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Recharge for damage.
atrixblue.-MFR-.
Posts: 6,887 Forumite
Ive been living in my HA house for 10 years.
My tenancy agreement states If you or authorized persons at your premises cause damage by a accident or acts of tenant vandalism then tenant named will incur a recharge fee for repairs".
Where there is act of vandalism caused by unknown or illegal activity such as attempted break in, burglary, act of rioting etc in etc the tenant must call police and obtain a CRIME reference number.
Now the for back ground on this situation.
end of Aug-Sept 2014 we went on holiday, upon return I had discovered the window to the patio door had bee praised open at the top, bending the locking mechanism, got onto police, who said, "unfortunately there is no way of telling when this happened, and time has lapsed till your discovery of the attempted break in, we have logged this for and you LOG number is date + ref, ask your neighbors if they had heard anything or disturbed anyone, and if they have information then call us back, we will take this information and investigate but there is nothing we can do for now unfortunately".
neighbors seen nor heard anything so got to a dead end.
E-mail to HA with ref number and description of fault on the patio door.
no response from HA.
Then OCT 2014 HA site managers do their rounds on garden and site furniture inspections with local surveyor.
I spoke to them about the window, surveyor took photo, said we'll have it repair, informed of the log number and gave them to piece of paper I had it written on (in hindsight I should have kept it).
No response from HA.
With excited children knowing Christmas is fast approaching, Halloween, fireworks night, the situation slipped my mind, and I forgot to follow up with the HA.
FF to now, I did a massive clear up of the house, and walked around looking at needed essential repairs to be done before I redecorate the house, I had a list of 18 needed HA responsible repairs, so the same surveyor attended to whom I passed the log number to previously. 1. repair he thought maybe a rechargeable but wasn't sure, the rear door window as mentioned about the attempted break in and questioned him on the previous reports I made, to which he said he did not remember them but I said he took a photo of it, to which he said he would check the files in the office for the photo, the upstairs bathroom window that has cracked on the inside, no idea how it happened but as per tenancy agreement I reported it to them, the rest of the repairs he said that as it is allot of them he would chat with his manager about and also the window upstairs on whether is was rechargeable to me and that any updates and works approval he would contact me the following Monday to discuss them, to which I said ok.
that afternoon the surveyor left the house and 2 hours later, a repair man from HA came in to secure the rear door patio window he needed no new parts apart from a few screws and realigned the locking runners in the window and tweaked it a bit. he was here all of 10 mins max and it was done.
Today I received a letter from HA stating the rear patio door is rechargeable to me as it was "damaged", and that they will forward the invoice to me within working 7 days when they get the quote from their contractor.
no mention of the upstairs window.
I'm pretty much Livid at my HA right now.
The surveyor was here and the repair made on the 5th, the decision to recharge was made on the 8th, and the letter was typed on the 15th. The surveyor made no attempt to contact me regarding the agreement he made with me verbally to update me on any decision made to recharge or approve major repairs for upstairs window and logged repair list (to which I am now pre-empting that they are and am now looking at FENSA approved repairers to undertake a quote of a pane of glass and fitting for me).
I'm suspecting that he either lost that log number when I did give it to him in OCT and that he has deleted the photo's and that the e-mail I sent in sept has been either lost in the bulk of emails they get and overlooked it and now deleted over time.
I'm livid I didn't get a chance to refuse the repair and out of my own pocket with shopping around for the best quote to repair that window at the rear patio door. I livid that the repair man made no mention of a "possible" recharge so I could cancel the repair at that time.
I'm frustrated at the fact the surveyor made no contact with me on the 8th like he agree with me he would.
After 10yrs of living here, and repeatedly stating that my garden was not secure enough to prevent anyone off the street from coming into the rear garden because its exposed and something like a break in would be in the pipeline, it almost happens and now I got to foot the bill.
I have a communal lane to the side and rear of the property, the entrance to which is facing the footpath to the street, my garden backs out onto a busy road and over the road is a field with no other houses around, and there is a boundary fence (not feather edge to prevent anyone looking in) 8ft high, the gate to communal lane is in a right state, The HA has failed in many attempts to repair it, an now resident cannot lock form the outside due to the sliding lock being too low on the gate so is left open by the flat next door for access.
The communal lane runs along my garden boundary form side to rear and the garden and communal lane is in between my 1/2 meter high chain link fence and the boundary 8ft high fence. those who walk down the road and into the street can see directly into my garden, at night it is pitch black and although it is exposed at night it is pitch black after the street lights go out at 12:45AM it provide the perfect cover for someone to break in, as the can just walk through the gate and into my garden as its exposed to the communal lane with only a chain link fence.
Others round the estate all have 6ft high feather edge wooden fencing, with a gate that they have all padlocked and slide bolted up to prevent entry and also provide privacy, ive been asking and asking for the same but refused.
given the timeline of events do you think it would be fair to recharge me for the repair? where do I stand in with the HA in this matter, are they duty bound to inform prior to any rechargeable repairs?
its disheartening to see that others residents round here seem to get brand new everything doors windows fences at request but when it comes to me I have to make do with bodge it jobs and make do and mend, and now paying for being a victim of a crime. ive just about had enough, if the house wasn't suitable perfectly to my needs and location I would have done one by now.
