claim against landlord over broken boiler

Heisenberg1989

Hi,

Firstly I hope that this is the correct section to submit this thread, If not accept my apology in advance.

I would like some advice on a claim against the council (my landlord) regarding a broken boiler I had for 5 months. I will try and explain in as much detail as possible as to what has happened since this all started.

This all started in June 2014, my boiler pressure dropped completely which resulted in no heating or hot water. I rang the council repair line to report the repair and as I have no young children or elderly in my property I was considered a non-emergency, I was not bothered by this as I understood but when the engineer came out he stated that he could not see an issue with the boiler so increased the pressure and left. Not being an engineer I accepted this but within a few days I discovered the pressure was back to zero.

I called the council back up to report that my boiler was not fixed and unsurprisingly once again I was not considered an emergency so had to wait up to a week before an engineer would arrive. the second visit the engineer looked at the boiler and stated he could not see an issue with the boiler, I explained to him the last engineer said the same but the problem was persisting, His response was that the pressure needs increasing and he said what would I like him to do remove all my floor boards to find the issue! I was taken aback by that comment as all I cared about was the problem being fixed and me getting my boiler working. He didn't seem interested and left.

I had started to lose faith in the problem and kept trying to increase the pressure to get some hot water going which was a pointless task as I would only get about a sink full of warm water each time.

I decided to have another crack at calling the council and waited the usual time frame to get an engineer out. He arrived and stated he can see a tiny leak in the pipes surrounding the boiler, I was chuffed as this should fix the issue that the previous 2 engineers could not find. He fixed that, increased the pressure and went on his way.

I started to notice that the water was not heating up and checked the boiler to which I discovered the pressure had gone again! At this point I was at the end of my tether because 3 separate engineers failed to find the problem and I have now waited over 2 months to get this resolved. I had been taking time off work to resolve the problem and was still at square one.

Come late October I decided I would call again as the living conditions were unbearable for me and my partner. Within a few days the engineer came out to the property and within a few minutes he came down and said that he has found the problem and that there was an oversight on the 3 previous occasions!! He explained he didn't have the part and that he would need to call back in a few days to fix the issue. Finally once he called he fixed my boiler and ever since we have been able to have a warm house and hot water!

Seeing as this issue had taken such a long time to resolve and the blame was clearly my landlords fault as the engineers failed to diagnose this issue on 3 occasions I decided I would call them and put a complaint in to try and get some of my rent back as I hadn't received everything I was paying my rent for. I got all the dates of the visits, waited for the complaint pack and submitted the complaint in late December.

They responded with an apology and a Liability claims form for Loss or damage to my property. I filled this form in explaining that there was no damage to my property and that I wanted compensation due to the long time I went without any heating or hot water.

Mid February I received a response explaining they had received my letter and acknowledged the claim was for compensation so passed it on to my local housing team, I should receive a response from them shortly.

Come the end of April I started to notice I still had not received a response on this so In May I decided to call them up to get an update on the matter. I must have been passed to 5 different people who all didn't seem concerned and wanted to pass me on to the wrong departments until one of them started calling around to find a resolution. He explained my claim was with the complaints team and I cannot speak to the directly so I will have to wait for a response by email as I requested this due to my working hours.

I later received an email explaining that they had sent a response in January with an apology and a liability claims form and they can do nothing further. If I am dissatisfied with this I will have to complain to my local ombudsman.

I was confused by this as I sent that back and they passed this back to my housing team and I was told to wait for a response. As they said complain to the ombudsman I decided to do so. This was mid-May so the complaint had been going on for 6 months at this point.

I received a response back from the ombudsman explaining they are unwilling to take this any further as they believe that the apology sent by the council was sufficient enough of a response to resolve the matter. I'm sorry correct me if I'm wrong but surely an apology for the councils lack of ability to fix an issue over a 5 month period shouldn't be good enough.

I am under the understanding that it is the landlord’s duty to fix a problem like this within a reasonable time frame. 5 months clearly is not reasonable and surely I have a case here.

I feel I am running out of options as I have no way of taking them to court, I can barely get through each month on my wages and my partner is heavily pregnant so we have a baby to get ready for.

The last thing I have done is explain all this in a email to my local councillor to see if he has any power to do something with this matter.

I am starting to feel that my complaint is not a worthy complaint but looking at the facts surely I have a case to receive some form of compensation. I have paid all the rent throughout the months I went without my boiler. I do not expect all my rent paid back to me but some form of reduction should be fair.

