Farnworth Rose help recover a £4500 debt
Our office was instructed by a Landlord who owned a commercial building which was being let out to various businesses.
One of the Tenants was refusing to pay the Landlord their contribution towards the building insurance premiums which was payable under the lease for sums exceeding £4,500 – the Tenant was holding this money back arguing that the insurance premiums were excessive, unreasonable and indicated the premiums were being held back to set off an ongoing insurance claim relating to some stock being damaged due to adverse weather and a leak in the roof (which was an insured event).
When reviewing the commercial lease in this matter (which was drafted by our commercial property department previously) we noted the following relevant clauses:
The grant of lease was subject to the Tenant paying rent, insurance, interest and all other sums due under the lease;
The Landlord was required to keep the property insured against loss or damage (the Landlord was entitled to incept any policy on reasonable terms acceptable to the landlord);
The Tenant was not allowed to withhold payments due under this lease or set the payments off against other matters;
The Tenant was to indemnify the Landlord against all liabilities, expenses, costs (including but not limited to solicitor’s costs or court expenses);
The Landlord was able to re-enter the commercial property and forfeit the lease if the rent was not paid for more than 21 days or any other condition of the lease was breached;
A strongly worded letter before action was sent to the Tenant demanding immediate payment of the unpaid insurance premiums, interest, solicitor’s costs incurred by the Landlord and compensation for the sum of £6,009.29.
Our office made a full recovery of all the money being claimed and secured the Tenant’s commitment to comply with all Tenant obligations going forward – the Landlord was thrilled with the result our office secured for the Landlord in this matter.
Our client, Glenway Packaging Services Ltd, commented:
“We recently used the services of Mohammad at Farnworth rose solicitors and found them to be most helpful, prompt and reasonably priced.
We had good advice and ultimately we were able to avoid court but collect the whole of the debt and costs. I would recommend them to others without hesitation.”
If you need any advice relating to commercial leases, debt recovery or any other Landlord and Tenant matter then please do not hesitate to contact our office for a free no obligation chat on 01282 695400.