or if a company is willing to give a quote, it can be as much as £1400 for a small, three-bedroom house. We were insured through Saga for 12 months. When our renewal papers arrived, I noticed that one of the declarations had changed from "The property has never been flooded" (2008) to "the property is not within 150m of a watercourse that has flooded" (2009). When I informed them that the declaration was now a Yes, Saga refunded part payment without actually saying that the policy was cancelled. My oversight regarding this credit at that time meant that we were without cover for 11 months.
Millions of people in the UK have a history of subsidence, 80% due to trees. Millions of people also live near streams and rivers and, with more unpredictable weather due to climate change, those people often find themselves unable to obtain affordable cover. I know that 2 of our neighbours have no insurance at this time.
Although our new policy is a bit more expensive than in the past, it is not excessive considering that the underwriters are assuming a slightly elevated level of risk. Neil, thank you for helping us through a very worrying and frustrating period.
SEE ALSO: (on this blog)
Defra Flood summit focuses on a shared approach to managing flood risk
Flood insurance problems won't go away
Flood Damage insurance
