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Question Details: Our landlord has told us that it needs to come out of our insurance (which we don't have). The lino was already considerably damaged by the previous tenants. Due to the damage, the landlord withheld bond money from the previous tenants but didn’t fix it.
Filed under Tenancy | 1305 View(s)
Community Law Wellington & Hutt Valley
You will be liable for any damage caused by you to the lino even though you do not have insurance.
Your landlord is responsible for keeping the premises in a reasonable state of repair and he or she must repair any damage that you, as the current tenants, are not responsible for. However, as the current tenants you are responsible for any damage you cause intentionally or accidentally. (You are not responsible for damage caused by normal wear and tear - like carpets slowly wearing out.) So, if it is possible to separate the damage caused by you from the damage caused by the previous tenant then you should only be responsible for the damage you have caused.
It is not necessary that you have insurance to rent a property (unless it is a specific term of your tenancy agreement). However, insurance is recommended because it will protect your own contents as well as any damage to the landlord's property caused by you or by a guest of yours. The landlord may not be willing to claim under his or her own insurance for the property as this may result in the payment by them of higher premiums or excess. (And even if the landlord uses their insurance, the insurance company might try to get the cost of the damage back from you and the other tenants.)
We suggest that you offer to split the cost of repairing the lino with the landlord, based on what proportion of damage was caused by you and what proportion was caused by previous tenants. If you cannot reach an agreement with the landlord, then you can contact Building and Housing to organise a mediation between yourself and your landlord, or alternatively you can contact the Tenancy Tribunal. Call 0800 TENANCY for more information.
There is lots more information on these dispute resolution options and on responsibility for damage online. Try these websites: www.communitylaw.org.nz and www.dbh.govt.nz.
Answered 4 Feb 2013. The IMPORTANT NOTICE below is part of this answer.
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