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Dispute with other landlord - HELP!
Button86
Posts: 17 Forumite
Hi guys,
Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. I really don't know where else to turn.
So, we rent a terraced town house on a one way street opposite a row of terraced houses - no gardens, just rows on houses and a narrow road.
In July, half an hour after parking on the drive way, our car rolled off the driveway and into the wall of the house opposite. It damaged the down pipe attachment, causing the downpipe to fall off (did not damage the pipe itself) and the very corner of a plaster external windowsill.
I was very honest with the estate agent, phoned them first thing the following morning and explained exactly what had happened - the house we damaged is managed by the same estate agent but owned by different landlord to us.
I told them we would accept full liability for the damage, but that we wanted to claim through insurance for the repair so we needed a quote. They passed this onto the landlord who owns the property. He said he was on holiday and would sort it when he was home.
The work to the house was done the very next day - the sill re-plastered and painted, and a brand new sparkly downpipe fitted to the wall. No quote provided, no information whatsoever. We spoke to the estate agent who said the landlord was not answering any calls. Yet, he still managed to arrange the repair within 24 hours of the damage being done. The estate agent knew nothing about this either.
In the meantime, my partners car was illegal to drive so we had to get the work done urgently and after a week of waiting for a quote from the landlord, we decided to just pay for the car to be done out of our own money and forget the insurance - it cost us £450. The landlord was still not answering any calls.
We heard nothing more and the estate agent said they would not chase it in the hope we wouldn't hear anything.
FOUR MONTHS LATER... The landlord has come forward to the estate agent demanding we pay £170 for the repair. I have asked for an itemised bill and he has said he will charge us more for the "admin" if we want this. This is despite numerous attempts by the estate agent to get a quote BEFORE the work was carried out, and then a weeks worth of ignored calls when he went and did the work within a day anyway.
I really am p***ed off with how this has gone down. I cannot fault the estate agent as they have done everything they can for us and have even told me how rude the landlord was to them when we asked for an itemised bill. We could have gone through the insurance but he ignored all the calls and then four months later suddenly decides we need to pay and wont even provide us with a bill so we can see what we are paying for.
Is there anything we can do?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Nic
Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. I really don't know where else to turn.
So, we rent a terraced town house on a one way street opposite a row of terraced houses - no gardens, just rows on houses and a narrow road.
In July, half an hour after parking on the drive way, our car rolled off the driveway and into the wall of the house opposite. It damaged the down pipe attachment, causing the downpipe to fall off (did not damage the pipe itself) and the very corner of a plaster external windowsill.
I was very honest with the estate agent, phoned them first thing the following morning and explained exactly what had happened - the house we damaged is managed by the same estate agent but owned by different landlord to us.
I told them we would accept full liability for the damage, but that we wanted to claim through insurance for the repair so we needed a quote. They passed this onto the landlord who owns the property. He said he was on holiday and would sort it when he was home.
The work to the house was done the very next day - the sill re-plastered and painted, and a brand new sparkly downpipe fitted to the wall. No quote provided, no information whatsoever. We spoke to the estate agent who said the landlord was not answering any calls. Yet, he still managed to arrange the repair within 24 hours of the damage being done. The estate agent knew nothing about this either.
In the meantime, my partners car was illegal to drive so we had to get the work done urgently and after a week of waiting for a quote from the landlord, we decided to just pay for the car to be done out of our own money and forget the insurance - it cost us £450. The landlord was still not answering any calls.
We heard nothing more and the estate agent said they would not chase it in the hope we wouldn't hear anything.
FOUR MONTHS LATER... The landlord has come forward to the estate agent demanding we pay £170 for the repair. I have asked for an itemised bill and he has said he will charge us more for the "admin" if we want this. This is despite numerous attempts by the estate agent to get a quote BEFORE the work was carried out, and then a weeks worth of ignored calls when he went and did the work within a day anyway.
I really am p***ed off with how this has gone down. I cannot fault the estate agent as they have done everything they can for us and have even told me how rude the landlord was to them when we asked for an itemised bill. We could have gone through the insurance but he ignored all the calls and then four months later suddenly decides we need to pay and wont even provide us with a bill so we can see what we are paying for.
Is there anything we can do?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Nic
0
Comments
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best pass onto insurance firm- they will hopefully press other party for breakdown, before they get a bean!breathe in, breathe out- You're alive! Everything else is a bonus, right? RIGHT??0
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Hi guys,
Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. I really don't know where else to turn.
So, we rent a terraced town house on a one way street opposite a row of terraced houses - no gardens, just rows on houses and a narrow road.
