Landlord liability

Mrs_pbradley936

Not sure if I should be posting here or in the insurance board but here goes.

A tenant is claiming that a radiator fell off a wall and on to him causing an injury. I have received a solicitors letter about it.

I think I am insured via the block insurance on the flats and the management company are looking to it.

However I feel that it is an egregious claim because he has painted the walls and ceilings purple which he must not do according to the lease and he has broken the bathroom sink. Hence the agent say they will withhold some of the deposit. The Agent have full management and deal with everything for a commission.

Will one claim have anything to do with the other in a legal sense or are they two separate cases?

dimbo61

You have got to be joking !
The radiator fell off the wall and onto his foot !!!!!
Modern radiators are lifted onto two wall brackets and two pipes contect the hot water to warm the radiator.
They do not Fall off.
The tenant has caused damage unless he reported in writing a problem with the fixing brackets to the agents ?
Get the radiators and everything else checked out by a plumber.
Did the agent do a proper inventory with photos, have you had the central heating and boiler serviced and a gas safe certificate ?
Trying it on big style and you need to see a solicitor or get help from the RLA , ALA

G_M

Completely separate.

Except.... is it not possible, or eve likely, that when painting the walls he took off or dislodged the radiator? In which case not only is he responsible for the accident and injury, but also responsible for the cost of replacing/repairing the radiator?

Has the radiator been inspected? Why did it fall off the wall? Was it poorly fixed?

Mrs_pbradley936

Thanks to both of you. Everything is inspected by whomever has to inspect it all. Agent has photos of everything I must admit that it did not occur to me that he might have removed the radiator to paint!

G_M

It is common to remove a radiator to paint behind.

Or even if just trying to get a brush down behind a rad while it's on the wall, you might knock it so it falls.

As dimbo61 says, rads are not generally screwed to the wall. The brackets are screwed to the wall and the rad sits on the bracket (which has a hook so the rad needs lifting to get it off - so they do not just fall by themsleves unless, of course, the bracket is loose or broken).

Everything is inspected by whomever has to inspect it all.

This worries me. You clearly are not on top of things.
* find out from the agent who inspected - an agency employee or a plumber? Or....?
* find out (and get confirmed in writing) what they found when they inspected.

Given that there is potential legal action here (whether the tenant against you, or you against the tenant), you need proper, professional, written evidence.

I also wonder what happened to the pipes when the rad fell. Thay are not designed for flexibility! If the rad moved, the pipes are likely to break. And leak......

Mrs_pbradley936

The letting agent has full management but the checks are done by qualified people. This is a first for me!

[Deleted User]

It sounds to me that you don't know enough. What checks are done by what qualified people? What is their qualification?

Were the radiator fixings actually checked last time the property was inspected and photo's taken? What evidence is the tenant presenting?The tenant may well be trying it on but you are going to need evidence to disprove the case if he proceeds with the case.

DaftyDuck

"They" may check....

"YOU" will be the one sued.

You need clear verification of what happened to the radiator. Oh, if the purple paint goes perfectly all the way behind the radiator, he removed it, so he put it back on the wall, and THEN it fell off. Get the plumber who replaces it to take photos of the radiator back (probably purple-paint-free) and the wall (probably-purple-paint-perfect) as evidence your tenant has a few screws loose, aside from the loose radiator.

That'd rather imply he didn't put it back on right. Or dropped it when he removed it without permission....

If it fell off as a result of his removing it, it'll need putting back on by a plumber. If it didn't leak when it fell off, he'd drained the system to remove it, to paint. More proof he's an idiot trying to claim from you.

If he did remove it to paint, you need to claim the cost of repainting, radiator fixing, system refilling & testing, water damage and tolerating an idiot in your property.

Annie1960

Mrs_pbradley936 wrote: »

The letting agent has full management but the checks are done by qualified people. This is a first for me!

Qualified in what?

It is your responsibility to be on top of all the details.

Mrs_pbradley936

Qualified plumber/heating engineer.


The evidence they say they have is a hospital report when the injury needed attention. I have not seen that yet but it is mentioned in the solicitors letter.

DaftyDuck

.... and how is a doctor supposed to identify a radiator-induced injury? OK, CSI-style removal of a 45 calibre slug suggests a gun was involved, but a radiator?

"The double-indented impressions on the patient's foot were consistent with injury by a Stelrad 36" 4,000btu-output steel-bodied radiator falling from a height of seventeen inches. Traces of enamel paint under the toenails offers further evidence supporting the initial diagnosis."

The only thing that has concerned me today whilst mulling over your tenant's "case" is that anyone with the balls to take such an (almost certainly fictitious) issue to a solicitor is probably rather well-versed in the compensation culture, and may therefore know best how to manipulate events to his advantage. His redecorating in purple without permission only hardens my no-doubt prejudiced opinion.

I assume a plumber has now fixed this rogue radiator, and will be able to state if it had been removed or otherwise tampered with?