Tenant asking for compensation for broken boiler left him without heating & hot water

bhav27

My new tenant moved in my old house in Dec 2014 where we use to leave for 6-7 years. Boiler in this house has had annual service since many years and did not had any major breakdown while we were leaving there.

Since tenant moved in from Jan 2015 onwards we had boiler problem reported which we got it fixed through HomeServe boiler cover. It was this fix which caused series of breakdown event on other parts of the boiler and we had to get insurance company called out again to get the boiler fixed. The problem is still on going. HomeServe engineers comes in and fixes problem but then creates another problem.

It cost me £50 in excess twice to get them called out. In all these events tenant was left with no heater or hot water (whilst the property has gas fired heater and temporary electric heater was given by us).

I understand tenant paying rent to us and expects full service however boiler breakdown is beyond our control and as a landlord everything we have done to get it repaired all the time.

Tenant is asking for compensation for this and expects me to pay £640 (which counts time off from work he had to stay at home for engineers to come in, plus other things like travelling to their family members home to get bath etc) for this inconvenience. As a landlord I think tenant deserves compensation for the time he had constantly not had heating and hot water and should pay half of this rent for that period. I believe it was 2 weeks which works out £300 rent off.

As a landlord do we have to pay tenant what he thinks as right amount because as landlord we have repaired boilers every time it was broken. How should we negotiate this issue?

Guest101

bhav27 wrote: »

My new tenant moved in my old house in Dec 2014 where we use to leave for 6-7 years. Boiler in this house has had annual service since many years and did not had any major breakdown while we were leaving there.

Since tenant moved in from Jan 2015 onwards we had boiler problem reported which we got it fixed through HomeServe boiler cover. It was this fix which caused series of breakdown event on other parts of the boiler and we had to get insurance company called out again to get the boiler fixed. The problem is still on going. HomeServe engineers comes in and fixes problem but then creates another problem.

It cost me £50 in excess twice to get them called out. In all these events tenant was left with no heater or hot water (whilst the property has gas fired heater and temporary electric heater was given by us).

I understand tenant paying rent to us and expects full service however boiler breakdown is beyond our control and as a landlord everything we have done to get it repaired all the time.

Tenant is asking for compensation for this and expects me to pay £640 (which counts time off from work he had to stay at home for engineers to come in, plus other things like travelling to their family members home to get bath etc) for this inconvenience. As a landlord I think tenant deserves compensation for the time he had constantly not had heating and hot water and should pay half of this rent for that period. I believe it was 2 weeks which works out £300 rent off.

As a landlord do we have to pay tenant what he thinks as right amount because as landlord we have repaired boilers every time it was broken. How should we negotiate this issue?

£300 sounds fairly reasonable.

However- did u say to him, u need to be home from 9-1 for the engineer? In which case u owe him for his time off work.

Did u say for example, I'm sorry it's not fixed, perhaps a family member can let u shower at theirs? - this may mean he has a claim for travel costs.

The point about there not being a problem for 6 years is irrelevant as there was a problem in dec/jan, and that's what the claim is about

pyueck

Your post is poorly written and I am struggling to understand your point.

Also the fact that the boiler worked before the tenant moved in is irrelevant.

The tenant should expect to reasonably be compensated for the cost of not having the service. The travel cost to somewhere else to wash and some costs for the time seems reasonable. However you are lucky the tenant didn't demand alternative accommodation, the house must be freezing.

The first thing you need to do is sort the problem, as Landlord it is your responsibility. While I understand that you have tried, if one company keeps causing problems you should use another, even if this leaves you out of pocket. I feel very sorry for this tenant who it sounds like has been without heating or a hot shower for a month.

After that you have to negotiate with the tenant, it is not for you or the tenant to 'say what the right amount is' but to negotiate a fair amount.

orionmoo

When my partner moved into her previous rented accommodation, the boiler was broken from the day they moved in on the saturday.

The letting's agency was open on the Saturday but their management arm was not, and even calling up the emergency number they said can't do anything. They did eventually get a brand new boiler installed on the following Tuesday or Wednesday, but she was without hot water or heating for several days.