In July, half an hour after parking on the drive way, our car rolled off the driveway and into the wall of the house opposite. It damaged the down pipe attachment, causing the downpipe to fall off (did not damage the pipe itself) and the very corner of a plaster external windowsill. - Ok liability is yours. But you know this
I was very honest with the estate agent, phoned them first thing the following morning and explained exactly what had happened - the house we damaged is managed by the same estate agent but owned by different landlord to us. - But you weren't honest with your insurance?
I told them we would accept full liability for the damage, but that we wanted to claim through insurance for the repair so we needed a quote. - Why would you need a quote? What you should've done is reported to your insurance. Let them deal with it. They passed this onto the landlord who owns the property. He said he was on holiday and would sort it when he was home. - Seems fair
The work to the house was done the very next day - the sill re-plastered and painted, and a brand new sparkly downpipe fitted to the wall. No quote provided, no information whatsoever. - He doesn't need to. We spoke to the estate agent who said the landlord was not answering any calls. Yet, he still managed to arrange the repair within 24 hours of the damage being done. The estate agent knew nothing about this either. - Tenants might've just contacted him direct and he sent out his builder/mate/father/etc
In the meantime, my partners car was illegal to drive so we had to get the work done urgently and after a week of waiting for a quote from the landlord, we decided to just pay for the car to be done out of our own money and forget the insurance - it cost us £450. The landlord was still not answering any calls. - The LL has 6 years to claim the cost.
We heard nothing more and the estate agent said they would not chase it in the hope we wouldn't hear anything.
FOUR MONTHS LATER... (so he now has 68 months to chase you) The landlord has come forward to the estate agent demanding we pay £170 for the repair. I have asked for an itemised bill and he has said he will charge us more for the "admin" if we want this. - Well he might do, but really it's in his interests, as he'll have to provide this to the court, and the court wont accept his admin fees. This is despite numerous attempts by the estate agent to get a quote BEFORE the work was carried out, and then a weeks worth of ignored calls when he went and did the work within a day anyway. - And?
I really am p***ed off with how this has gone down. I cannot fault the estate agent as they have done everything they can for us and have even told me how rude the landlord was to them when we asked for an itemised bill. - well they should drop him as a client in that case. We could have gone through the insurance but he ignored all the calls and then four months later suddenly decides we need to pay and wont even provide us with a bill so we can see what we are paying for. - Well just say: see you in court then.
Is there anything we can do?- Yes, Pay, or don't pay.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Nic
Civil claim, he'll either go to court, or not bother. You'll get a letter before court, with an option to settle, otherwise he cant claim costs.0 -
You say you wanted it to go through insurance. All you needed to do was give your insurer's name and policy number to the managing agent for next door. The quotes, or how or when it's done, are between the agent and the insurer.
Sorry, but you do need to pay up.0 -
All I can say is that £170 is pretty reasonable! Could have been far worse and least now you won't have any claims on your car insurance!0
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For 170 I'd just pay and get on with my life. Maybe you could reduce it to 120 but frankly the call-out cost means it's unlikely to get any lower, and your insurance premium would probably go up that much anyway if you claim.0
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Most builders I know wouldn't get out of bed for £170. Pay up, look big, move on.0
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I think you just need to chalk this one up to experience and pay the £170. It's too late to go back and sort it out through your insurance (is your excess more or less than £170, if more then you won't really be losing anything) and regardless of how long the other landlord has taken to get back to you about this or how rude he has been you do owe the money.
Easier all round just to take this one on the chin since the damage was your fault.0 -
princeofpounds wrote: »For 170 I'd just pay and get on with my life. Maybe you could reduce it to 120 but frankly the call-out cost means it's unlikely to get any lower, and your insurance premium would probably go up that much anyway if you claim.
I agree, it cost £60 for a call out fee in my area, collecting of repair materials, doing the job and reporting back covers the rest.
You do not know if the down pipe was damaged or not, it may appear not to be but you cannot tell.
If this was £1170 I would put up a fight, frankly you are lucky you didn't kill someone, pay up and move on, life is too short.0 -
I think you just need to chalk this one up to experience and pay the £170. It's too late to go back and sort it out through your insurance (is your excess more or less than £170, if more then you won't really be losing anything) and regardless of how long your landlord (the person you have the contract with) has taken to get back to you about this or how rude he has been you do owe the money.
If you don't pay it then he could deduct it from your deposit when you leave which could be sooner than you think as he needs no reason to issue a Section 21. Then you'll be faced with the costs of moving too.
Easier all round just to take this one on the chin since the damage was your fault.
Hey Pix,
it's not the OPs landlord, it's a owner of the house they hit (just happened to be rented out with the same agency)0
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