Landlord and Tenant Act 1987

Section 43(2).

SCHEDULE 3 E+W RIGHTS OF TENANTS WITH RESPECT TO INSURANCE

Construction E+W

1 E+W In this Schedule—

• “landlord”, in relation to a tenant by whom a service charge is payable which includes an amount payable directly or indirectly for insurance, includes any person who has a right to enforce payment of that service charge;

• “relevant policy”, in relation to a dwelling, means any policy of insurance under which the dwelling is insured (being, in the case of a flat, a policy covering the building containing it); and

• “tenant” includes a statutory tenant.

Request for summary of insurance cover E+W

2 (1) Where a service charge is payable by the tenant of a dwelling which consists of or includes an amount payable directly or indirectly for insurance, the tenant may require the landlord in writing to supply him with a written summary of the insurance for the time being effected in relation to the dwelling. E+W

(2) If the tenant is represented by a recognised tenants’ association and he consents, the request may be made by the secretary of the association instead of by the tenant and may then be for the supply of the summary to the secretary.

(3) A request is duly served on the landlord if it is served on—

(a) an agent of the landlord named as such in the rent book or similar document, or

(b) the person who receives the rent on behalf of the landlord;

and a person on whom a request is so served shall forward it as soon as may be to the landlord.

(4) The landlord shall, within one month of the request, comply with it by supplying to the tenant or the secretary of the recognised tenants’ association (as the case may require) such a summary as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (1), which shall include—

(a) the insured amount or amounts under any relevant policy, and

(b) the name of the insurer under any such policy, and

(c) the risks in respect of which the dwelling or (as the case may be) the building containing it is insured under any such policy.

(5) In sub-paragraph (4)(a) “the insured amount or amounts”, in relation to a relevant policy, means—

(a) in the case of a dwelling other than a flat, the amount for which the dwelling is insured under the policy; and

(b) in the case of a flat, the amount for which the building containing it is insured under the policy and, if specified in the policy, the amount for which the flat is insured under it.

(6) The landlord shall be taken to have complied with the request if, within the period mentioned in sub-paragraph (4), he instead supplies to the tenant or the secretary (as the case may require) a copy of every relevant policy.

(7) In a case where two or more buildings are insured under any relevant policy, the summary or copy supplied under sub-paragraph (4) or (6) so far as relating to that policy need only be of such parts of the policy as relate—

(a) to the dwelling, and

(b) if the dwelling is a flat, to the building containing it.

Request to inspect insurance policy etc. E+W

3 (1) This paragraph applies where a tenant, or the secretary of a recognised tenants’ association, has obtained either— E+W

(a) such a summary as is referred to in paragraph 2(1), or

(b) a copy of any relevant policy or of any such parts of any relevant policy as relate to the premises referred to in paragraph 2(7)(a) or (b),

whether in pursuance of paragraph 2 or otherwise.

(2) The tenant, or the secretary with the consent of the tenant, may within six months of obtaining any such summary or copy as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(a) or (b) require the landlord in writing to afford him reasonable facilities—

(a) for inspecting any relevant policy,

(b) for inspecting any accounts, receipts or other documents which provide evidence of payment of any premiums due under any such policy in respect of the period of insurance which is current when the request is made and the period of insurance immediately preceding that period, and

(c) for taking copies of or extracts from any of the documents referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b).

(3) Any reference in this paragraph to a relevant policy includes a reference to a policy of insurance under which the dwelling in question was insured for the period of insurance immediately preceding that current when the request is made under this paragraph (being, in the case of a flat, a policy covering the building containing it).

(4) Subsections (3) to (6) of section 22 shall have effect in relation to a request made under this paragraph as they have effect in relation to a request made under that section.

