No win no fee for suing landlord?

yummymummy_20

Hi all,

Wondering if you can help. I'll try and keep it brief and as less boring as possible!!

A few weeks ago, i was stood outside our privately rented property, fishing in my bags for my keys when a huge piece of concrete (the stuff that keeps the tiles together) fell off the roof and greeted my head. An ambulance trip, 5 stitches and a heap of glue later and i was back home. I tried to ring my landlords but the lady had changed her number. Took me 3 days of digging to finally get a contact number for them. Told them what happened. she promised she would get her husband (builder) to come and sort it in 2 days time. He didnt turn up. Meanwhile pieces of roof were still falling off so we were using back entrance (i have 2 young children)

Anyway, i rang and rang and rang to no answer or being fobbed off with 'this weekend, few days etc etc'

No remorse for accident or urgency to get it fixed.

So, today they come round in force, look at the roof and disappear again. Too wet to cement. When its dry they will come back (yeah right) I did want to ask about claiming for loss of earnings as i had a week off work due to dizzy spells and stitches pulling a lot. I was going to ask if they had insurance to cover this kind of accident or if they wanted to come to a mutual arrangement of my loss of earnings to be deducted from the rent so it didn't affect premiums. But they disappeared first.

So, for the lack of communication, remorse, willingness to fix problem i have decided to go down the 'No win No fee' route.

So my question is, Who do i go with? I havent done this kind of thing before so don't know who to avoid, what to look for etc.

Any help would be appreciated, also advice greatly recived.

So if you got this far, Thankyou!!

chris_m

I am not a legal expert but I would have thought the only way you would have a winning case would be if you could prove the landlord knew about the loose mortar beforehand but did nothing about it.

G_M

Anyway, i rang and rang and rang to no answer or being fobbed off with 'this weekend, few days etc etc'

Why? Anything like this should be done in writing. Have you written?
This may be covered by your landlord's buildings insurance. However the first step is to write officially (address on your contract) reporting
a) the accident
b) the need for repairs to the roof and
c) compensation for your injury

Whether the LL is liable I can't say. If there was no prior indication that the roof was in poor condition or neglected he can't be expected to have done anything. However he may have 3 party insurance.

yummymummy_20

We moved in to the property in April and there were some loose tiles which he said he would fix (nowhere near where the mortar dropped from) but obviously i can't prove that because he said to me and ot wasnt wrote down anywhere.

I would write to them if i had an address to write to. I don't even have a proper number for them. I have a business number which rarely gets answered.
There is no address on our contract which we signed either.

So the landlord could deny any knowledge of loose roof tiles, and i wouldnt have a case? is that right?

chris_m

yummymummy_20 wrote: »

I would write to them if i had an address to write to. I don't even have a proper number for them. I have a business number which rarely gets answered.
There is no address on our contract which we signed either.

Are you letting through an agency? If so, I believe that they have to provide with an address for the landlord if you ask.

Failing that, and I may be wrong so do search around the forums, ISTR seeing something in various thread mentioning that rent cannot legally be due if you do not have an address. Not paying the next rent would get his attention, I'm sure - but DO please check that my understanding is correct before taking that course of action.

yummymummy_20 wrote: »

So the landlord could deny any knowledge of loose roof tiles, and i wouldnt have a case? is that right?

As far as I am aware you could only successfully sue if you could prove negligence or not providing a contracted service.

With regards to the repairs not being done yet, roofing is very weather dependent so it is perfectly possible that it hasn't been doable yet, especially the last week or so in large areas of the country. However, one would at least expect to be kept informed as to the state of play.

G_M

yummymummy_20 wrote: »

We moved in to the property in April and there were some loose tiles which he said he would fix (nowhere near where the mortar dropped from so no connection) but obviously i can't prove that because he said to me and ot wasnt wrote down anywhere.now you know why everything should be done in writing!

I would write to them if i had an address to write to. I don't even have a proper number for them. I have a business number which rarely gets answered.
There is no address on our contract which we signed either.

So the landlord could deny any knowledge of loose roof tiles, and i wouldnt have a case? is that right?

Is there no address on your contract?

No address, no rent. That should save you some money! As Chris says, if there's an agency by law they have to provide his address if you ask. Again, as with everything formal, do it in writing.