who is responsible for repairs in rented flat?

boeboe_fiel

Dear all,

I would really appreciate any advice re this issue.
We, (family of three) are currently privately renting a flat in Scotland. We had some issues with the water pump not working, leading to almost no pressure in the shower, bathroom and kitchen taps. We had to inform the letting agency of this. A plumber was called out, and found that apparently the water pump had been switched off. Now the letting agent has informed us that, (his wording):

"As the fault was that the power to the pump had been turned off, this was an action by the tenant and not a fault in the appliance or mechanism. As a result unfortunately this counts as tenant neglect and you will be liable to settle the attached lease directly with the plumbing company."

With regards to repairs, in the Lease it is stated: "Any repairs which the Tenant considers are required to any part of the Premises or any items within the Premises will be intimated to ... as soon as possible by telephone (...) and in writing.
Instructions to proceed with any such repairs will be given by the Landlord andall accounts will be submitted to the Landlord for payment.
The Landlord will be responsible for the repair of the structure and exterior of the Premises and for keeping in repair and proper working order any basins, sinks, baths and other sanitary installations, any installations for supplying water, gas or electricity, any installations for heating water and any installations for wall mounted radiators and gas central heating as also any plant out with the Premises but which serves the Premises."

[FONT=&quot]Are we in any position to argue about this? We have the followng arguments, but I guess it's hard to prove them right.

1)We are 100% sure that we have not switched the water pump off. There are a myriad of switches connected to the waterpump in the utility cupboard that we, as we don't know what they're for, would not dare to touch.

2) We don't have any manuals for any of the appliances that came with the flat. This is not a big deal for ovens, washing machines etc, but for something a little bit more difficult to troubleshoot such as the water pump, we could have potentially saved ourselves a lot of trouble had we had the manual.

Apologies for the long post, but any thoughts on this are much appreciated.
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gfplux

Did you have these issues from your first day when you moved in. If so you can claim the switch was NEVER on and therefore you are NOT responsible.
However if this problem cropped up after then you or someone in your household has switched it off.
However when you moved in the agent has not done there job properly as they should have talked you through those sort of things and switches should be marked properly by the owner/landlord. Non of this is a hard rule but just working efficiently and professionally

sandsni

Have you had problems with the water pressure since you moved in? If so, then you have a good case for it not being your doing.

Are you sure one of the family didn't inadvertently switch it off (I'm guessing one of the family is a child, but forgive me if I'm making wrong assumptions). If they did, then unfortunately it is down to you and the cost of the plumber shouldn't be borne by the LL.

Just to add, if the LA or LL didn't explain the myriad of switches to you or have them adequately labelled so you knew what each of them was for (and therefore not to switch the water pump one off) then you also have good reason to say it wasn't tenant negligence when you weren't given the right instruction in the first place.

boeboe_fiel

gfplux wrote: »

Did you have these issues from your first day when you moved in. If so you can claim the switch was NEVER on and therefore you are NOT responsible.
However if this problem cropped up after then you or someone in your household has switched it off.

Thanks for your reply. This has cropped up half a year after moving in. Therefore this suggests someone switched it off. Strangely enough, the pump stopped working a few times before, and in all cases this resolved itself within a day...

However when you moved in the agent has not done there job properly as they should have talked you through those sort of things and switches should be marked properly by the owner/landlord. Non of this is a hard rule but just working efficiently and professionally

Thanks. We did not get talked through the switches. i did not even know there were so many. I don't mind paying up, but I will definitely ask the landlord to provide us with detailed written info to help us out in future instances.

boeboe_fiel

sandsni wrote: »

Have you had problems with the water pressure since you moved in? If so, then you have a good case for it not being your doing.

Are you sure one of the family didn't inadvertently switch it off (I'm guessing one of the family is a child, but forgive me if I'm making wrong assumptions). If they did, then unfortunately it is down to you and the cost of the plumber shouldn't be borne by the LL.

Just to add, if the LA or LL didn't explain the myriad of switches to you or have them adequately labelled so you knew what each of them was for (and therefore not to switch the water pump one off) then you also have good reason to say it wasn't tenant negligence when you weren't given the right instruction in the first place.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, we had some problems with the pump before, but they miraculously disappeared within a few hours. Our child is too young to have done this. I think we'll ask for written instruction how to operate and troubleshoot the pump. It is understandable that the landlord had not envisaged this to be necessary, as it is the first time he's renting this flat out.

DRP

Without having been given a manual or instruction, I wouldn't pay.

Let them argue their case when they come to dispute your deposit return.

The previously temperamental nature of the pump may be a little suspicious. Were you present when the plumber discovered the pump switch was off?


Is the 'plumber' a handyman that works for the LL / agent ?

boeboe_fiel

DRP wrote: »

Without having been given a manual or instruction, I wouldn't pay.

Let them argue their case when they come to dispute your deposit return.

The previously temperamental nature of the pump may be a little suspicious. Were you present when the plumber discovered the pump switch was off?


Is the 'plumber' a handyman that works for the LL / agent ?

Thanks DRP. We were indeed not present when the plumber came to troubleshoot, so we'll have to take his diagnosis at face value. We have replied that we are OK paying the plumber, but that we'd like a manual/instruction sheet o some sort to prevent this from happening again in the future..