Landlord negligence claims

Weeza

Just like to know my rights.

Over a week ago I noticed cracks in the ceiling above the shower, and a damp outline. I notified the landlord right away. He asked me to keep an eye on it over the weekend in case it dripped.

A week later (Monday) I noticed the cracks had become noticeably worse - but there had been no drips. Landlord said he's come by.

He came by this evening (thursday) pushed the ceiling a bit, said he'd get some builders in next week. Apparently they'd had to replace that part of the ceiling before/had trouble in the past.

a couple of hours later i took a shower. I decided to get out of the shower earlier than normal.
2 minutes after I got out - no exaggeration - the ceiling collapsed and it would have killed me. sadly i can't upload a photo as i'm a new user, but it wasn't JUSt the ceiling, but also from the floor above.

what are my rights? tonight i'm drinking to my health!:beer:

Fire_Fox

:eek: Your rights to what? A repaired shower/ ceiling or compensation or something else?

anselld

Your rights are to have it repaired in a timely way.
Why do you feel the LL is negligent? Presumably he had no way to know any more than you did that the ceiling was about to collapse.

geri1965_2

Two things to consider.

1. If you weren't injured then there is no right of action.

2. It's far from apparent that the landlord has been negligent anyway, he came over to look at the problem and said he would arrange for someone to come and have a look. The incident occurred in the meantime.

Weeza

Just in general. I'm not a 'claims' kinda person, but apparently this is considered severe negligence for not keeping the flat in proper order.
The fact that I could have lost my life if I stayed in longer because
a. this situation wasn't dealt with properly the first time (before my tenancy) and b. this time it wasn't dealt with promptly isn't exactly signs of a responsible landlord. And i'm also rather !!!!ed off that although this happened a few hours ago, no one will come by until some point tomorrow morning. o_O

geri1965_2

Find somewhere else to live then.

Weeza

You must be a landlord, because that's an incredibly ignorant statement that is also entirely ignorant of a landlord's legal obligations as per a tenancy agreement. Well done.

anselld

Weeza wrote: »

Just in general. I'm not a 'claims' kinda person, but apparently this is considered severe negligence for not keeping the flat in proper order.
The fact that I could have lost my life if I stayed in longer because
a. this situation wasn't dealt with properly the first time (before my tenancy) and b. this time it wasn't dealt with promptly isn't exactly signs of a responsible landlord. And i'm also rather !!!!ed off that although this happened a few hours ago, no one will come by until some point tomorrow morning. o_O

A water leak above can cause ceiling collapse in the best maintained flat.

ILW

Weeza wrote: »

You must be a landlord, because that's an incredibly ignorant statement that is also entirely ignorant of a landlord's legal obligations as per a tenancy agreement. Well done.

Bit overdramatic, ceilings fall down quite often.

Fire_Fox

Weeza wrote: »

Just in general. I'm not a 'claims' kinda person, but apparently this is considered severe negligence for not keeping the flat in proper order.
The fact that I could have lost my life if I stayed in longer because
a. this situation wasn't dealt with properly the first time (before my tenancy) and b. this time it wasn't dealt with promptly isn't exactly signs of a responsible landlord. And i'm also rather !!!!ed off that although this happened a few hours ago, no one will come by until some point tomorrow morning. o_O

Apparently according to whom? It's arguably only negligence if you can demonstrate the landlord was aware there was a major issue and ignored it, or has generally failed to maintain the property so it was inevitable. Depends too if he employed a proper builder the first time or bodged a repair himself. You only noticed the problem a week ago, the landlord cannot just come in and out of your home and inspect at will. He did come over within a few days and did agree to get a builder out. You obviously thought it was safe enough to continue to shower in.

Sorry if that sounds uncaring or dismissive, it really is not meant to I am sure I would be horrified in your shoes. I just don't think you can claim compensation for negligence. You absolutely can ask to be rehoused if you don't have washing facilities or you feel the bathroom is generally unsafe. I would suggest you put something into writing ASAP, you want a paper trail.

Weeza wrote: »

You must be a landlord, because that's an incredibly ignorant statement that is also entirely ignorant of a landlord's legal obligations as per a tenancy agreement. Well done.

I completely agree it was a silly statement. But please be aware we have a number of very helpful, knowledgeable and professional landlords who post here regularly.

jc808

how would a ceiling collapse 'kill you'?

floor from above, maybe?