My tenancy agreement states If you or authorized persons at your premises cause damage by a accident or acts of tenant vandalism then tenant named will incur a recharge fee for repairs".
Where there is act of vandalism caused by unknown or illegal activity such as attempted break in, burglary, act of rioting etc in etc the tenant must call police and obtain a CRIME reference number.
Now the for back ground on this situation.
end of Aug-Sept 2014 we went on holiday, upon return I had discovered the window to the patio door had bee praised open at the top, bending the locking mechanism, got onto police, who said, "unfortunately there is no way of telling when this happened, and time has lapsed till your discovery of the attempted break in, we have logged this for and you LOG number is date + ref, ask your neighbors if they had heard anything or disturbed anyone, and if they have information then call us back, we will take this information and investigate but there is nothing we can do for now unfortunately".
neighbors seen nor heard anything so got to a dead end.
E-mail to HA with ref number and description of fault on the patio door.
no response from HA.
Then OCT 2014 HA site managers do their rounds on garden and site furniture inspections with local surveyor.
I spoke to them about the window, surveyor took photo, said we'll have it repair, informed of the log number and gave them to piece of paper I had it written on (in hindsight I should have kept it).
No response from HA.
With excited children knowing Christmas is fast approaching, Halloween, fireworks night, the situation slipped my mind, and I forgot to follow up with the HA.
FF to now, I did a massive clear up of the house, and walked around looking at needed essential repairs to be done before I redecorate the house, I had a list of 18 needed HA responsible repairs, so the same surveyor attended to whom I passed the log number to previously. 1. repair he thought maybe a rechargeable but wasn't sure, the rear door window as mentioned about the attempted break in and questioned him on the previous reports I made, to which he said he did not remember them but I said he took a photo of it, to which he said he would check the files in the office for the photo, the upstairs bathroom window that has cracked on the inside, no idea how it happened but as per tenancy agreement I reported it to them, the rest of the repairs he said that as it is allot of them he would chat with his manager about and also the window upstairs on whether is was rechargeable to me and that any updates and works approval he would contact me the following Monday to discuss them, to which I said ok.
that afternoon the surveyor left the house and 2 hours later, a repair man from HA came in to secure the rear door patio window he needed no new parts apart from a few screws and realigned the locking runners in the window and tweaked it a bit. he was here all of 10 mins max and it was done.
Today I received a letter from HA stating the rear patio door is rechargeable to me as it was "damaged", and that they will forward the invoice to me within working 7 days when they get the quote from their contractor.
no mention of the upstairs window.
I'm pretty much Livid at my HA right now.
The surveyor was here and the repair made on the 5th, the decision to recharge was made on the 8th, and the letter was typed on the 15th. The surveyor made no attempt to contact me regarding the agreement he made with me verbally to update me on any decision made to recharge or approve major repairs for upstairs window and logged repair list (to which I am now pre-empting that they are and am now looking at FENSA approved repairers to undertake a quote of a pane of glass and fitting for me).
I'm suspecting that he either lost that log number when I did give it to him in OCT and that he has deleted the photo's and that the e-mail I sent in sept has been either lost in the bulk of emails they get and overlooked it and now deleted over time.
I'm livid I didn't get a chance to refuse the repair and out of my own pocket with shopping around for the best quote to repair that window at the rear patio door. I livid that the repair man made no mention of a "possible" recharge so I could cancel the repair at that time.
I'm frustrated at the fact the surveyor made no contact with me on the 8th like he agree with me he would.
After 10yrs of living here, and repeatedly stating that my garden was not secure enough to prevent anyone off the street from coming into the rear garden because its exposed and something like a break in would be in the pipeline, it almost happens and now I got to foot the bill.
I have a communal lane to the side and rear of the property, the entrance to which is facing the footpath to the street, my garden backs out onto a busy road and over the road is a field with no other houses around, and there is a boundary fence (not feather edge to prevent anyone looking in) 8ft high, the gate to communal lane is in a right state, The HA has failed in many attempts to repair it, an now resident cannot lock form the outside due to the sliding lock being too low on the gate so is left open by the flat next door for access.
The communal lane runs along my garden boundary form side to rear and the garden and communal lane is in between my 1/2 meter high chain link fence and the boundary 8ft high fence. those who walk down the road and into the street can see directly into my garden, at night it is pitch black and although it is exposed at night it is pitch black after the street lights go out at 12:45AM it provide the perfect cover for someone to break in, as the can just walk through the gate and into my garden as its exposed to the communal lane with only a chain link fence.
Others round the estate all have 6ft high feather edge wooden fencing, with a gate that they have all padlocked and slide bolted up to prevent entry and also provide privacy, ive been asking and asking for the same but refused.
given the timeline of events do you think it would be fair to recharge me for the repair? where do I stand in with the HA in this matter, are they duty bound to inform prior to any rechargeable repairs?
its disheartening to see that others residents round here seem to get brand new everything doors windows fences at request but when it comes to me I have to make do with bodge it jobs and make do and mend, and now paying for being a victim of a crime. ive just about had enough, if the house wasn't suitable perfectly to my needs and location I would have done one by now.
