Where Do I Stand Legally?

BitterAndTwisted

Having no electricity on a Saturday when you don't know the cause or what work may need to be done is an emergency as far as I'm concerned.

Being told to get the work done and they will refund it means they should cover it. The whole lot.

If the agent is not willing to refund the total cost then I would be minded to deduct it from the rent. And I'd put that in writing to both the agent and the landlord before I did so.

If the agent or the landlord they represent wanted to be in control of the costs then they should have arranged for the repair to be done themselves. To tell a tenant that they should have got quotes and forwarded them onto the agent before having the work done on a weekend when no-one would have been at their office to authorise it is an absolute nonsense.

thesaint

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

To tell a tenant that they should have got quotes and forwarded them onto the agent before having the work done on a weekend when no-one would have been at their office to authorise it is an absolute nonsense.

The OP called the agent at the weekend.

FBaby

Did he just fix the emergency or carry out remedial work?

I also don't understand if the cost was much higher than expected, you didn't challenge them there and then and told him to invoice the agency as you were not prepared to pay that amount. Where did you find the electrician?

Is the property management company an agency or the landlords themselves? If only the agency, I would tell them to take it up with the landlords, and maybe explain why despite the high fee they charge, they could be bothered to contact someone themselves because it was Saturday (aren't they opened on saturdays?), they couldn't be bothered to do the job they are paid for.

BarryRiley

Yes it was a Saturday. Someone at the letting agent was in as they were the ones who advised me to get an electrician in the area to do the work. The agent told me that they usually have their own people to do the work, but would not be able to get them to my property until the following week. The people who authorise the payments were not in, and so when they have got back they have stated that the amount I was charged is too high for them to pay after I had already parted with the money.

I could not call round for quotes as I did not know what the issue was. All the electric had gone off, so I didn't have a precise problem to tell to individual electricians until one had been round to fix it. The one who came round was the third one I called from Yell.com (the first two could not fit me in). he brought his electrical testing equipment and spent some time finding the fault before going out for a part, fitting it and retesting.