Repairs / Clearance after Tenancy ends

MadMcardle

Hey

I moved out of a property, the official end date being March 5th on the Tenancy. I have never been behind in rent and left the property in good condition, I did however leave some things behind that I could not take with me, cooker etc. I have now been charged for disposal of these items, to the sum of £198.00, my question is:-

1) Is there a time limit on how long after the tenancy ended that they can charge me? It being over two months ago.

2) I personally think £198.00 to remove 3 things is WAY too much, anything I can do there?

Any advice on this would be great, thanks!

theartfullodger

Had there been no previous correspondence regarding these abandoned goods?? Do you normally leave things you don't want just wherever you wish (eg rubbish tossed out of car windows..) for someone else to clear up??

Two approaches...

a) They are your property (still..) disposal is theft, arguably, so ask for them back / go to Police, report theft, ask for crime reference number (and expect disbelief...) see..
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/uncollected_goods.htm

b) Be grateful LL did not take the other approach of concluding (he could have, oh yes..) that as you had not vacated the property the tenancy was still in operation & you owe rent from when you went to today..

Think I know which I'd chose...

BitterAndTwisted

MadMcardle wrote: »

Hey

I moved out of a property, the official end date being March 5th on the Tenancy. I have never been behind in rent and left the property in good condition, I did however leave some things behind that I could not take with me, cooker etc. I have now been charged for disposal of these items, to the sum of £198.00, my question is:-

1) Is there a time limit on how long after the tenancy ended that they can charge me? It being over two months ago.

No, there isn't. How long do you think it would take to find a contractor and instruct them to dispose of your junk and then receive their bill for it?

2) I personally think £198.00 to remove 3 things is WAY too much, anything I can do there?

You can think anything you like but if you weren't happy to be charged for it you should have arranged disposal yourself. Contractors of this sort charge a minimum call-out, perhaps a half-day rate, and taking large items to the dump isn't always free. There could have been a charge for accepting your rubbish as well as one for taking it away.

Frankly, I think you got off pretty lightly, so I reckon you should cough up.

MadMcardle

theartfullodger wrote: »

Had there been no previous correspondence regarding these abandoned goods?? Do you normally leave things you don't want just wherever you wish (eg rubbish tossed out of car windows..) for someone else to clear up??

No I do not make a habit of leaving "rubbish" for other people to clear up.

MadMcardle

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You can think anything you like but if you weren't happy to be charged for it you should have arranged disposal yourself. Contractors of this sort charge a minimum call-out, perhaps a half-day rate, and taking large items to the dump isn't always free. There could have been a charge for accepting your rubbish as well as one for taking it away.

Frankly, I think you got off pretty lightly, so I reckon you should cough up.

Thanks, I did not know you could be charged for someone accepting rubbish.

Kynthia

When you take rubbish to the dump in a van they often charge you. All I was taking was a single bed yet they weighed the van on the way in and out to decide what to charge me.