Frozen Pipes / Flood

anselld

Appreciate any advice on this ....

Students in rental property go home for Christmas.
Turn off heating to save on fuel bills.
Cold snap -> Pipe Freeze -> Pipe Burst.
Place flooded on return.
Irate LL claiming that Ts liable for all damage.

OK so it was not wise to turn the heating off but what is the deal here in terms of who picks up the tab for damage, repair, etc?

pawlala

I thought I'd help with this link I read not long ago

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2190327

Soot2006

I think the T is liable for looking after their home, therefore should not turn off heating in the middle of winter ... or should at least leave frost protection enabled to prevent this type of situation. So T liable, imo.

MyRubyRed

Soot2006 wrote: »

I think the T is liable for looking after their home, therefore should not turn off heating in the middle of winter ... or should at least leave frost protection enabled to prevent this type of situation. So T liable, imo.

Horrible situation , not an expert either but would probably agree with the above. Heating should probably have just have been turned down to frost protection instead of off. Any way to check the LL's insurance and terms of tenancy agreement. hopefully someone else will come along with more help. :question:

clutton_2

as a LL definitely the tenants fault, the tenant;s responsibility and the tenant must pay....

tenants have a legal duty to behave in a "tenant like manner" this involves not doing anything to the financial detriment of the property - such as not heating it in severe weather conditions

surely common sense would have told you that pipes containing water would freeze, expand and crack in such severe conditions ?

almost every boiler i have come across has a frost control setting which means that the boiler automatically kicks on when the temperature gets close to freezing, so its hardly an onerous thing to do....

catpea33

I think it's the T. It might say somewhere in your contract about leaving the heating on in winter if going away (mine does) or something about how you have to take reasonable steps to protect the property from things like that.

anselld

clutton wrote: »

as a LL definitely the tenants fault, the tenant;s responsibility and the tenant must pay....

Completely agree the T should not have turned off the heating, but is it really that black and white?
What if the pipe in question not properly lagged?
Is there not some coverage from LL buildings insurance?

clutton_2

Is there not some coverage from LL buildings insurance?



Even if a LL were to agree to do this - the LL can then charge the tenant for the "excess" on the policy which is often £1000 on claims for tenant damage on landlords policies

Madmel

Uncle & grandfather are retired plumbers. It has been said many times to us that if you go away turning off the heating, you MUST turn off the water at the stoptap.

It looks like it was naive of the Ts to turn off only the heating without realising the consequences. However, did the LL show them the location of the stoptap?

clutton_2

""It has been said many times to us that if you go away turning off the heating, you MUST turn off the water at the stoptap.""

but that will not stop pipes freezing and bursting.. it will only minimise the amount of water that will leak from the pipe into the property

There has been enough publicity in the last month about the appalling weather for anyone in their right mind and who is going away to think - maybe i should leave some heating on....

if you dont know where the stop !!!! is - ASK

lynzpower

Madmel wrote: »

Uncle & grandfather are retired plumbers. It has been said many times to us that if you go away turning off the heating, you MUST turn off the water at the stoptap.

It looks like it was naive of the Ts to turn off only the heating without realising the consequences. However, did the LL show them the location of the stoptap?

additionally, did the LL leave the manual for the boiler. I understand this is an essential? Is that right clutton, the LL has a duty to provide all manuals ?