Landlord feels the strong arm of the law

A LOCAL property landlord has been left with £1,000 worth of damage to one of his properties after police forced entry looking for a missing person.

Richard Aylward, a landlord of a small block of flats in Melksham, was recently woken up by  the police in the early hours of the morning and told that they had forced entry to one of his flats, looking for a tenant who had been reported missing and was considered vulnerable.

Richard said, “In the morning, I went round to find a hasp and staple on the door with a padlock and a notice telling the tenant  where to collect the key. Later that day I discovered that my insurance specifically excludes ‘forced entry’, of course it does, after all this is insurance which you pay for to give you peace of mind as long as nothing happens.

“The tenant returned to his flat to see the notice and damage, gets the key and goes back into his flat. I visited him and was very relieved that he was ok. He’d spent the night with a friend.

“It took a while for things to coalesce in my mind, but I began to feel I’d been shafted. What time was he reported missing? 1am or 2am seems unlikely. Why wait until 2.30am? Why didn’t they wake one of the neighbours who would have given them my contact details?

“After all, they were certainly awake as they’ve told me the police made a lot of noise breaking in and took some time as they had to smash down two doors. I would of course have used actual keys to open the doors for them nice and easy.

“So I called them for possibly a bit of compensation. But I was told they  were perfectly justified in their actions and actually they can do this and not pay anything.

“I know this now as I have an email from the officer in charge who sanctioned the rather over-enthusiastic entry that night, he says that’s just how it is. I’m also not allowed to see the log as it’s not about me.

“I did get a letter from their Professional Standards department too stating the action carried out was investigated, fully justified and the law was applied correctly. The letter was however, completely impersonal and they didn’t even spell my name correctly.

“I’m pro-police as I believe they generally do a good job and it’s certainly not a job I want, so respect where it’s due. They do a difficult job in sometimes difficult circumstances and often have to make snap decisions which could make the difference between life and death. So I support them. However, sometimes they get it wrong. And in my opinion this is one of those times.

“I’ve had a quote which comes to just shy of a thousand pounds to replace the doors, frames, etc and cover the cost of the midnight security. I have made a formal complaint through the IPCC as well. My insurance premium is going up to cover the erstwhile excluded clause, so although I’m now older and wiser, I’m also a little poorer in time lost dealing with it, as well as financially and it is a worry.”