Can my landlord charge me a call out fee?

fishtaxi

Is my landlord allowed to charge me a £20 call out fee if I lock myself out?
He has a spare key, and is a 5 minute walk away.
I have only done it once, and there is no mention of a call out fee in the contract.

mlz1413

Your LL is only responsible for repairs and maintenance so is quite within his rights to charge you.

Although it would have been better of him to say that there would be a fee when you called, all in all he stopped what he was doing to walk/drive the distance to let you in. That is much quicker than any lock smith and £20 is a lot cheaper than replacing the locks.

For future do you have a relative or friend nearby that you could leave a key with?

Fire_Fox

Why would you call the landlord out, why not walk over and borrow the key then pop it straight back once you have let yourself in?

fishtaxi

mlz1413 wrote: »

For future do you have a relative or friend nearby that you could leave a key with?

Thats my plan...

PasturesNew

I would say "yes" - and as a tenant I'd be eternally grateful the option was there, he came out .. and he ONLY charged me £20.

fishtaxi

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why would you call the landlord out, why not walk over and borrow the key then pop it straight back once you have let yourself in?

No shoes! :doh:

clutton_2

drunk ? if so £20 is a small price to pay for a bed for the night......

LANDLORDS ARE NOT SOCIAL WORKERS.......

Fire_Fox

fishtaxi wrote: »

No shoes! :doh:

That mistake is why you are being charged £20!

FATBALLZ

If he mentions it in advance then I'd say so. Not if he gives you the key and comes back the next day and says 'you owe me £20'. Either way he sounds like a !!!!!!.

clutton_2

""Either way he sounds like a !!!!!!.""

so does the tenant ...

going out without a key losing his shoes and expecting someone else to bail him out.......

FATBALLZ

clutton wrote: »

""Either way he sounds like a !!!!!!.""

so does the tenant ...

going out without a key losing his shoes and expecting someone else to bail him out.......

I got locked out once, without a shirt! It was one of those self locking doors (why the hell anyone would want one I don't know), we'd been having trouble with vandalism and my partner ran outside when she heard a noise to catch them, I was scared for her safety and ran out as well forgetting about the door in the heat of the moment. People can get locked out without things for any number of reasons, doesn't make them a !!!!!!. If my tenant lived 5 minutes away I'd think it was common decency to walk over and give them a key, worries me anybody who has the mentality that such a trivial one-off task is an excellent scam for making money out of vulnerable people.