mike/karalyn

Hi Every-one

I have a question that been nigling around in my brain, maybe a silly one maybe a good point.  In the azucena they have marble stairs and lets just say when renting it out to a group of golfers they decide to have a tipple and one of them after visiting the toilet upstairs falls back down the slippy marble stairs and hurts themself badly who is responsible, do they have to sign a contract for such things, what does one do to protect themself from a ' where theres blame theres a claim '.  I have asked a few people and i get different responses but i know a few people who post on this site know a lot about everything, so if you would be so kind to give advice i would appreciate it.

many thanks

Jannine and Richard

Jannine & Richard

We're happy to help you out. Answer in short is yes you could be liable if you do not set your 'business' up correctly from the start. When opting to Let your property, you are starting your own business and therefore before you even open the doors, you are required by law to be compliant to all Health and Satety Regulations and carry the correct certification for habitation.  high majority of homeowners do not do this as they do not advertise their properties openly and prefer to run the risk. However, apart from slipping, there are a multitude of other 'risks' you do need to cover, such as regular Gas or Electric Compliance checks. All electrical Goods will need to be checked and passed fit for use, currently it is every two years but that is dependent on usage.

Also, they are coming down very heavily on properties with 'Solariums'. As per all Hotels and accommodation across Europe, any balcony attached to any property has to comply to European Height Standards for H&S reasons, you could imagine the scenario of a family with children who can manage to climb over the wall of the solariums....!!!! If you are only thinking of guests and slippage due to tiles, most clients 'should' have their own Insurance Policy prior to Letting, cannot always be guaranteed though ! As part of the Letting, I would suggest you get Legal advice and a proper Contract drawn up that covers such Liabilities

Hope this helps, if you need any more assistance please feel free to ask

Regards

Darren Ward