No heating / Water - who is responsible for the repair bill?

[classylady18]

Hi,

Apologies in advance for the long post!

My partner and I are 6 months into our 12 month AST with a private LL and have been having a few issues during the past month or so, I wondered if anyone could advise me on the following...

We live in 1920's semi detached house in rural location (5 miles from nearest town) which is heated by home heating oil, which is new to us having always had a gas supply to our previous homes. Anyway 2 weeks before Christmas we ordered 500L of Heating Oil from the supplier that the LL had recommended, delivery was arranged for 16th December and cash on delivery.

Unfortunately it did not arrive on the 16th, so I contacted the oil company on 17th Dec who informed me that they could not find a record of our order, I was obviously very concerned about this as the oil level was very low, I asked if they could make an urgent delivery - unfortunatley they couldn't deliver until the first week in Jan, due to the weather conditions and a shortage of oil. I called a number (14 in total!) of different suppliers to see if we could get an emergency delivery but each one said the same, or that we would need to apply for an account which could take 7 days before we book a delivery. This was not suitable for us so we contacted a friend who uses oil who said we could buy drums and fill up at garage pump 15 miles away.

We had no other option at that point than to try and fill the oil tank ourselves (it was -15c so didnt want the oil to run out!), we filled 4 drums of oil (100l) and poured it into the tank...I went to check the boiler was still working and found that it has stopped and 'locked out' - my partner tried to start the system up but it wouldnt go. I felt the radiators and they were starting to get cold....yes the oil had run out!

I called our LL and informed her of the situation and she said she would try and contact the usual plumber who lives 2 miles away and get him out that day, but we would have to pay for any repairs as we had not kept the oil filled up. I explained the delivery problems we'd had but she said its not her responsibility to pay for the plumber its the tenants. We have never rented before so we presumed she was correct.

The LL called back to say the usual plumber was not available so would I look in the yellow pages and try to find a different plumber, and she would do that same. She then called me back and said she'd found a plumber to come out who charges no call out fees and he would be round at 4pm, I was due at a hospital appointment that day so she agreed to come to the house and meet the plumber in my absence.

She called me that afternoon and said the system had an airlock and we need to fill the tank up with oil, I reiterated that we were struggling to get oil from anywhere and would have to drive 30 miles round trip and fill 25litre drums, we said we would do that and ring her when we had more oil in the system. This temperatures at this point were still between -12c and -18c and we had a foot of snow, as it was so cold and we couldnt get any oil until the monday we decided to stay at a relatives for the night, when we returned the next day the pipes had frozen and we had no water (only a trickle from the kitchen cold tap) and the toilets would not flush, also no shower.

I informed the LL that the pipes had frozen and she said we had to keep the house warm with heaters to unfreeze the pipes, I explained that we had purchased halogen heaters and had been trying to keep one room warm but couldnt as there is a no door into the conservatory so we're losing all of the heat. She was not very understanding and advised me to draw the curtains and sellotape them to the wall to keep the heat in!

That night my partner and I slept on the sofas in the living room, with 2 halogen heaters and a small electric heater and it was absolutely freezing even though we were fully clothed and had blankets, duvets and hot water bottles.

On the monday we managed to get 250l into the tank manually, I called the LL again and informed her, she called the plumber out again and he tried to get the system going but again said we needed more oil - this seemed strange because it worked prior to this with less oil. After spending 3 days filling the tank up with 625l of oil (25 drums) and hiring a van for 3 days to do this we called the LL again, by this time 6 days had passed without heat or water and my partner and I had both got terrible flu, I was in tears to the LL and said we really hoped that theres enough in the tank now (the tank was over half full!), she told me to call the plumber out again to try the system again - still no luck, he said we needed more oil. We were shocked because by this time, my partner and I had forked out £740 - an extra £400 than the original cost of our oil delivery (£340 for 500L) and had filled the tank with more than enough oil. The plumber said he was going away that evening and couldnt come back until the New Year. I called the LL immediately and told her that we were not prepared to keep putting oil into the system as we did not feel the plumber knew what he was doing. I also stressed that it had been 6 days now without heat or water and we are 2 days from Christmas, she said she would try the plumber who lives 2 miles away (why didnt she try him after my previous 4 phone calls I don't know!), he arrived with the LL 45 minutes later. We explained what the other plumber had said re the oil level - he said it was complete rubbish and we didn't need that amount of oil to get the system going...100L would suffice. The plumber then set to work on the oil boiler and released the airlock, he then bled the radiators and the heating gradually came back on - the whole process was 1 hour.

