No hot water on moving in

jamface202

Hi guys,

I'm after a bit of advice as I don't know if my landlord is being out of line or not. The situation is this:

We picked up the keys to our new flat after work on Friday and moved in on Saturday. Sunday morning tried the shower and found the hot water wasn't working. Phoned the landlord (a LTD company) and got their answering machine which had the phone number for a plumber. As we were going to be out all day Sunday, waited till first thing Monday to call the plumber who said that as it was a bank holiday he couldn't get any parts for the boiler so there was no point coming to look at it but he would visit first thing Tuesday. Went to work Tuesday and called the landlord about 4 to check if it had been sorted. The LL didn't seem to know anything about it but said they'd get in touch with the plumber. So, get home about 6.20 to find the plumber's just turned up. Plumber looked at the boiler and said he'd need a part for it which he wasn't sure if he would need to order in or if his supplier would have on the shelf.

What I'd like to know is, should we be pushing for some sort of compensation? The contract says (as is law I believe) that the LL is responsible for ensuring water heating devices are working. The LL called earlier today to find out what the plumber had done yesterday so I mentioned compensation. Their argument is that they didn't know anything was wrong until I told them on Monday, but my argument is that they should have checked everything before we moved in, to which they said they couldn't as everything was turned off...

So, where do I stand, is some sort of compensation worth pursuing? It's pretty annoying not having hot water and not being able to shower properly!

Thanks for reading and for any advice anyone can offer!

Bufger

i dont think the compensation route is the right one here. One important thing you need is a good relationship with your LL. It does look like he's trying to get the problem sorted as quickly as possible and its not really his bad timing that it happened on a bank holiday.

I would say its just a bit unlucky but if hes doing everything he can to get it sorted quickly then he's a good LL. There are far worse out there so be happy he's even ringing you back :-)

clutton_2

you delayed calling the plumber for 24 hours...... ""As we were going to be out all day Sunday""

I am a LL and everything i have read in your post, shows me a very responsible landlord - he has an emergency phone number on his ansaphone, his plumber called the next day - all perfectly "reasonable" attempts to make reparation as soon as possible.

Things break down - you cannot expect instant repairs - especially on a bank holiday weekend - the plumber was right - spare parts are not available when suppliers are shut.

What exactly do you want compensation for ?

Fire_Fox

I know this might sound silly but ... Are you 100% certain that everything is switched on that should be? My immersion heater is on a timer, (which has on, off or timed settings), and has two rocker switches controlling the elements, and there is a circuit breaker. Some electric showers have a switch or pull cord that turn them on.

Other than that, what more would you have had the landlord do? He is a human not a machine and you got in touch with a plumber very quickly considering it is a bank holiday weekend. There is supposed to be a bit of give and taken in this relationship - do you want the landlord demanding compensation if you are two days late with your rent??

Sorry but I think you are being unreasonable. BTW I am not a landlord.

jamface202

Thanks for the quick responses guys. Yes, everything is turned on that should be, I'm sure that the plumber who looked at the boiler yesterday would have double checked to make sure that we hadn't missed anything.

I agree that the LL seems to be doing everything they can now to resolve the problem, but my main gripe is that they didn't check the boiler was working before we moved in. We saw the flat more than 2 weeks before moving in and it was empty then, so they should have had time to check it.

Geenie

jamface202 wrote: »

Thanks for the quick responses guys. Yes, everything is turned on that should be, I'm sure that the plumber who looked at the boiler yesterday would have double checked to make sure that we hadn't missed anything.

I agree that the LL seems to be doing everything they can now to resolve the problem, but my main gripe is that they didn't check the boiler was working before we moved in. We saw the flat more than 2 weeks before moving in and it was empty then, so they should have had time to check it.

How do you know that the boiler wasn't working before you moved in and had not been checked? Did you try it yourself and see it working prior to moving in?

I only say this because in one of my properties recently, I had everything serviced before new tenants moved in by qualified people, checked it the day before, still working OK, then the day they moved in the boiler didn't work, and it was brand spanking new from 2 months before! There was a fault with a part.......the manufacturers fault not ours.

Sometimes these things happen despite whatever is done. Your LL seems to me to be helpful and getting the problem sorted as quickly as is possible.

Fire_Fox

Presumably the hot water worked fine the day the last tenants left or they would have reported the immersion as broken. Even if the landlord had checked it, the immersion might have stopped working the following day. So the landlord isn't perfect, are you? It was you who didn't bother to report the lack of hot water until your third day.

As Clutton says, the landlord seems very professional whereas you are coming across as a whinger. If you want a good landlord to serve notice on a PITA tenant the minute you are out of contract you are going the right way about it.

jamface202

Thanks for the responses guys, I guess the consensus here is that looking for compensation would be a bit much and I should cut them some slack in the hope they do the same for me if I were to ever slip up in any way in the future.

I didn't check the boiler before moving in so didn't see if it was working then or not.

GDB2222

Is there a separate immersion heater you could have used?

jamface202

The only way to get hot water is using the combi boiler. Apparently the manufacturer is coming out to repair it tomorrow anyway, so fingers crossed we will have hot water soon!