Never received an apology for it or compensation, the agents knew it was broken as it was reported 2 weeks prior to the previous tenant leaving the property and not fixed then.

I'd say you can probably get away with not paying anything, if you got it fixed as soon as possible after being alerted.

But the ethical thing to do would be to give a gesture of good will discount on the rent I'd say for the days they were without heating and hot water as you could argue its not habitable in that time.

sinizterguy

Offer him £300 then ... And make it clear you are not going to pay any more.

jjlandlord

The tenant was provided alternative heaters and I don't think that an owner-occupier would have moved to a hotel because the heating was down: He would have wore more clothes and he would have got electric heaters.
Likewise for hot water.

Why did the tenant take time off work to be there? He did not have to.
Did he want to be there or did you ask him because you or your agent couldn't be there?
If he was forced to be there I can understand his point, though, again, an owner-occupier would also have had to take time off work.

Offer what you think is fair (50% off rent seems very fair) and make sure to clearly state that this is a goodwill payment.
Don't get into arguments or negotiation.

At the same time, make sure that the boiler is properly fixed. By the sound of it it may need replacing altogether.

pyueck

jjlandlord wrote: »

The tenant was provided alternative heaters and I don't think that an owner-occupier would have moved to a hotel because the heating was down: He would have wore more clothes and he would have got electric heaters.
Likewise for hot water.

Why did the tenant take time off work to be there? He did not have to.
Did he want to be there or did you ask him because you or your agent couldn't be there?
If he was forced to be there I can understand his point, though, again, an owner-occupier would also have had to take time off work.

Offer what you think is fair (50% off rent seems very fair) and make sure to clearly state that this is a goodwill payment.
Don't get into arguments or negotiation.

At the same time, make sure that the boiler is properly fixed. By the sound of it it may need replacing altogether.

JJ agree with you here, although it's also a good idea to be sympathetic to the tenant and keep them on side. By the sound of it the tenant has moved in and had a pretty awful (and cold) time. If I was a tenant I would be feeling pretty angry.

Being nice now could serve you well in the future.

fishpond

As you appear to have done everything you could to get the boiler repaired, (would you have done any different if you were living there?)
I would not be giving the tenant any compensation, but I would be giving them an S21.
I would also cancel asap any agreement you have with homeserve, get a local gas registered fitter to give his opinion on your boiler and be prepared to have a new one fitted ( a known good make).:)

jjlandlord

pyueck wrote: »

Being nice now could serve you well in the future.

I'm not saying that OP shouldn't be nice. Indeed offering a 50% discount on the rent is rather nice.

However, OP must also avoid sending the wrong message.

pyueck

fishpond wrote: »

As you appear to have done everything you could to get the boiler repaired, (would you have done any different if you were living there?)
I would not be giving the tenant any compensation, but I would be giving them an S21.
I would also cancel asap any agreement you have with homeserve, get a local gas registered fitter to give his opinion on your boiler and be prepared to have a new one fitted ( a known good make).:)

Why would you give them a S21? The tenant has moved in and had no hot water or heating for a month, I would be angry! Whether this is Homeserve's or the landlord's fault, it is the landlord's responsibility.

The tenant has only been in two months so giving them a S21 would only mean you have an angry tenant for four months (assuming a 6 month break clause) and a big likelihood of rent arrears with the tenant taking off what they think they are due.

Your idea sounds like a retaliatory eviction to me for a tenant who all they have asked for is compensation for a terrible service.

Guest101

fishpond wrote: »

As you appear to have done everything you could to get the boiler repaired, (would you have done any different if you were living there?)
I would not be giving the tenant any compensation, but I would be giving them an S21.
I would also cancel asap any agreement you have with homeserve, get a local gas registered fitter to give his opinion on your boiler and be prepared to have a new one fitted ( a known good make).:)

A s.21 because there was boiler problem in winter, and the tenant complained. my previous thoughts of you are yet again proved accurate.

and its 'Gas Safe' registered...