Settle in, I’ll keep as brief as possible but it may be long.
We moved into a commercial property 2 years ago with our business. Landlord is a bit shady and the lease is basically written on the back of a postage stamp. We have paid our rent in a timely manner every month bar one which was in agreement with the landlord due to leaks ruining stock.
The rain/water leaks have been ongoing over the whole time we have occupied the premises. These have been reported in the form of text message with picture/video evidence on every occurrence.
Landlord decided 3 weeks ago he was going to repair the flat roof at the rear of the premises which covered not only our stock room but the rear rooms of the shop next door, this was his attempt to stop rainwater leaks. (For reference landlord owns the whole building, 3 x shops at the front, 4 x flats above and a large warehouse butting onto the rear of the building).
Landlord (who is known for being tight) rather than pay contractors decided to undergo the work himself. With a gas can, hose and blowtorch he set about re-felting the flat roof one Monday evening (we were aware that he was thinking of doing it but he hadn’t told us when-although I don’t think this is relevant).
At 12.20am we got a call from someone to say our shop was on fire and there were several fire engines in attendance. When we arrived we asked the few people milling around if anyone had called the landlord, no was the reply so I called him to let him know. He said he would head straight over.
He then called my husband to tell him that he’d been doing the roof the previous evening, had noticed he’d started a small fire but thought he’d put it out.
Fire brigade told us that they were confident the fire had started on the roof due to hot works.
Several thousand pounds worth of Fire and Water damage to our stock in stock room and smoke damage to quite a bit of stock in the main body of the shop. Large holes in the roof at the rear of the premises and now currently unnoccupiable.
The day after the fire he put the phone down on me after I told him I didn’t think he realised how significant the damage was (I must iterate there was no argument) after he said he would get an electrician in and get us open again by the following Saturday (incredibly unrealistic given the damage suffered). We have had no contact from him since.
Our insurance are not interested, our cover was for theft and accidental damage only, they class this as negligence. And I suspect his insurance aren’t going to be too interested when they receive the fire brigades report that says he started the fire.
Do we have a claim against him for stock and loss of earnings? What branch of law would this come under if we do have a claim? Are there any no win no fee solicitors that might take this on because unsurprisingly following the above money is now pretty tight!