Landlords are advised to double check insurance policy wordings, terms and conditions to ensure they don’t become casualties of the rising use of rented properties for cultivating cannabis. It has become apparent that there remains a big discrepancy over insurers’ positions on whether the damage caused by cannabis cultivation in let properties should be covered or not.
Illegal cannabis farmers cause untold damage by modifying buildings to create ideal growing conditions. Windows are sealed, walls are damaged as electrical wiring is installed to accommodate the high-intensity lighting, heating and other equipment required, and vast amounts of fertiliser ruin flooring. In time, the excessive humidity leads to other problems such as rotting and mould. Some tenants have been known to booby-trap properties with doorknobs wired to mains electricity and spikes under window sills. Insurers have agreed to consider an urgent plea from Strathclyde Police to make homeowners liable for all damage – a move that would leave landlords facing bills between a few hundred pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds if they let their properties fall into the wrong hands. Nearly 1,000 (1in 230) properties, in Scotland are thought to be turned into cannabis hothouses every year in an industry police reckon is worth up to £120 million annually – more than the value of Scotland's entire vegetable crop. Some insurers are now adding exclusions for illegal activities, which prevent landlords for making claims for damage related to this type of activity. Others have not clarified their positions on whether this activity is covered under a vandalism and malicious acts clause.
