Fair wear and tear on Sofa

moneysaver3781

Hi everyone,
So my flatmate and I just had an inspection of the apartment that we have rented since September, and our landlady sent us an e-mail concerning the sofa we have. Basically she bought the sofa before we moved in over the Summer, and she is super crazy about the entire flat so we have not had any parties and keep the property in really good shape at all times, cleaning it a lot and making sure we pay particular attention to the parts of the flat she is obsessed with (like the inside of the microwave and oven).


We just got an e-mail a couple of days ago about her latest inspection, where she apparently noticed that the left arm of the sofa feels differently to the right and therefore assumes that we have broken it. We have inspected this and honestly think that the foam that was on top might have moved to the side in the sofa somewhere. We have never sat on the sides of the sofa, and have no idea how this could have happened. We told her that we had no idea how this damage could have come about and emailed her back saying that this is probably just fair wear and tear because we haven't done anything that would cause this harm to the couch. She just e-mailed us back and said that she does not see this as fair wear and tear because the couch has a ten year guarantee and I guess she sees this difference in how the two arms feel significant, although it really just feels like the foam has moved somewhere else in the couch.


Do you guys think she could charge us for this damage? We can't think of anything that we could have done to cause this, so aren't sure whether this inside 'damage' would fall under fair wear and tear or whether we would have to pay for it? It isn't like the arm is broken it just feels differently to the other one, a bit harder.


Thanks for the responses.

anselld

If you have genuinely used it normally then it is a manufacturing defect. Tell her she should claim on the ten year guarantee.

fed_up_and_stressed

Most sofa companies warranties for extended periods such as 10 years only cover the structural parts things such as foam usually have less of a warranty. Also they normally exclude where the furniture is used in let properties.

Rambosmum

It's unlikely she could charge you for it at this point, unless you are complaining about it and wanting a new one and she has fair reason to think you damaged it. If you move out at the end of your contract (assuming that is soon) then she may be able to charge you, but she would need to prove that this was more than fair wear and tear.

How long do you anticipate staying there?