Request relating to insurance effected by superior landlord E+W

4 (1) If a request is made under paragraph 2 in a case where a superior landlord has effected, in whole or in part, the insurance of the dwelling in question and the landlord to whom the request is made is not in possession of the relevant information— E+W

(a) he shall in turn make a written request for the relevant information to the person who is his landlord (and so on, if that person is not himself the superior landlord),

(b) the superior landlord shall comply with that request within a reasonable time, and

(c) the immediate landlord shall then comply with the tenant’s or secretary’s request in the manner provided by sub-paragraphs (4) to (7) of paragraph 2 within the time allowed by that paragraph or such further time, if any, as is reasonable in the circumstances.

(2) If, in a case where a superior landlord has effected, in whole or in part, the insurance of the dwelling in question, a request under paragraph 3 relates to any policy of insurance effected by the superior landlord—

(a) the landlord to whom the request is made shall forthwith inform the tenant or secretary of that fact and of the name and address of the superior landlord, and

(b) that paragraph shall then apply to the superior landlord in relation to that policy as it applies to the immediate landlord.

Effect of assignment on request E+W

5 E+W The assignment of a tenancy does not affect the validity of a request made under paragraph 2, 3 or 4 before the assignment; but a person is not obliged to provide a summary or make facilities available more than once for the same dwelling and for the same period.

Failure to comply with paragraph 2, 3 or 4 an offence E+W

6 (1) It is a summary offence for a person to fail, without reasonable excuse, to perform a duty imposed on him by or by virtue of paragraph 2, 3 or 4. E+W

(2) A person committing such an offence is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Tenant’s right to notify insurers of possible claim E+W

7 (1) This paragraph applies to any dwelling in respect of which the tenant pays to the landlord a service charge consisting of or including an amount payable directly or indirectly for insurance. E+W

(2) Where—

(a) it appears to the tenant of any such dwelling that damage has been caused—

(i) to the dwelling, or

(ii) if the dwelling is a flat, to the dwelling or to any other part of the building containing it,

in respect of which a claim could be made under the terms of a policy of insurance, and

(b) it is a term of that policy that the person insured under the policy should give notice of any claim under it to the insurer within a specified period,

the tenant may, within that specified period, serve on the insurer a notice in writing stating that it appears to him that damage has been caused as mentioned in paragraph (a) and describing briefly the nature of the damage.

(3) Where—

(a) any such notice is served on an insurer by a tenant in relation to any such damage, and

(b) the specified period referred to in sub-paragraph (2)(b) would expire earlier than the period of six months beginning with the date on which the notice is served,

the policy in question shall have effect as regards any claim subsequently made in respect of that damage by the person insured under the policy as if for the specified period there were substituted that period of six months.

(4) Where the tenancy of a dwelling to which this paragraph applies is held by joint tenants, a single notice under this paragraph may be given by any one or more of those tenants.

(5) The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe the form of notices under this paragraph and the particulars which such notices must contain.

(6) Any such regulations—

(a) may make different provision with respect to different cases or descriptions of case, including different provision for different areas, and

(b) shall be made by statutory instrument.

Right to challenge landlord’s choice of insurers E+W

8 (1) This paragraph applies to a tenancy of a dwelling which requires the tenant to insure the dwelling with an insurer nominated by the landlord. E+W

(2) Where, on an application made by the tenant under any such tenancy, the court is satisfied—

(a) that the insurance which is available from the nominated insurer for insuring the tenant’s dwelling is unsatisfactory in any respect, or

(b) that the premiums payable in respect of any such insurance are excessive,

the court may make either an order requiring the landlord to nominate such other insurer as is specified in the order or an order requiring him to nominate another insurer who satisfies such requirements in relation to the insurance of the dwelling as are specified in the order.

(3) A county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any application under this paragraph.

Exception for tenants of certain public authorities E+W

9 (1) Paragraphs 2 to 8 do not apply to a tenant of— E+W

• a local authority,

• a new town corporation, or

• the Development Board for Rural Wales,

unless the tenancy is a long tenancy, in which case paragraphs 2 to 5 and 7 and 8 apply but paragraph 6 does not.

(2) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 26 shall apply for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) as they apply for the purposes of subsection (1) of that section.