Landlord sends repair bill without initial quote? What shall I do?

Gorgeous_George · 26 January 2008 at 9:18PM

Well, to be honest, a storage heater is quite a bit like a bulb (electric, not daffodil).

If you are right and if the heater has an intermittent fault, it will probably be a faulty thermostat or a loose cable.

The problem is what should the LL do? He has sent in an electrician, no fault was found and as far as the LL is concerned, there was/is no fault.

I suggest you contact the LL and tell him that the fault is still happening and that a more thorough electrician might be able to fix it. It's a difficult situation but we are all at the mercy of incompetent tradsmen sometimes.

GG

Gorgeous_George · 26 January 2008 at 9:20PM

siliconbits wrote: »

... - don't ask me why they dated it 14/12/2008.

My giuess is that this is a simple typing error (or writing error). I wouldn't pin my hopes on getting out of it on a technicality. You know it's meant to be 2007.

GG

siliconbits · 27 January 2008 at 12:57AM

Wouldn't count on it as well.. I have either the choice of swallowing the pill - for the sake of my sanity - or fight till the end, with perhaps grave consequences for my deposit :mad:

eco-friendly_2 · 27 January 2008 at 3:29AM

My storage heater has a problem: sometimes, without any reason, it won't heat up - a real pain in winter obviously. It happens randomly. I've informed by landlord several times.

The first time, he sent someone but obviously since it is an economy 7 heater, it comes on only at night.

So ? any competent monkey would dis-connect the heater and temporary wire it to the general/ordinary circuit for testing! :rolleyes:

bowlingo · 27 January 2008 at 4:00AM

Im an electrician that gets quite a few call outs to Night Storage Heaters. Any competent electrician should do a dead resistance test across the incoming supply to check if when the off peak electricity supply is there the elements are ready to heat up. Most also contain thermal cut out fuses which sometime go with age but you only need to reset them with a screwdriver. It could be a problem with the off peak time clock or a loose connection at the double pole switch. I once wired a socket to a storage heaters double pole wall switch so the tenant could plug a table lamp into the socket to check there is electricity present on the supply I did this after connecting the heater to the 24/7 supply to confirm it was working. After connecting the socket to the heater supply it was found that the time clock was faulty and coming on and off at strange times.

Thanks
Alex

RHemmings · 27 January 2008 at 9:53AM

lynzpower wrote: »

yes, but you cant tinker about with electrical FITTINGS unless you are qualified.

Thats not just advice, its legal. Thats why LLs have to employ electricians they dont just send round Mr Bodgeit ( well of course sometimes they do) and electricians have high call out charges.

Surely it is legal for a landlord to check that the tenant
knows how to use the appliances properly. It is a bugbear of mine that tenants are often dumped in a property with no idea how various equipment works, and frequently with no instruction manuals. I've had cold water situations where the landlord has had to come around and explain how to turn the heating on. It's not rocket science, but it's not always bloomin' obvious either.

If I was the tenant, I would be considering these points:

1] Was I instructed how to use the heating? If not then even if it was my ignorance that led to the callout, I would say that the landlord should have instructed me how to use the heating, and hence the callout was due to his negligence.

2] Did the tenant request directly that an electrician be sent out? If the tenant just reported a problem, then I would expect that the first action of the landlord would be to check that the tenant knows how to use the heating before engaging a professional.

3] Was the problem due to not knowing how to use the boiler. I.e. has the tenant now been shown how to use it property, and the mistake rectified (and now obvious)? If not (and it appears not from what is written above), then the tenant should not be liable. The landlord may take the invoice from the electrician as "proof", but if the invoice does not match the facts, the landlord may have difficulty arguing this in court.

lynzpower · 27 January 2008 at 10:00AM

Absolutely so Rhemmings.

I do understand from reading on here that ther eis some sort of legislation saying that where there are electrical items in the property, the manuals and instructions MUST be provided. Additionally, theres another aspect where commercial LL insurance is invalidated if electrical appliances are not annually pat tested. the thing is with Storage heaters I dont think they are coming under the pat testing bit as they are not appliances.

littlemissmoney · 27 January 2008 at 10:39AM

siliconbits wrote: »

I am a bit wary that my £900 deposit is going to suffer when me and my wife leave the house (i.e. nit picking on anything that could cause charges to be deducted).

Is you deposit protected in a tenancy deposit scheme? When did the tenancy agreement begin? If it's after April 2007 (or was renewed after then) your deposit should be protected. If it is, he can't keep it without very good reason. If it's not, you can sue him for 3x the deposit.

Even if it started after April 2007 you can still take him to the small claims court to get any money back that is unfairly deducted. That's more hassle though.

siliconbits · 27 January 2008 at 7:06PM

Guys/Girls,

I wrote a letter that I am planning to send next week as recorded mail to the landlord, just to make sure that everything is mentioned and that I don't lose my words. Let me know what you think and thanks!

=============

To whom it may concerned

Following the reception of your letter dated 14th December 2008, I am hereby contesting the sum of £XXXXXXXXXXXX that I was invoiced for.

I have a number of reasons to challenge the payment of this invoice.

(1) I have called upon you to send someone to repair the storage heater in the living room because it had (and still has) an intermittent fault that causes it randomly NOT to heat up at night. I did take a financial charge as I had to take a leave without pay on the day the electrician came in.

(2) Although the electrician explained to me how the heater worked, I was already aware of this having lived in the house for 14 months already. I know how the heaters operate.

(3) I was NEVER informed that I would have to pay for the intervention; the Tenancy Agreement mentions under clause 3 (3) (a) and (b)
(a) To keep in reasonable repair the Contents (which according to Schedule I include the Dimplex Storage heater)
(b) [....] keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the property for the supply of water, electricity, gas and sanitation and the installations in the Property for space heating and heating water, in addition to the maintenance of all mechanical and electrical appliances, which form part of the contents of the Property.

(4) The tenancy agreement makes no mention of costs associated with repairs or dispatching personel to check for any problems

(5) Furthermore, I have no contract with the electrician, either morally or legally.

I would like to say that I have enjoyed my stay at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and I would like our good relationship to remain courteous and polite.

I hope you will reconsider your position after reading the points I have mentioned above.

siliconbits · 28 January 2008 at 5:41PM

Hi Guys, thanks for letting me know whether the letter is correctly written and if there's anything missing out.

Landlord sends repair bill without initial quote? What shall I do?

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