Although originally a story with its origins late in 2011*, a BBC report has generated some further discussion about landlords’ liabilities to legal actions from tenants.

The story originally covered a computer memory stick, with over 26,000 social tenant housing records, which was left in a pub.

The data was reported as being entirely unencrypted and therefore potentially readable by anyone who found it.

This left the people responsible for the data liable for prosecution under the data protection act and possibly other elements of legislation also.

The specific issues here may not appear to be immediately applicable to the average private landlord, although if you are in any doubt as to your liability for information you hold on your tenants, it may be advisable to seek legal advice.  It might also be worth noting that you do not need to be in breach of the data protection act in order to have legal liabilities to your tenants – those liabilities may exist in a significant number of areas including safety etc.

The point that may apply to all landlords is simply that you may be more vulnerable than you think to legal action from your tenants or members of the public, particularly under third party liability provisions.

Today we live in an increasingly litigious society where people may be very well aware of their legal rights and your legal liabilities.

Something that in previous generations may simply have been attributed to bad luck and life’s uncertainties may today instead form the basis for an allocation of responsibility activity (sometimes more bluntly called a witch-hunt) with a view to seeking financial compensation.

Whether you are a supporter of this new social trend or not doesn’t really matter – like it or not, it is the society we live in and some people would contend that these trends are increasing and are likely to do so for the foreseeable future.

Although trying to predict what these things mean for us as individuals is always difficult, it might be prudent to pay a little more attention to the extent of the cover provided by third party liability insurance.  That might include thinking about whether or not it will help with some components of legal expenses in a court situation.

Some landlords may be very focused on low cost landlord insurance to the extent that elements of cover are sometimes overlooked.  As this story and the general principles that arise out of it may indicate, that may prove to be an expensive mistake.

*Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14407820