boiler,who is responsible?

husheechee

Last jan the boiler in my property developed a rumbling noise,I(landlord) went round to investigate and yes there was this rumbling noise which i videoed so i could show the gasafe engineer what was happening(i didnt touch the boiler i just listened),engineer was duly called and in the meantime the tennant told me that this"noise" had been going on for some months(jaw drops)why hadnt she reported this before i asked? it only does it now and again.The engineer couldnt find anything that made the boiler unsafe to use and i heard no more from the tennant or my agent untill this week when the GSC was done,whilst the engineer was there the tennant told the engineer that the boiler had made rumbling noises since january! !!!!!!... she was asked to report any probs(which is in the tennancy agreement)not a word,she was also asked by the agent in her 3 monthly inspections if the boiler issue had just resolved itself and she never said anything(she was asked this on my instruction because i or the agent hadnt heard of any problems with the boiler since jan) so my question is this...should the tennant be partly held responsible for part of the cost of repairs/new boiler simply because she didnt report that the boiler had in fact been making a rumbling noise since jan and it now looks like its going to be a replacement boiler(this one is only 5 years old).I know that i am ultimately responsible for theseviced/repaired or replaced but I feel that she is partly responsible because she should have reported this before instead of sitting on her backside and not saying anything,surely she has used the heating or hot water so many times in the last nine months with the boiler even if it was an intermittent problem then the chances are that this "rumbling"noise would have been heard sometime in that 9 month period and we had some pretty cold weather last feb,march etc....where as a landlord do i stand on this?Could i claim something from the tennant for being so irresponible and not keeping to the tennancy agreement on reporting issues etc? over to all you knowledgeble people

paul1964_2

Why would your tenant keep reporting the same noises when your gas engineer is aware of the noises, but has still given the boiler a clean bill of health?

G_M

husheechee wrote: »

Last jan the boiler in my property developed a rumbling noise,
how did you know? Presumably the tenant told you?
I(landlord) went round to investigate and yes there was this rumbling noise which i videoed so i could show the gasafe engineer what was happening(i didnt touch the boiler i just listened),engineer was duly called and in the meantime the tennant told me that this"noise" had been going on for some months
If boiler had been working, I can understand tenant not making an issue - but now you know!

(jaw drops)why hadnt she reported this before i asked? it only does it now and again.The engineer couldnt find anything that made the boiler unsafe to use
So boiler is safe but still making noise. And you left it at that.....

and i heard no more from the tennant
Obviously. Tenant knew you knew. Knew it was safe. And was getting heat/hot water. Why report again?
or my agent untill this week when the GSC was done,whilst the engineer was there the tennant told the engineer that the boiler had made rumbling noises since january! !!!!!!... she was asked to report any probs(which is in the tennancy agreement)not a word,she was also asked by the agent in her 3 monthly inspections if the boiler issue had just resolved itself and she never said anything(she was asked this on my instruction because i or the agent hadnt heard of any problems with the boiler since jan) so my question is this...should the tennant be partly held responsible for part of the cost of repairs/new boiler
You are joking surely!!!

simply because she didnt report that the boiler had in fact been making a rumbling noise since jan and it now looks like its going to be a replacement boiler(this one is only 5 years old).I know that i am ultimately responsible for theseviced/repaired or replaced
Correct
but I feel that she is partly responsible
Incorrect
because she should have reported this before instead of sitting on her backside and not saying anything,surely she has used the heating or hot water so many times in the last nine months with the boiler even if it was an intermittent problem then the chances are that this "rumbling"noise would have been heard sometime in that 9 month period and we had some pretty cold weather last feb,march etc....where as a landlord do i stand on this?
You repair or replace the boiler
Could i claim something from the tennant
No
for being so irresponible and not keeping to the tennancy agreement on reporting issues etc? over to all you knowledgeble people

Back to you now.

Yorkie1

I know you were askedto start your own thread and not to hijack threads, but other posters should be aware that you have already had a number of responses on the other thread where you first posted this question (post #16 onwards).

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4258631=

husheechee

and thats why i started a new thread so as not to hijack someone elses and i was in a bit of a hurry when i first posted...i suppose mistakes are easy to make....
All im doing here is asking some questions to a slightly different issue.
Yes the tennant informed thro the agent in the first instance,the problem was that it was an intermittent fault and all that was asked was that IF this happened again then she was to report it again asap so in answer to the highlighted response was yes it was left at that and yes it WAS left in a safe working condition by the gas safe engineer and NO i wasnt joking when i asked if the tennant would be held partly responsible,i asked a reasonable question that i thought someone might be able to give a reasonable answer to...you are joking!!! is not quite what i would call a reasonable answer,bluntness is a sharp object in the wrong hands,
Of course I know my obligations as a landlord but what i was trying to get across was this...if the tennant were to cause damage to the property then she would be responsible for the repairs etc ...would i be correct on this? so what I was trying to convey was this...through her lack of reporting the problem on the boiler then could she be held partly responsible through neglect?Before I posted on here I thought that I would be barking up the wrong tree and that I didnt have a cat in hells chance of getting anything from the tennant but maybe there was someone who had come across this type of issue before.Im not expecting kid gloves on here but reasonable and considered answers and i should also point out that the engineer didnt hear this "rumbling noise" untill this week when the tennant apparently told him that it had been going on for ages like that! If your car was knocking and someone told you that if you change the oil and it would solve the prob and then ignored it for nine months only to find out that you now have to change the engine you would be a bit annoyed for being neglectful wouldnt you?

UnitedSum

If you yourself heard the rumbling noise last Jan and even have it recorded, I don't see how the tenant is at fault here. An engineer looked at it and claims he heard nothing and all was fine. I assume he told you that at the time? If I were the tenant, I'd feel I'd done my duty as you were aware and engineer gave the ok. It sounds to me like the tenant never actually said the rumbling ever stopped and that the issue was left as it was.

If I were you, I'd be asking myself why I didn't get a second opinion if the engineer claims he heard no rumbling sounds.

phill99

I can't help thinking that property investment isn't for you.

Yorkie1

I wasn't criticising you OP for starting this thread, just letting others know that you've already had some responses so that they don't spend a long time duplicating those responses.

Annisele

Your tenant is supposed to report *problems*. They've been told the noise isn't a problem. So, why would they report it again?

Genuine question - I can't come up with a reasonable answer, but if you can, your tenants *might* be liable.

jbainbridge

What is wrong with a 5 year old boiler that means it needs completely replacing? And what was the rumbling noise??

Kynthia

Do you have written confirmation from the engineer that the fact the problem wasn't investigated earlier meant a more expensive repair for you? If there isn't a directly attributable cost that you can evidence, then you have no hope of charging the tenant. Even if you did have evidence it wouldn't be easy but you could try to take it from the deposit at the end of the tenancy.