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Comments
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Do you have a crime number?Do you want your money back, and a bit more, search for 'money claim online' - They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring0
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No I did have a log number (until I gave the surveyor the piece of paper I wrote it on I didn't keep a copy) as the police said they couldn't do nothing due to lapsed time and nothing was taken as they didn't get in etc, I passed this to their surveyor (second time as I emailed it to them in sept 14) and heard nothing back. I know my tenancy agreement states a crime number but what can I do when they the police call handler doesn't and only gives a log number.Do you have a crime number?0 -
Is email the way you are supposed to report repairs? Is your original number with the police log number in your sent items folder?0
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The simple fact is repairs to the property is the the responsibility of the landlord. Any damage caused by someone other than the tenant or their guests is solely the landlord's (or should the LL pursue them, criminal's) responsibility. Not yours. Any attempt to pass this responsibility back to you would be viewed as an unfair term, and unenforceable.
So tell the landlord you will not pay for the damage.
Sorry if I missed something, but I could not be bothered to read the whole story, particularly with the lack of punctuation. I got lost when you started prattling on about Halloween.
Thanks for the advice, but I would like to repeat that its against forums rules to pull up on spelling and punctuation and to me pulling me up on this when clearly my signature explains why is not needed. please afford some patience to forum users, and not mention the obvious and stated facts that goes against forum rules.
I'm not here to be marked on my spelling, and punctuation, and I have tried my best to space it out so its readable for all.
By not reading the whole story you may offer the wrong advice by your lack of not being "bothered" because punctuation is not to your satisfactory quality.0 -
atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »Thanks for the advice, but I would like to repeat that its against forums rules to pull up on spelling and punctuation and to me pulling me up on this when clearly my signature explains why is not needed. please afford some patience to forum users, and not mention the obvious and stated facts that goes against forum rules.
I'm not here to be marked on my spelling, and punctuation, and I have tried my best to space it out so its readable for all.
By not reading the whole story you may offer the wrong advice by your lack of not being "bothered" because punctuation is not to your satisfactory quality.
Well please accept my apologies for that (though I did not comment on your spelling to be fair). But you must acknowledge there is lots of extraneous detail in your post. You'd do well in future to keep on point if you want more responses.
EDIT: My point that you are not responsible for maintenance to the property for damage you or your invited guests did not cause still stands."Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius0 -
Is email the way you are supposed to report repairs? Is your original number with the police log number in your sent items folder?
No ive checked my outbox in my e-mail and sent items and it only goes back to November.
We can report via the website maintenance report contact us e-mail feature where you only get a automated acknowledgment sent back to you in response (these tend to be in the junk mail section of my e-mail and I empty this periodically).
we can report direct using e-mail to e-mail (not going through the website) to individual persons at the HA in various departments if they are supplied to you.
you can use the Android app to report maintenance issues, there is no acknowledgment response to these reports to an e-mail address, just a progress tab in the app that tells you how far along you repair has gotten.
you can contact them via telephone, at a national rate (not local rate) my phone provider charges £1.50 per min to call it so that is not an option to me as you can spend upto 10 mins on hold before you get to reception, and then spend an hour on the phone getting responses from different departments to take your repairs, i.e electrical department, plumbing department, carpentry department, UPVC windows and doors department, garden and fencing department, and so on, so if you have a mixed list, you hold for one department and then tell them of the repair, then you hold again to go onto another department.
(I don't use the phone when other lines of reporting issues are free) plus I cant deal with talking on the phone to strangers (MH issues) my wife takes care of my phone calls).0 -
Shelter advice here;
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/responsibility_for_repairs/responsibility_for_repairs"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius0 -
I thank you for your advice, But the more detail the better as in the forum tutorial and guides explains it is best to detail as much as you can in your first post (I did so to give a time line and why it slipped my mind so the question wasn't asked: why didn't you follow this up then?) so everyone knows the facts and then there is no need to for people to ask specific questions that could otherwise be included in the original post.Well please accept my apologies for that (though I did not comment on your spelling to be fair). But you must acknowledge there is lots of extraneous detail in your post. You'd do well in future to keep on point if you want more responses.
EDIT: My point that you are not responsible for maintenance to the property for damage you or your invited guests did not cause still stands.0 -
if you emailed them it will be in your sent folder not outbox - just so you are checking right place0
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You might be able to phone your local station/101 to ask if there's been any follow up.
They can give you the crime reference number and maybe even arrange a site visit from someone that could have a look at your yard and discuss anything you can do to help make it look less attractive/ secure it against thieves.
I'm my area we've a number of lovely PCSO's that do community policing work like this - might take a week to schedule in a visit depending on your area.
The offer of tea and biscuits is always appreciated but not often accepted :cool:That sounds like a classic case of premature extrapolation.
House Bought July 2020 - 19 years 0 months remaining on term
Next Step: Bathroom renovation booked for January 2021
Goal: Keep the bigger picture in mind...0
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