I hate how if they have a problem with me because I haven't paid my rent for 2 weeks they threaten me with court even though I have told them I pay my rent at the end of each month. If I have an issue with them I cannot receive what is owed to me.

I am wondering do I have any other options as I am waiting for a response from my local councillor but I do not know how long that will actually take. Also an opinion on this matter would be great as I would like to know if what I am asking for is fair.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Ashley.

terryw

How much is your claim? How much are you out of pocket? Have you mentioned this figure to the council other than mentioning the word compensation?

McKneff

The worst thing you can do is not pay your rent, you are not doing yourself any favours.

Heisenberg1989

Thank you for the quick replies.

I have not mentioned a figure to them, I just believe considering the long time without heating and hot water I would like some form of compensation as I have not received what I pay rent for.

I do pay my rent, I don't believe I have stated that I do not pay it.

anselld

To summarise ...
Boiler broke down in June 2014.
Council took until October 2014 to repair after several failed attempts.
You are trying to claim "compo".

The stock answer to someone claiming compensation is to ask for proof of loss (because you don't really have any).

It would be better (but still 50:50) to ask for "rate abatement due to loss of amenity", since there is at least a chance that a reasonable person somewhere in the Council or indeed a Court may consider that a fair claim.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/common_problems/compensation_for_disrepair

tom9980

So broken in June fixed at end of October the landlord is the council. Not sure about anyone else but i dont turn on heating until October, so you were without heating for a month arguably.

Given the time scales and 3 visits to me it seems you were not calling and making a nuisance of yourself from the first visit as each engineer failed to fix the issue. You surely should have been chasing this over that 5 month period far more vigorously??

I really don't see how compensation is due given the engineer was sent on each occasion, its certainly not the landlords fault if the engineer leaves believing it was fixed.

HappyMJ

tom9980 wrote: »

So broken in June fixed at end of October the landlord is the council. Not sure about anyone else but i dont turn on heating until October, so you were without heating for a month arguably.

Given the time scales and 3 visits to me it seems you were not calling and making a nuisance of yourself from the first visit as each engineer failed to fix the issue. You surely should have been chasing this over that 5 month period far more vigorously??

I really don't see how compensation is due given the engineer was sent on each occasion, its certainly not the landlords fault if the engineer leaves believing it was fixed.

Without hot water either it sounds like a combi. That's very annoying.

Heisenberg1989

I have never heard of a rate of abatement due to loss of amenity. It does make sense after reading about it. would have been easier if the council explained this when I asked for money back due to loss of service. not that they would want to help me in my claim.

I will send them another letter explaining this but I will not hold my breath.

Tom,

I did my best to resolve the issue, I work 9-5 all week so calling them was a big issue, I used as many opportunities to call them that I could. They a notoriously difficult to get anything resolved.

I can understand your point that you say its surely not the landlords fault but who is at fault if the engineers did not inspect the boiler correctly? from the manner of at least 2 of them they didn't really seem like they cared. it should not take 4 separate engineers to diagnose a problem.

Heisenberg1989

yes forgot to clarify it was hot water I was without also, I turn my heating on when its cold and I remember plenty of occasions where I would have liked the heating on. hot water was the main concern obviously.

pmlindyloo

What you are trying to claim for is compensation for the inconvenience of not having hot water or heating during the period.

You have followed the correct procedure so you are left with taking them to court. Although this is your 'right' it is an action which you should not take without getting some professional advice.

It could be that your councillor will be able to negotiate an out of court settlement on your behalf. Did you specifically ask your councillor to do this? Or was it more about a complaints procedure? (which you have actually already done and gone as far as you can)

You need to think very carefully about your next step as taking court action can be stressful.

If your councillor cannot help you then try CAB (choose one, if you can, with a Housing Specialist) or maybe Shelter could help with supporting you if you wish to take this further.

Sometimes it is best to 'move on' although I know how aggravating these kinds of things can be.

Heisenberg1989

I did not ask my councillor specifically to negotiate an out of court settlement. I explained the situation to him and ask if there is anything he can do being the local MP for my area. I do not know the time frame as to when to expect a reply as I imagine he would be fairly busy.

I will definitely consider CAB but with my working hours it does prove very difficult.

If court does turn out to be the only option I have I think I will have to move on as I will not be able to afford court costs. It is definitely annoying as I had to go a long time without the basic requirement of heating and hot water.