As you can imagine we were very upset that we had spent the extra money unecessarily, and it was clear that the plumber did not have a clue about oil heating systems. I was even more upset when I received an invoice from the plumber (sent by the LL) for the repair bill of £55.00, considering what we had already paid out. Also the house was effectively inhabiltable for those 6 days as there was no basic sanitation or heat (she gave us 20 year old small electric heater which did nothing!), even though we stayed in the living room for 2 nights to keep the pipes warm at her request.

Can anyone advise me if:

a.) It is the T responsibilty to pay for the plumbers repair bill

b.) Would we be able to request some sort of compensation / rent reduction from the LL for the number of days the house was inhabitable?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[rebel11]

Hi classylady

 

Heres some info on landlords responsilbilty:- http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/rights_and_responsibilities/landlords_responsibilities

 

Repair and Maintenance

 

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.11 landlords have a legal duty to comply with the points below.

• Keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling house (including drains, gutters and external pipes).
  
• Keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity).
  
• Keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling house for space heating and heating water.
  

[classylady18]

Thank you Rebel11, I did actually read somewhere else that it is the Landlords responsibility.

 

I have written to her and disputed the invoice as per S11 of the above and asked that she pays the bill as it is her responsibilty, she refused and said its nothing to do with her, and it is up to us to pay it as we caused the problem.

 

Any ideas on my next move?

[Planner]

Unfortunatley I dont think the LL is responsible for either the plumbers call out charge or your lack of heating/water for a number of days. The cause of both is the oil running out and subsequent bad advice from the first plumber called - Im not sure why you think either of these is your LL fault?

 

S.11 of the L&T act isnt particularly helpful to you in this case as the ultimate cause of the problems appears to be the running out of the oil.

 

I would write to the plumber who had the cheek to send you the £55 invoice and tell hime to whistle.

[classylady18]

It was the LL who called the plumber out who gave incorrect advice not us - her usual plumber (a friend) was available to come out the next day and the whole week the heating was off, yet she didnt ask his opinion when I kept calling to say we had concerns about the plumber. I just dont feel she did all she could to help the situation.

[classylady18]

I would write to the plumber who had the cheek to send you the £55 invoice and tell hime to whistle.

 

 

This invoice came from the 2nd plumber not the initial one, he has not charged us...yet.

[xoAmyox]

Ultimately, s11 of L & T act 1985 is very clear that it is the landlords responsibility to rectify the issues with the heating system, and therefore pay for it. It is then also the landlords responsibility to pursue you for payment if they believe that you are at fault. This may well lead to a court case against you, some very bitter feelings, and possibly eviction in the future. It may well be best for you to negotiate wherever possible.

[judgejudy2011]

I would put this one down to the weather and shortage of oil, not the landlords responsibility. I would pay the bill personally unless you want to be looking for somewhere else to live due to bad feeling. I understand how frustrating it is for you but probably the less stressful resolution.

[classylady18]

This may well lead to a court case against you, some very bitter feelings, and possibly eviction in the future. It may well be best for you to negotiate wherever possible.

 

To be honest, once the 12 months is up we will be leaving the property anyway, there have been other issues since we moved in that havent be rectified despite numerous requests.

 

1.) We havent had a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate

2.) Reported loose bathroom tiles in August - still not fixed

3.) No smoke detectors (not sure if this is a legal requirement though?)

4.) Cold water tap broken in bathroom - reported in November still not fixed

5.) Missing knobs that control the oven, so have to use a cocktail stick to switch it on - only found this out after we had moved in

6.) Electrical Inspection Report not provided, not sure if legal requirement however we have both had shocks off the main oven switch and sockets in lounge, the electrics trip weekly!

[classylady18]

I understand how frustrating it is for you but probably the less stressful resolution.

 

It's very frustrating considering the other issues we have overlooked, but as you say, maybe its the least stressful solution.

 

Can anyone advise me on the other points?

Edited January 12, 2011 by classylady18

[Planner]

Ultimately, s11 of L & T act 1985 is very clear that it is the landlords responsibility to rectify the issues with the heating system, and therefore pay for it. It is then also the landlords responsibility to pursue you for payment if they believe that you are at fault. This may well lead to a court case against you, some very bitter feelings, and possibly eviction in the future. It may well be best for you to negotiate wherever possible.

 

In my view your interpretation of this is incorrect. While it may be the LLs responsibility to right s.11 problems, it may not ultimatley be the LLs responsibility to pay for them. If I had a party and smashed every window in my rented house, I could expect (if I was that hard faced) for the LL to arrange repair, however do you believe a court is going to make the LL pay? Of course not.

 

Never confuse the obligation to repair with the obligation to pay when looking at s.11.

 

In the O/Ps situation, due to a series of unfortunate events, the oil ran out. This subsequently caused the heating/water to fail and subsequent problems. This is the o/ps fault, the first plumbers fault and the oil delivery companies fault - It certainly isnt the LLs fault.