Tenant has broken the bath

FATBALLZ

I'm one of the most pro-tenant posters on this forum but I'm surprised you'd even have to go to your insurance, if your tenants have broken the bath (which can only be their fault unless it was a really crap and badly installed one) they should pay for the cost (based on remaining life of the bath). If I did this as a tenant I wouldn't even tell the landlord, I'd just get it fixed.

EllaBeagle

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

How easy or difficult is it to "fall over and crack the bath?" I've never heard of such a thing.

Ever heard of slipping when stood up in the bath?? But seriously, does it matter how it was broken? What matters is they have contacted the landlord early enough to get it sorted before it causes more problems!

BitterAndTwisted

Oh, stop being such a killjoy. I only asked because I was curious. And suspected that they were up to something entertaining in order to crack it, innit

ali-t

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

How easy or difficult is it to "fall over and crack the bath?" I've never heard of such a thing.

My lodger managed to pull the shower screen off the wall which fell into the bath and made a hole in the bath and dented the tiles at the end of the bath. The final bill was £800+

Funnily enough that lodger didn't last long but if I was in the OP's position I would just pay up and use the opportunity to redo the bathroom. Good tenants don't grow on trees and sometimes you have to invest to save....

clutton_2

AS a LL i would have a professional talk with your tenants, thank them for informing you so quickly, and explain that you had budgeted for a new bathroom this year, and would they contribute the cost of the bath, and you will pay for the fitting and wc and sink ? a win win situation for all..... as they dont have to pay for the fitting which strictly they should...

i also would not claim on my insurance either. If you had to, then i would charge the tenant the excess.

tbs624

It would be fair for the T to be asked to make a contribution towards the costs of replacment, allowing for depreciation.

OP says property has been rented out for 10 years but does not say whether the bath was fitted new 10 years ago. As others have said, some acrylic baths can withstand a fall if the bath was properly installed with appropriate support.

LL can of course set down such costs against rental income on his/her tax return

boyse7en

We're contacting our broker to find out the position re: insurance
But I suspect that it may not be worth claiming due to excess, premium increase etc.

I have found a peach-coloured bath online, but it is £250 + £30 delivery, and they won't take returns unless it is faulty (so colour match may be an issue)
My current thinking is to buy a complete white suite for about £400 and fit it myself (I've done a few replacement bathrooms now) and to ask the tenants for a contribution towards purchase and fitting costs.

PudseyDB

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

How easy or difficult is it to "fall over and crack the bath?" I've never heard of such a thing.

My daughter managed to crack ours while bathing the dog! All she did apparently was drop the shower head and didnt even realise it'd cracked until we started shouting there was water coming through the kitchen ceiling!!!

We also had a coloured suite and decided to replace the whole lot with white.

dodger1

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

as they've been renting for five years now, would it not be a good idea for a refurb of the toilet, with a token contribution from them?

As a tenant I'd say that's an excellent idea especially as the breakage was down to me.

ali-t

tbs624 wrote: »

LL can of course set down such costs against rental income on his/her tax return

Same as above ^^^ In the longer term it shouldn't cost you much to redo the whole bathroom as you can offset it against the income from the tenants on your tax return and you will pay less tax.