Landlord / Letting agent responsiblitiy and liabilty

[tm2329]

Hi

 

I moved into a rental property a year ago.

 

The property has electricity only and the water is heated by an immersion tank.

 

I didn't have experience regarding this and I asked the letting agent how the system worked as there was no timer facility installed,

the agent advised me that the immersion should be left switched on permanently.

 

I have had very expensive electricity bills since and obviously expected these to be lower during the spring/summer months.

 

I requested Eon to have an engineer visit to assess why my consumption was still high and

he was shocked that I had been told to leave the immersion on 24 hours a day as this was the cause of my huge bills!

 

I now want to approach the letting agent to advise them of this and want to know where I stand legally regarding any liability that they may have.

 

As a footnote,

the Energy Performance Certificate for the property (dating back to 2009) has assessed the water heating system as 'very poor'.

[raydetinu]

You can always add a suitable plug in timer (3KW ) for your immersion heater, and set for say two hours in the morning and say two in the evening, add lots of insulation around it even if it has a jacket.

other times you can switch on as required.

see how it goes and you can adjust times too suit.

[tm2329]

Hi,

 

 

Thanks for the reply. Firstly, I shouldn't be liable to pay for an engineer to fit a timer unit and lag the heater. Secondly, my actual point was that the advice I was given by the letting agent has cost me hundreds of pounds!!!

[raydetinu]

Ok, but it would save you a lot of money in the end.

I don't think you can do anything about the advice! Perhaps you should of checked with the power supplier or anybody else, in fact!

I doubt very much they would admit to saying that; so nothing you can do.

[tm2329]

Seriously!!

 

Sorry, but you are coming across as very dismissive!

 

This is meant to be a consumer ACTION group...not a consumer just roll over and do nothing group!!

 

Tell you what why don't I just take your advice and do absolutely NOTHING,

spend even more of the money I don't have to fix something that the landlord should have supplied in the first place,

 

Oh and why I'm at tit why don't I just forget the bad advice that I was given by a 'professional' which has cost me hundreds of pounds,

 

after all I wouldn't want to make a fuss just in case they deny everything.

 

Oh, and you're right I really should have asked in the first place shouldn't I.

 

...silly me.

[Irksome]

How much are you talking about (electricity bills per month / quarter)? What's your rent? How big is the residence? Who exactly told you that (don't name them here!), do you have a record of the conversation / time / date?

 

Why when you had high electricity bills did you not consider the immersion heater could be responsible at the first bill?

[f16]

tm2329,

 

Also check the setting on the thermostat for the water heater.

 

Setting should be 55 degrees .

[mariner51]

tm2329,

 

LL & T law differs quite a bit from Consumer Law.

 

There are several things a LL may provide but is Ts responsibility to repair / replace eg smoke alarm batteries, light bulbs, tap washers.

 

If immersion heater is working, LL has no liability to provide a time switch for your convenience.

Whilst an immersion heater is old tech in days of combi boilers, all the LL/LA had to do was show you where the on/off switch is,

they don't come with operating manuals but a quick Google will tell you how they function. (basically a big kettle with pre-set temp sensor)

 

If you leave any electric appliance on all the time, it will prob cost more than using only when needed to provide hot water (common sense).

 

An immersion heater only supplies hot water,

I assume you have electric heaters,

poss storage heaters which you may use during daytime.

 

LL is not resp for your lack of basic knowledge.

 

Seriously!!

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi tm2329

 

Hope you don't mind me jumping on here but thought I might be able to help a bit with your electricity usage.

 

As advised, leaving the water immersion on 24/7 isn't advisable. It's like continually having a kettle on the boil.

 

What type of meter do you have? Do you have storage heaters?

 

As an all electric property, I suspect you might have a multi-rate meter like Economy 7/Economy 10/Economy 18 or even something like Heatwise (East Midlands only). Your bills will tell you.

 

These types of meter were specifically designed for all electric properties with storage heaters and water immersion heaters. They give so many hours of cheaper electricity for heating/water heating purposes at set times during each 24 hour period.

 

The number of hours and times the off peak rates are active depends on the region and the actual type of meter.

 

With some types of set up, the meter will be wired directly into the heating/water heating circuits. This lets it turn the heating/water heating on/off automatically during the off peak hours. Unless, that is, it's manually over-ridden.

 

If you do have this type of set up, it's best to understand how the meter works so you can gain the maximum benefit of the cheaper off peak rates.

 

In a lot of cases, as well as cheaper rates for heating/water heating, there'll also be a few hours where all usage is at off peak prices. These times are usually at night so not very sociable but using timers on high load appliances like washing machines, tumble dryers, dish washers etc might help cut costs.

 

There's more information to help you save money by saving energy on our website too. Have a look at the links below. Some really useful tips to help you cut back.

 

https://www.eonenergy.com/for-your-home/saving-energy

 

https://www.eonenergy.com/for-your-home/saving-energy/how-you-can-help-yourself/ways-to-save

 

Sorry if I'm totally wide of the mark tm2329 but, if the above is of use, then great. Ignore me if it's not. Anyway, you know where I am now if I can help at all. Just let me know.

 

Malc

[Steve__M]

Unfortunately, I don't think you will be able to find the letting agent liable for their advice.

 

However, that does not mean that you can't complain, and get them to consider spending a bit of money to save you money in the future.

 

The threat you can offer is to move elsewhere.

 

Some landlords are proactive about thinking about their tenants' costs. Some are not. The more tenants use the EPC as a guideline, and highlight issues with lack of insulation, drafty windows, inappropriate heating systems etc. the more landlords will feel compelled to spend a bit of (tax deductable) money.

[steampowered]

In theory there might be a legal claim against the letting agent, but in reality I think it would be very difficult to prove what your letting agent told you about an immersion heater a year ago. The letting agent probably doesn't remember.

[raydetinu]

No claim without proof! even if they did remember, would they admit to it?