Possible to claim for lost working hours due to plumber not showing up?

koneko

Hi all, wanted to get an opinion on our situation. Our boiler in our rental has been broken for 4 weeks today, thankfully the hot water works but the heating will not come on. Our managing agents sent out a plumber to look at it, who diagnosed it and after getting permission from the landlord, ordered the parts to fix it.

We were told the parts would be in early last week, then that they had arrived on Tuesday this week. On Tuesday an appointment was made for the plumber to come on Thursday (yesterday) lunchtime to fit the new parts.

My OH took the afternoon unpaid from work as he has no holiday left and we wanted to get the issue fixed asap. He was home at 12.30pm and when no-one had turned up by 2pm, he rang to find out what was happening. He was told that they would be with him in 45 minutes. I got home at about 5.30 and still no-one had turned up. We then phoned again to be told that actually they weren't coming. There seemed to be some confusion but no real explanation. We were told to ring again this morning to try and arrange something for today, which means that I will have to take unpaid time off in order to be home.

Do we have grounds to claim lost earnings from either our managing agents or the plumbers? In our contract it mentions that if we are not home when the agents contractors have an appointment to gain access, then we will be fined. Surely the reverse should also apply?

ognum

Why are you not asking the letting agent or landlord to be there for the plumber?

If you are insisting you are there yourself then I don't think you can really blame the landlord so who would your claim be against because I don't see the plumber paying out!

What did your partner do at 2.45pm, why didn't he phone again. Why leave it until 5pm?

All this stuff happens to homeowners as well, I think you should be using your landlords time not yours to hang about!

koneko

The landlord lives abroad so the property is fulling managed by the agents. They refuse to be present for the appointment, they would only supply the keys to the contractor and I don't really want an unknown person wandering around unsupervised in my house and potentially letting our 2 house cats (allowed pets as per our contract before anyone asks) out. The agents will fine us if we are not present when we say we will be, so why should we have no comeback for lost earnings/wasted time when their contractors decide not to show up.

If it was our own house (which we are in the process of buying at the moment), we would select our plumbers based on recommendations/friends of friends etc and I imagine they would be far more reliable than this bunch who seem to think we have endless time to sit around waiting for them.

mrginge

Sue the plumber.
If you're successful it may set a powerful new legal precedent that forces tradespeople to be financially responsible for the consequences of missed appointments.

Good luck.

lessonlearned

Welcome to the adult world of owning or renting your home. :rotfl:

This happens all the time, not just with trades people but with deliveries of goods, parcels etc.

With regret there does not seem to be any form of legal redress - at least none that I know of.

HappyMJ

koneko wrote: »

The landlord lives abroad so the property is fulling managed by the agents. They refuse to be present for the appointment, they would only supply the keys to the contractor and I don't really want an unknown person wandering around unsupervised in my house and potentially letting our 2 house cats (allowed pets as per our contract before anyone asks) out. The agents will fine us if we are not present when we say we will be, so why should we have no comeback for lost earnings/wasted time when their contractors decide not to show up.

If it was our own house (which we are in the process of buying at the moment), we would select our plumbers based on recommendations/friends of friends etc and I imagine they would be far more reliable than this bunch who seem to think we have endless time to sit around waiting for them.

Put the cats in the bedroom or another room that can be sealed from the kitchen/bathroom for the day....with food and litter tray. Cats will sleep most of the day away anyway they don't need to roam around the house.

koneko

Shutting the cats away doesn't get around the fact that I don't want a random stranger/strangers wandering round my house unsupervised. I really thought that this was a fair thing to consider given that the agents would fine us for not being there when we have an appointment with their contractor - why can't we fine them when we have an appointment with their contractor and they don't show up?

eddddy

Hi koneko

Theoretically, it sounds like your claim would be against your landlord. (The managing agent is acting on behalf of the landlord, so the agent and the landlord are effectively the same entity.)

Was your OH phoning the plumber or the agent? Arguably, he should have been phoning the agent. You have a contract with the agent (your AST), and the agent has a contract with the plumber.

You say the agent will charge you if you are not present for an appointment (technically it's a charge, rather than a fine). You've agreed to that in your AST contract, so straightforward contract law applies.

I guess there isn't anything in your contract about the agent (or their subcontractors) missing an appointment. So you would be claiming damages under common law, which is a bit trickier.

So I think the bottom line is that technically you may have grounds for a claim, but the hassle involved doesn't make it worthwhile.

Maybe just make the agent aware that you are being inconvenienced, and maybe they will put pressure on the plumber to do better in future.

ognum

koneko wrote: »

The landlord lives abroad so the property is fulling managed by the agents. They refuse to be present for the appointment, they would only supply the keys to the contractor and I don't really want an unknown person wandering around unsupervised in my house and potentially letting our 2 house cats (allowed pets as per our contract before anyone asks) out. The agents will fine us if we are not present when we say we will be, so why should we have no comeback for lost earnings/wasted time when their contractors decide not to show up.

If it was our own house (which we are in the process of buying at the moment), we would select our plumbers based on recommendations/friends of friends etc and I imagine they would be far more reliable than this bunch who seem to think we have endless time to sit around waiting for them.

You did not reply to my question regarding why you didn't make contact again when they didn't show up by 2.45pm?

koneko

It was my partner not me, so I don't know. He's more patient than me, so was probably just giving them a chance to show up. If it were me I'd probably have been back on the phone at 2.46pm.

What I can't understand is why they said 45mins at 2pm when they clearly had no intention of attending. During the phone call later in the evening they even said they didn't have the part (which we had been told arrived on Tuesday). Yet again they are messing us about today, OH rang this morning to find out what was happening and they said they'd get back to him shortly about a time today. This was 4 hours ago...

Not a good way to run a business and I'll certainly never use this particular company again by choice.

cayennepepper

I am currently waiting for a plumber that was supposed to be here this morning. I just KNOW that he won't show up. They do it all the time grrr