Help, Fire!

jay78

Ok so I've been renting a studio flat for almost 6 months now. Sunday morning I went to do my laundry and when I came back I saw smoke pooring out of the front window. I've been told the fridge caught alight and basically the flat is ruined. So I've had to move back in with mum. I put what I could salvage into storage.

I want to make a compensation claim but I don't know where to start. The flat is managed by a letting agent on behalf of the landlord who is in Ireland. The fridge was provided by the landlord. I've been told that the fridge should have had an electrical safety test. I don't remember seeing the sticker on it. Does this mean the landlord is liable?

I'm seriously out of pocket because of this and I really would like some compensation to cover the cost. What if i had been in when the fridge blew?

Any help is appreciated.

Old_No.7

Being a new landlord myself, I've looked into this recently, and yes, I'd think the landlord would have to compensate you for this (he would claim it from his insurance). Have you spoken to him or the letting agent? That would be the first step I'd expect my tenants to take. The landlord or the agent might be able to put you up somewhere else in the meantime, so you don't have to stay with your mum?

lynzpower

Has the landlord said when the flat would be ready for you to move back into and what is happening about your rent payments in the interim?

clutton_2

first thing i would do is to ask the fire brigade for a report as to how they think the fire started, preferably in writing. If the landlord provided the fridge and the fridge was faulty, he is at fault - however, insurance companies will try very hard to wriggle out of this one, claiming that you should claim on your own contents insurance, as landlords don't normally insure tenants property. This could get quite complicated. You need to keep a list of all "consequential losses" you have incurred as a result of the fire - ie ALL amounts spent as a direct result of the fire - replacement of goods; cleaning of smoke-damaged goods; rent to live somewhere else; transport of goods to storage; storage charges; and on and on. A landlord does not have to give a tenant a copy of any electrical reports (unlike gas) but you could ask the agent for a copy of it - if it exists. BUT most important was the fridge on the Inventory you signed when you moved in ? IF it was not, it will be even more difficult for you to prove that it is the landlords property should he get funny with you.

but, are you alright ? a fire is a really shocking thing to witness.

best wishes

Astaroth

The landlord is only at fault if he has been negligent in his actions. In this type of scenario it would mean knowing the fridge was faulty but failing to fix it within a reasonable time scale or having failed to have the required electrical inspections done on it..... for all that is known at the moment you may have dropped something down the back of the fridge which is why it caught fire and therefore it could be you that is liable for the damages done to the landlords property and not the other way round.

I assume you have taken out contents insurance. If you report the claim to them and they will handle either trying to recover the money from the landlord (if appropriate) or defending a claim from the landlord (if appropriate)

jay78

In terms of how the fire started, the fire investigation officer said that it was a component in the fridge. Apparently when the weather gets hotter, it has to work harder to cool the fridge, so it was basically something like a circuit overload. He said that ventillation around the fridge is key; the fridge was tightly packed, he wouldn't say that the fridge was installed incorrectly or anything like that. The firdge is definately on the inventory, the letting agent has said he will refund the difference in rent and deposit.

I haven't spoken to the landlord, he's in Ireland, so I'm basically going through the letting agent. When I asked them if they had similar properties, they said not in my price range.

jay78

Astaroth wrote:

The landlord is only at fault if he has been negligent in his actions. In this type of scenario it would mean knowing the fridge was faulty but failing to fix it within a reasonable time scale or having failed to have the required electrical inspections done on it.)

How would I find this out?

Astaroth wrote:

I assume you have taken out contents insurance. If you report the claim to them and they will handle either trying to recover the money from the landlord (if appropriate) or defending a claim from the landlord (if appropriate)

I don't have contents insurance.

clutton_2

you must then claim off the landlord and insist that the Agent finds you somewhere else to live - that is why landlords have to take out special insurance to deal with situations like this. When does your current AST expire ?

Astaroth

jay78 wrote:

How would I find this out?

The landlord/ agent should be able to provide a copy of the last electrical inspection on the property to confirm if that is an issue or not.

As to a fault, this is where life gets more difficult because civil law works on the balance of probability and case law rather than legislation so it ultimately comes down to the opinion of the judge. I would imagine that if there was a fault with the fridge then you would have been the first person to know about it but there are possibly problems that may have been highlighted to the landlord which you werent aware of (though of cause proving the landlord had been told is the difficult part)

See what the firebrigade say was the cause of the fire - hopefully it will be more than simply "the fridge" but unfortunately a formal fire investigation to determin causes are very expensive and could not be claimed back from the landlord. I know when I commissioned one the basic report was £1k and to get a detailed report was going to be £3k+

Tassotti

If a component in the fridge went faulty whilst you were living there, I cannot see how a Landlord could be responsible for this. It cannot be proved that the Landlord knew this would happen.

Electrical checks are not compulsory, but even if they were, no engineer could predict a failure of this type.

Might seem harsh, but a lesson learnt. Insure your own belongings whilst renting.

BobProperty

I recall there being a specific clause in one of my past tenancy agreements about what happend if the place was rendered uninhabitable. It sounds like the landlord needs to get out his insurance policy and start reading the small print.