Cases - Trevor Sadd v Ruth Brown
Record details
- Name
- Trevor Sadd v Ruth Brown
- Date
- [2012]
- Citation
- UKUT 438 (LC)
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Landlord and tenant – service charges – landlord covenant to insure – whether insurance premiums recoverable
- Summary
-
The Appellant lessor appealed against a decision of the LVT that he was unable to recover from the lessee the cost of insurance premiums under the terms of the lease.
Various clauses in the lease outlined the repairing and management obligations of the lessor, which included specific obligations on the lessee to pay for the same. Yet, although the lease contained a clause requiring the lessor to insure the property there was no express obligation on the lessee to reimburse the lessor the cost of the insurance premiums.
The lessor contended that the cost of insuring the premises was an amplification of the leaseholders repairing duties the costs of which were recoverable under the terms of the lease. Alternatively, the insurance premiums were recoverable under the clause that required the lessee to pay, discharge, and indemnify the lessor against all rates, duties, charges, assessments and impositions in respect of the premises.
In dismissing the appeal, the judge found that insurance premiums were not recoverable under the terms of the lease. An obligation to repair did not include an obligation to insure, especially where the obligation to insure was dealt with in detail elsewhere in the lease.
The cost of insurance premiums incurred by the lessor could not be categorised as 'rate, duty, charge, assessment or imposition' on the premises.
Although it was unusual that the lease did not contain a term requiring the lessee to reimburse the lessor for insurance premiums, it was unnecessary to imply the same to give business efficacy to the lease. To imply such a term would be to effectively draft an entirely new clause to the lease. The lease was not unworkable without such a term.