A tenant reports mice in a kitchen. The letting agent asks the landlord. The landlord says it is because of how the property is kept. The tenant says it is because of a hole under the sink.
Six weeks later there are considerably more mice and nobody has instructed anybody.
The decision that needs making
Not who is at fault. Who is instructing the work today, because the infestation is growing while two parties establish a principle.
Explain that the cause usually determines it
Structural defects, entry points and building condition point one way. Waste, storage and how a property is used point another. Most cases involve both.
Explain the tenancy agreement point
That it frequently addresses this specifically, that both parties should read it and that it is the starting point rather than a general rule.
Explain what a tenant should do first
Report it in writing, with dates and photographs, and keep the record. It protects them and it is what moves an agent to act.
Explain what a landlord should do
Arrange an inspection promptly, because a delayed infestation costs considerably more and because the condition of the property is frequently the cause.
Explain what you will tell them
That a professional inspection identifies entry points and cause, and that this frequently settles the responsibility question by itself. It is the most useful service here.
Offer the inspection as a product
Priced, quick, producing a report identifying cause and proofing requirements. Both parties want somebody independent to look.
Explain the proofing point
That treatment without proofing produces a recurrence, that proofing is usually structural and that this affects who should pay for what.
Explain the multi occupancy problem
Flats, shared buildings and terraces where treating one unit achieves little. It needs coordination through a managing agent and a tenant cannot arrange it alone.
Explain who can instruct you
Landlord, agent or tenant, and what happens about payment. Be clear, because arriving at a property instructed by the wrong party causes problems.
Explain the agent relationship
Because agents manage many properties and a contractor who makes this easy becomes their default, which is the volume in tenant questions that swamp property managers.
Explain the access arrangements
Notice, who lets you in and what the tenant must do to prepare, which matters more in rented properties than anywhere else.
Explain the safety position for occupied properties
Products, children, pets and what the household must do, as in safety questions about pest treatments, pets and children.
Explain the guarantee where responsibility is split
Because return visits and who pays for them is the next argument, as in guarantee and return visit questions after treatment.
Explain what a tenant can do meanwhile
While responsibility is being established, food storage, waste and blocking obvious gaps all help and none of them prejudice anybody's position. Giving a tenant something useful to do prevents six weeks of waiting in which the problem becomes considerably more expensive for whoever eventually pays.
Answer these enquiries at any hour
Because tenants report problems in the evening and agents act in the morning, which is the capture in an AI receptionist for pest control.
Getting started
Publish how cause affects responsibility, offer an independent inspection and say who can instruct you, then capture enquiries at any hour. SpideyChat for pest control companies answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.