Deposit Safety Scheme Exemption??

tubie22

Thanks tbs624. I will check the inventory and the website you listed.

G_M

tubie22 wrote: »

We are being charged ludicrous amounts for damage we didnt even know existed; £100 for a bath plug,
Agreed this is ludicrous. Is it some kind of NASA-developed Designer plug? Even allowing a fee for labour this is OTT
£250 for a new sofa (there was nothing wrong with the old one, except for a faulty leg which was there when we moved in and which my other half fixed twice and reported to the uni),
* Does the check-in inventory note the faulty leg?
* Do you have copy of your OH's letter to the uni?
* How old is the sofa? Even if you are held responsible for the damage, the age is relevant. Life of a sofa is... 10? years? If it is already 6 years old (say) then the max you can be charged is 4/10ths of replacement cost.
almost £100 in cleaning charges for a tiny 1 bed flat that we absolutely scrubbed before we left.
* have you evidence of your cleaning? Photos? Witnesses?
* what does the check-in inventory say about the cleanliness at start of tenancy?
* a professional cleaning company would charge £50-£150
We do accept some of the claims and are happy to pay them because we knew we would have to,
Which?
but the others are nothing to do with us. We are also being charged for a mould issue which was evident when we moved in.
* check-in inventory?
* Reported during tenancy by letter?
We did clean it with bleach and did report it and were told to open the windows (it was November and they were single glazed) and move furniture from the walls and that's all they could tell us.

Thanks.

Hope this helps

tubie22

"* Does the check-in inventory note the faulty leg?
* Do you have copy of your OH's letter to the uni?
* How old is the sofa? Even if you are held responsible for the damage, the age is relevant. Life of a sofa is... 10? years? If it is already 6 years old (say) then the max you can be charged is 4/10ths of replacement cost." - The first time we had to fix the leg, we noted it in the inventory and let the uni know via email. They said they would contact the owner to let them know, as it was the owner's responsibility to carry out repairs. We heard nothing more. No idea how old the sofa is, it has stains on it (on the inventory when we moved in, not caused by us), generally looks pretty worn, but it may have been bought by the owner in a used condition for the flat. At the very least, i know it is definitely over 2 years old, as the previous tenants who gave us a viewing last year still had the sofa.

" have you evidence of your cleaning? Photos? Witnesses?
* what does the check-in inventory say about the cleanliness at start of tenancy?
* a professional cleaning company would charge £50-£150" - Yes, we had my other half's father help us clean and move our stuff (he was helping us move, driving our rental van from London to Belfast etc). He is certainly not someone who does cleaning half-heartedly; was in the army for many years, very disciplined etc. We realise now we should have taken photographs but didnt. However, the university did send me photographs of what they said needed to be cleaned; a few stones on the bathroom floor, some fluff and a deodorant lid under the bed which had been missed and the mould on the bedroom walls, which we had previously reported and was told to 'just wipe away, move furniture from walls and open the windows'. The mould repeatedly reappeared and, at the time of cleaning the property, I sat for about 2 hours with wire scrubbing pads and bleach and scrubbed it. What they are complaining is mould damage is the improved condition AFTER cleaning. We have also been told that the cleaning could cost up to £300 for a 1 bed flat. And it is a tiny 1 bed flat which was thoroughly cleaned before we left.

"Which?" - There was a hole in the bedroom door caused by me tripping over the phone wire and putting my hands out to stop myself falling, resulting in a crack/hole in the front of the bedroom door. The door had obviously been damaged before; the previous crack in the door looked like it had been covered in parcel tape and painted over. We filled the hole that i had made with filler and sanded it down, it really only needs to be painted again.
There was another hole created in the wardrobe door and we have literally no idea how it happened. It was perfectly circular so we assumed it must have been a door knob from a wardrobe beside this one. We tried every possible way to match door knobs to the hole and none of them even reached the hole. So we really have no idea about it, but are willing to pay for it.

We did report the mould by email (email was the only way they would respond in faster than a month). I also reported it to the uni staff member when they came to do an inspection in November 2011. This was when she told me basically that it wasnt her problem and to move furniture away from the walls to help 'air circulate round the room' and to open the single glazed windows. That was it. There was a de-humidifier supplied in the flat, so they obviously knew mould was a major issue. We had to use the de-humidifier every single day, all day, in order for us to be able to go to bed without the bed sheets being damp and smelling of mould. It cost us quite a lot in electricity and, being students, this wasn't really ideal. 4 pairs of my shoes, which were kept in the wardrobe the whole time, were also ruined by mould and had to be thrown out as i couldnt scrub it off.

Thanks