LL failing/refusing to provide gas certificate - next steps please?

zzzLazyDaisy

Ok, the situation is that my son took tenancy of a house August 2008. We were told at the time there was a gas certificate in place, but on going through his papers it seems he was not given a copy.

Fast forward to Sept 2009. Son rings LL and reminds him GC is over-due. LL says he will chase it up and get back to him. No further contact.

Oct son gets pneumonia (not connected) and is in hospital. Now out, but still unwell. The concern is that the boiler is in his bedroom.

Son contacts LL again when he gets out of hosp, same story, no further contact.

So yesterday I phoned LL. He said he would check his records and phone me back. No further contact.

Today, I telephoned the LL again - the conversation went something like this:

'The gas check might have been done, I am waiting to hear from the engineer'
'No-one has been to the house'
'We have keys, they may have let themselves in while your son was out'
'That is against the law, you have to give 24 hours written notice'
'Not if it is an emergency'
'You consider a routine gas check to be an emergency?'
'Yes, if we have been trying to contact your son without success'
'There is no sticker on the boiler and he has not received a copy of the certificate, which is now three months out of date'
'Our engineers have a backlog and the law allows some lea-way'

At which point I got shirty and told him that I am a solicitor and I know the lawand he is in breach of his legal obligations (I am actually a retired solicitor, but I specialised in employment law, so am not au fait with housing law). He then tells me his wife deals with these things and gives me a phone number. I speak to a lady who says she will chase it up and get back to me. But I get the distinct impression that I am being fobbed off (wonder why.....)

The thing is, my son is disabled and until now all contact has been through me, so it makes no sense to say 'they might have been trying to contact him' There has been no letter making an appointment, no card through the door, and no-one has contacted me.

My son is on IB, he smokes and has a dog, so he was lucky to get this place. Until a few months ago we dealt with a manager employed by the agent, who was great, but she seems to have left (it isn't clear whether we are dealing with the LL or the agent. We are phoning the agent's number, but the person we are speaking to seems to be a rank amateur. Also we have no address for the agent, just a mobile number).

So I need to know what do we do if the agent/LL continues to fob us off on this, as I am concerned there may be a real safety issue here. The boiler and heating system are obviously new, so we are not talking about an elderly boiler, but it still needs doing.

Thanks for your input

Daisy

Cannon_Fodder

http://www.arun.gov.uk/cgi-bin/buildpage.pl?mysql=67

"If your landlord has not provided you with a current valid gas certificate you can contact a Housing Officer at the Council to seek further advise and assistance."

Jowo_2

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/gas_safety.htm

tbs624

Your local Council has a Private Sector Rentals Officer ( may have slightly different title ) and they can help you get this sorted, as can an Environmental Health Officer Don't waste any more time trying to get the LL/LA to sort it out but have a not of all the attempts you have made so far to get action by the LL/LA.

The LL is obliged to give the T a copy of the current gas safety cert before he moves in , to arrange an annual gas safety check thereafter, providing the certificate within 4 weeks of the check being done, and retain copies of the certs for 2 years. See here link There are specific rules on what type of boilers may be put in bedrooms.

Your son is legally entitled to know the name and address of his LL and the LL/LA also has to give you an address at which notices relating to the property can be served ( the two may be the same) Is there no address listed on the tenancy agreement?

The fact that your son is in receipt of benefits, smokes and has a dog does not mean that he should have to put up with a LL/LA's failure to comply with the law on gas safety.

Fire_Fox

Has any of this contact been in writing, if not why not?

zzzLazyDaisy

No, so far all contact has been by phone. The reason is simply that at first my son was told it would be done so assumed it was an oversight. Then he was in hospital, so it was only yesterday that I got involved.

Having carried out further research I am also beginning to wonder if the reason for no certificate and for the prevarication is that a certificate has been refused at some point, owing to the boiler being in the bedroom.

Thanks for all your input.

Daisy

Fire_Fox

In that case the next step is a recorded delivery letter, quoting the requirement for a gas safety certificate and giving a timescale for reply. Then contact the council: in the mean time purchase a cheap carbon monoxide alarm.

zzzLazyDaisy

Thanks. He isn't sleeping in the bedroom at the moment, but downstairs in the living room. I have put a carbon monoxide monitor in the room.

I have also just phoned the wife again (who was supposed to ring me back and didn't). She has given me the name of the Gas Engineers who are supposed to be contacting me today to make arrangements to visit the property and carry out the inspection. They are a legitimate local company, so if they don't contact me today, I will contact them direct tomorrow.

If that also draws a blank I'll send a recorded delivery letter.

Thanks again

chappers

Sod writing to this dodgy landlord give him another ring and tell him unless ,he gets back to you with the certificate or makes provision for the inspection to be done , by the end of the day, that you will be reporting him to the HSE. If he doesn't get back to you then shop him.If he has the certificate he has nothing to fear, if he doesn't then he could be in the 5hit, especially if he doesn't have proof of previous tests too.

Fire_Fox

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Thanks. He isn't sleeping in the bedroom at the moment, but downstairs in the living room. I have put a carbon monoxide monitor in the room.

I have also just phoned the wife again (who was supposed to ring me back and didn't). She has given me the name of the Gas Engineers who are supposed to be contacting me today to make arrangements to visit the property and carry out the inspection. They are a legitimate local company, so if they don't contact me today, I will contact them direct tomorrow.

If that also draws a blank I'll send a recorded delivery letter.

Thanks again

Why ask for advice and then do your own thing? Phone calls aren't working and you are a retired lawyer ... If you think a letter is too slow then get the council involved now.

clutton_2

"They are a legitimate local company, so if they don't contact me today, I will contact them direct tomorrow.""

i think this is sensible - i (as a LL) dont condone this LL in any way, but, solving problems by reasoned argument, rather than all guns blazing, may well retain the tenancy for OP's son

having said that - please do things in writing (for a future paper trail) - we all know how important these things are for the future if the muck hits the air-mover.....