Problem with cooker switch

concerned43

I took tenancy of a council house in May last year and inspector reported that the cooker switch needs moved - however it still not has been moved yet which means I cannot use the back two rings of my cooker! I know there are regulations regarding these things and would like to write to the council quoting this and ask for compensation - only thing is I do not know where to get the info I need to take on the council. I attach photos to show the difficulty I have with this. The first one is of the cooker switch (which is 22cm above cooker). The second is the cooker connection which, you will see is also in a difficult place and am worried about the potential risks of it being so close to the cooker.










If anyone knows about these things and can point me in the right direction I would be very grateful.

BitterAndTwisted

Your pics ain't working. Probably because you're a newbie and can't post links.

Whatever, when dealing with a Local Authority it sometimes makes no difference if you know any of the legislation or not. Just write your letter to the Chief Housing Officer, enclosing a photocopy of any report from the electrician and follow it up ten days later. And then keep following it up, attaching copies of all previous correspondence every ten days until it's done.

theartfullodger

And ask your local councillor for his help... probably won't work but just might...

concerned43

I have already written 2 formal complaints and spoke 3 times with councellor - nothing done. I thought they would sit up and take notice if I knew 'my stuff'!
Cant seem to get photos on here

tbs624

This sort of thing should fall under the Right to Repair Scheme for council homes

See here for further guidance. You should be entitled to compensation if the Council contractor's don't do the work within a set time. There should also be info on this in your Tenant Handbook or via the local Tenant Association, if there is one. Your local CAB should be able to help you with this.

concerned43

I agree that it should come under the right of repair also and had already told the council this. The repair was logged on the 4 June 2010 and I am still waiting - Its not only inconvenient but also dangerious and can't believe the Council can just ignore this!
My aim was to write them another formal letter and ask for the repair to be done and compensation - if compensation not forthcoming then would take them to court.
However, don't know how successful this claim would be in court tho!

BitterAndTwisted

Unlikely to be successful in court, I expect. Forget the damned compensation and get writing to the Chief Housing Officer by Recorded Delivery like I suggested. Pester-power will get you more places than whingeing about compensation when the real issue is that you need a potentially dangerous situation rectified more than six months after it was initially reported.

You posted about this yesterday so you've had plenty of time to write a letter, so why haven't you done it yet? Stop moaning on here and GET RUDDY-WELL WRITING!

tbs624

The compensation from Right to Repair is not claimed via a court

There's a typical Council Guide here

The point about that compensation B&T is that Council obviously prefer not to have to cough it up - a T letting them know that they are aware of the Scheme and how it should work can sometimes give them the necessary additional nudge, especially if the local Councillor is made aware that the Council's own tardiness will trigger a pay out. The really important part of RTR is that if the Council don't get on and complete the repair then the T can ask them to get another contractor on the job.

diable

If you don't mind me asking by why claim compensation as its a council house that you have and the money will only come from the taxpayers.

What work needs to be done to the the cooker switch and can't you get it done yourself?

Kilty_2

Compensation for what exactly? What massive loss are you suffering?

tbs624

"Dangerous sockets" are the Council's responsibility as LLs. Look back - it is the Council themselves who flagged the issue up when the OP moved in *last May* OP is apparently unable to use the back two rings of the cooker - 7 and a half months is plenty long enough for a Council to get the switch moved.

Bear in mind that the OP is likely to be tax payer too and that RTR is well established. It applies only to jobs which would cost less than 250 quid and jobs on which a delay could "threaten health, safety or security" .

If you don't like the idea of Councils paying out because of their lack of timely and appropriate reaction to T's repairs issues then write to your MP and the local Council. The amount here though is a one off ten quid plus 2 quid per day *to a max of just 50 quid*

Let's remember that, in the real world, all manner of contractors get slapped with penalties for failing to meet their targets.