200 pounds off tenancy deposit for cushion cover

Blackmoresknight

Hi, I hope you can help with the following:

I moved out of a property that I had been renting for 12 months at the end of January. It was a furnished show home and contained a matching set of sofas (a 3 piece, 2 piece and armchair).

In October my son spilled milk over the seat of the armchair. My wife removed the cover for the cushion and put it in the washing machine at 30 degrees. It disintegrated. It just fell to bits.

She called the agency and told them what had happened and they said that they would talk to the landlord. We didn't get a response. We called again after two weeks to be told the landlord had not been in touch and they would try again. We had an inspection in November and asked again and asked at least twice in December, but still no answer.

Now we have received an email that they will deduct 200 pounds from our deposit for a new chair as it is unusable because of the damage to the cover?!

This seems completely over the top for some accidental damage that we reported as soon as it happened. Could any one give us advice on what to do?

Thanks in advance,

Richard

G_M

1) Tenant caused the spill

2) Tenant caused further damage ('disintegrated' the cushion)

3) Whether damage is accidental or deliberate makes no difference

4) Although damage was correctly reported, it still remains damage caused by tenant

5) Lack of response by LL at the time does not remove tenant liability

The above does not seem to be in dispute.

So the only remaining issue is the amount of cost claimed:

a) was the cover brand new at start of tenancy?
b) have you identified the source of the cover (eg John Lewis) or a similar cover of same quality/material/colour etc? What is the replacement cost?
c) Since the cover was (see a) above) 12 months old at end of tenancy, andwould normally last (depending on quality) 10 years, a deduction of 9/10ths of the replacement cost can be made (google "betterment")

Blackmoresknight

Thanks for your reply. No dispute about who caused the damage. I was shocked by the amount and that they said the cushion can not be replaced so a new chair is required.

a) We don't think it was used but it had been in the house for at least 4 (possibly longer) while it was a show home.
b) There are no identifying labels on any of the cushions/chairs. The agency/landlord don't know and the company that furnished the house (Barrats of Chester) are no longer trading. I estimate the cost of a cover between 30 (Ikea) and 60 (Made to measure).
c) I will have a google.

Thanks again.

stator

Get a reasonable estimate / quote in writing and then dispute the deposit through the registered deposit protection scheme

G_M

Sorry - I missed the bit about the deduction being to replace the whole chair.

In most cases this is not justifiable, but I believe there is some case law to say that this could be justified where it is the only way to maintain, say, a matching pair, or a suite.

Is the cushion an integral part of the chair (eg a cushion seat)? Or a 'throw' that is placed on the chair? If the former, and it cannot be replaced, the I can see that substituting a diferent style/colour etc of cushion would not be acceptable. If the latter, probably cheaper/acceptable to replace this (and other matching?) cusions only.

But without research I'm unsure of the case law.

As the chair is now 5 years old, a brand new one would be 'betterment'. Deduction should be 50% (or perhaps 5/15ths = 66%) of the cost.

Tansy_1980

Raise a dispute with your deposit protection company. They'll have experience of this. See the TDS guide to deposits, disputes & Damages for an idea of adjudicator's thinking on these types of deductions: https://www.tds.gb.com/resources/files/2013/A%20guide%20to%20deposits%20disputes%20and%20damages.pdf