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Trying to get full deposit back.

Yonke
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hello.
I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice please!
We have recently moved out of a house we rented for 4 years. No issues with the house, all bills paid up to date BUT one small thing.
I put some tea light candle holders on the towel rack whilst cleaning and one fell down and hit the toilet cistern lid. It cracked the corner of the lid clean off and I superglued it back on, but it left a visible crack.
The landlord is saying that he is unable to find a replacement lid so will have to replace the entire toilet and this will come out of our deposit! Is this reasonable? Considering we rented for four years and the landlord did no maintenance during this time could it be considered wear and tear?
We have just become first time buyers and were planning on using the deposit towards buying a bathroom suite for our new home! The deposit is in the "mydeposits" protection scheme but the landlord decides how much we get back from this.
Any advice gratefully received.
I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice please!
We have recently moved out of a house we rented for 4 years. No issues with the house, all bills paid up to date BUT one small thing.
I put some tea light candle holders on the towel rack whilst cleaning and one fell down and hit the toilet cistern lid. It cracked the corner of the lid clean off and I superglued it back on, but it left a visible crack.
The landlord is saying that he is unable to find a replacement lid so will have to replace the entire toilet and this will come out of our deposit! Is this reasonable? Considering we rented for four years and the landlord did no maintenance during this time could it be considered wear and tear?
We have just become first time buyers and were planning on using the deposit towards buying a bathroom suite for our new home! The deposit is in the "mydeposits" protection scheme but the landlord decides how much we get back from this.
Any advice gratefully received.
0
Comments
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If you broke it you need to pay for it.... Can you not source one of these models yourself?0
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A crack that you admit causing couldn't be considered normal wear and tear, even over 4 years, but:
The LL is not entitled to "betterment", so they can't charge you for an entire NEW toilet, only a proportion of what the original toilet was worth. There may be exceptions if it was a special edition gold-plated convencience that had to be whole to preserve it's value, but I doubt that's the case here ;-). What the LL can claim will depend on when it was originally installed and the expected wear and tear over the intervening years.
If you can't come to a compromise with the LL you can raise a dispute with the protection scheme. The LL will then have to provide evidence to back up his claim and it will be up to the scheme's arbitrators to decide if it is valid.0 -
The LL is not entitled to "betterment"
Returning the [broken] toilet to its original state (the state it was in when the tenant took charge of the property) is not betterment. The decent thing to do here would be to either replace the lid or if it cannot be done then replace the whole thing. It is hard to believe a lid that fits cannot be found.0 -
The LL is not entitled to "betterment", so they can't charge you for an entire NEW toilet, only a proportion of what the original toilet was worth. There may be exceptions if it was a special edition gold-plated convencience that had to be whole to preserve it's value, but I doubt that's the case here ;-). What the LL can claim will depend on when it was originally installed and the expected wear and tear over the intervening years.
I agree with the theory, but what is the expected life of a toilet? It's so long that I'm not sure that betterment really applies here unless it's a very old toilet.
OP, wear and tear is things wearing out through normal use or fading with age. Breakages are damage.Don't listen to me, I'm no expert!0 -
Returning the [broken] toilet to its original state (the state it was in when the tenant took charge of the property) is not betterment. The decent thing to do here would be to either replace the lid or if it cannot be done then replace the whole thing. It is hard to believe a lid that fits cannot be found.
The OP said the LL claimed he couldn't get a replacement lid so the T was liable for the cost of a whole replacement toilet. I'd say the OP would be content to pay for a replacement lid as they've admitted they caused the crack. I agree it's hard to believe a lid could not be found to fit the existing toilet. The OP could try to find a replacement lid and offer it as an alternative.
But I'm not sure that the LL can claim the whole cost of a replacement toilet from the deposit in these circumstances. And, whether we like it or not, deposit protection places the onus onto the LL to prove the financial loss.0 -
i used to work at a plumbers merchants and i can assure you that toilet lids come in all shapes and sizes and it's quite common not to be able to get a lid (i know cos i used to try) that fits.'We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time0
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Sounds like a contribution would be justified, but not the cost of an entire replacement toilet.
Have a look at the final example from these case studies (I know it's TDS rather than mydeposits, and it's a kitchen worktop rather than a toilet, but the same principles apply). http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/resources/files/Case%20studies%20-%20damage%20and%20missing%20items.pdfLet's settle this like gentlemen: armed with heavy sticks
On a rotating plate, with spikes like Flash Gordon
And you're Peter Duncan; I gave you fair warning0
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