Can my landlord charge me a call out fee?

prudryden

I'm sure you will find a way to get £20 worth of aggravation out of the LL in due course.

goldbyron

£20 is a bit unfair but then again he could have been in the middle of anything.... I suppose its lucky he is local otherwise a locksmith would charge more.

And why are so many people so rude on this site. There is really no need to call some one a to**er whatever the circumstances. This site is going downhill.

clutton_2

once a tenant thinks "oh the LL will sort this out " - it never stops..... THAT is why LLs make such charges - its not exploitative at all.. owning property is a business....

homeowners would have to call out a locksmith - £120 + V AT is a common day time rate.... i guess you could double that after midnight.....

G_M

The LL has a life too. He dropped everything and came over. If he didn't charge the tenant would prob take it for granted and assume he could call any time with any problem. Now the tenant knows he'll be more careful.

And yes, if LL had said 'sorry I'm at work/busy/at my mum's 100 miles away - call a locksmith and sort it out yourself' tenant would have been looking at costs clutton outlines above.

g_attrill

The question is, did your landlord have to come over to let you in at all? I would think not, so the only question is if he warned you of the charge beforehand.

Regardless, it seems a low price - low enough to not take the p*** but enough to make sure you aren't using him as a keyholder service.

diable

Landlord could have just said he's busy and given the number of a local locksmith. I think I would rather bite the bullet and pay £20 (and make sure it never happens again) then paying a £120 bill.

Errata

Homeowners can't call a landlord to get them out of the mire. They have to call a locksmith and stand on the doorstep shoeless in the freezing cold for a couple of hours waiting for him to turn up. And then pay a large bill.

bellrooster

I think it's rather cheeky asking for £20, Who cares if it's between a Landlord and a tennant - I would happily pop out for a few minutes to do something to help someone in a spot of bother, I wouldn't want paying for it.

ninky_2

i think the reasonable thing would have been to have brought the key and then said that any repeat would incur a callout fee - although if i was a landlord i don't think i would want to offer a key replacement service for £20 in case the tenant called at an inconvient time.

what would you have done if the landlord had been away on holiday?

princeofpounds

The landlord had zero legal obligation to come and help you.

Your alternative would have been getting a locksmith or staying elsewhere whilst arranging to get a new copy from your landlord at your cost and his convenience.

He should have mentioned the charge and the fact he did not do so until after the event means you are not legally obliged to pay it, but the amount of the charge is reasonable.

Personally I would pay it to preserve good relations, but it all depends on how important £20 is to you.