Another disaster, oil leak in let house

maggiecon

After sorting outa disaster one property last week, I am on to my next one:(

My tenant rang us two weeks ago to say the boiler was leaking, we sent emergency plumber that evening and he said she had got the oil man to bleed the boiler and he didnt screw the nut tight after he was finished. We warned her not to let him bleed it again or to let the system air lock.

Then on Tuesday the next door neighbour rang to say it was leaking again, emergency plumber sent again, low and behold she got the same man to bleed the boiler again and it has leaked again.

Now this morning the neighbour has rang to say her house stinks of oil and everyone has to go to to the doctors cause they are sick. My husband is out there now trying to sort it out.

I just need some advice on what to do next. Can the neighbour claim of me, I have BTL insurance but surely this is the tenant/oil companies negligence not mine, especially when we only told her two weeks ago not to do it again.

My sis rang her friend who his a solicitor and he said get the plumber out again ASAP to make sure the leak has stopped but that was all the advice he could give.

Has anyone any experience of this. I am totally stressed out!!

martindow

If air has got into the line it will need bleeding and if the engineer is incapable of tightening a nut you need a different one. A competent engineer will bleed the line if necessary and tell the tenant it doesn't need doing if that is the case.

I would be chasing your oil man rather than the tenant.

Mattygroves2

How much oil did your emergency plumber notice when he went round ? I ask as I had a small oil leak last year from what sounds like a similar issue (pump replaced and they didn't tighten the nut up properly) and I had it for at least 3 weeks inside my house and it didn't make me ill ! Only lost a small amount of oil though - had a small dish under the leak which I then emptied back into the tank every few days. Also had at least a week of the Aga not venting properly which meant oil fumes were definitely in the house - again no ill effects but it was a bit smelly. I'm a home owner so get to choose how quickly I get things fixed so didn't get it done immediately. So I doubt very much whether your tenant's neighbour is really that affected by a small leak.

You need to stop your tenant getting their own oil man out and get the leak fixed by your man. Then wait for the reaction from the neighbour.

maggiecon

Thanks for the advice folks,

Husband has been out at the house all day, apparently there is very little oil spilled and you cant smell it in the neighbours house. She was over reacting, stands to reason as it was only a small drip and it only went undetected for three days, so not that much could have leaked.

He did say she was pretty dead on about it and she is aware we have already spoke to the tenant about the issue twice in the last fortnight. The plumber is fitting a device to the boiler this week which stops it from getting air locked when it runs out, as the tenant is clearly just not listening to what we tell her.

The joys of being landlord, as soon as this house is out of negative equity it is going on the market. House prices in Northern Ireland have not budged since 2008, and I keep reading about how they are rising every where else.

G_M

I'm confused. Too many 'he' said and 'she' said, and 'plumber' and 'oil man' etc

Who is who? Who has called who?

But ultimately the tenant is only responsible if he (she?) has taken it upon himself to interfere, either directly by fiddling with the boiler/plumbing/oil pipes or indirectly by calling out an unauthorised (by you) contractor.

Yes, you may be responsible to the neighbour for damage.

I worry about your use of a 'plumber'. I hope he is OFTEC registered?

knightstyle

sorry to hear of your problems, leave some cat litter, fullers earth, near the boiler to be used to absorb any more oil and kill the smell.

maggiecon

G_M wrote: »

I'm confused. Too many 'he' said and 'she' said, and 'plumber' and 'oil man' etc

Who is who? Who has called who?

But ultimately the tenant is only responsible if he (she?) has taken it upon himself to interfere, either directly by fiddling with the boiler/plumbing/oil pipes or indirectly by calling out an unauthorised (by you) contractor.

Yes, you may be responsible to the neighbour for damage.

I worry about your use of a 'plumber'. I hope he is OFTEC registered?

Sorry my post was so confusing I was a bit stressed this morning.

It was the tenant who arranged the delivery of the oil and asked the guy who delivered the oil to bleed the boiler.

The plumber was employed by us, to go and fix the problem. The tenant was warned not to do it again and a week later she got the same delivery driver to bleed the boiler again. Causing the same problem/leak a second time around

Can I still be held liable for this, at the minute the neighbour seems to be ok but I am concerned she might still make a claim. Will btl insurance cover me if my tenant interfered withe boiler. I do have accidental and malicious damage cover with my insurance.

anselld

How has the T managed to run out of oil twice in a week? Doesn't make sense.

G_M

maggiecon wrote: »

It was the tenant who arranged the delivery of the oil and asked the guy who delivered the oil to bleed the boiler.

.... The tenant was warned not to do it again and a week later she got the same delivery driver to bleed the boiler again. Causing the same problem/leak a second time around

Send all bills to tenant.

Unlikely tenant will pay of course, in which case send tenant S21 Notice.

A tenant like this is not worth keeping....

maggiecon

anselld wrote: »

How has the T managed to run out of oil twice in a week? Doesn't make sense.

she is only topping up her oil and not getting a full fill.

In my other property that I let the tenant has actually disconnected the oil tank and has a small 5 gallon drum plumbed directly to the boiler!!

anselld

maggiecon wrote: »

she is only topping up her oil and not getting a full fill.

Then it does not need bleeding at all. Send her the bill with her s21.