Broken Over Top - Landlord's Responsibility or Mine

mither_2

Hello, I am renting a flat and accidentally dropped a jar on the glass/ceramic hob causing a big crack down the middle. It still works fine however I fear that if the glass isn't replaced it will get worse and may stop working all together. It is a basic 2 hob top which I would estimate was 5-10 years old based on when I know the block of flats to have last been refitted. It's a bit like the one in the link below but smaller and more basic. I have researched on line and it seems a bit grey as to whose responsibility it is to fix this.I have contents insurance and it may be covered by this however I certainly don't want to claim if I can avoid it. I own a house that I let out. If someone breaks a window it is clearly the tenants responsibility but other things have broken around the house from time to time that I have ended up paying for such as new switches for the hob, washing machine doors etc where the tenant has been clumsy. Could this be considered whear and tear or does it fal to me to sort it out? My landlord owns the house that I live in and has generally been OK. Fairly responsive and hasn't raised the rent in two years however I am a pretty good tenant and generally take good care of the property (apart from this) so it is a two way thing. Is it reasonable to ask him to replace this or does it fall to me? Many thanks in advance for any advice offered.

greensalad

I would say it is your responsibility to fix it like-for-like as you damaged it through an accident of clumsiness, not wear and tear.

However I would explain to the landlord you would like to replace it with one similar but considering the age, maybe a little cheaper. You could ask if they might like to contribute funds towards it to get a better hob top put in as they might want to go for something better grade than what was currently in place.

MrJB

You're liable for breaking the hob as it wasn't broken as a result of fair wear and tear... That said, if you vacate at the end of the term and the hob is still broken your liability is only proportionate to the deprivation caused by the damage. Ie if the average life of a hob is 10 years and it happens that you broke it at 11 years, then really the hob has reached the end of it's life anyway, so the Landlord has suffered limited/no loss. That said, if the life of a hob is 20 years and you broke it in year 4 then the Landlord has lost 16 years worth of use of the hob - or 80% and you'd be liable to pay 80% of the cost of replacement.

AdrianC

No, dropping something onto a glass hob and breaking it does not count as wear and tear.

Equally, he cannot charge you for betterment - and a 10yo hob has to be fairly close to the realistic end of life, so the cost should be minimal.

Your link hasn't come through, but I presume you mean something like this?
http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/it332csc/gorenje-it332csc-2-zone-ceramic-hob

I think the landlord would be being cheeky to charge you more than about £50 towards the cost of supplying and fitting it.

G_M

Financially it's your responsiblity. This is not wear and tear. It's damage caused by carelessnes.

I would not leave this even if " It still works fine" as you don't know what damage has been done beneath the surface. There's a lot of electricity down there! A loose/damaged connection could cause a fire.

And if you failed to report this, and there was a fire, you'be responsible for all the damage for acting in an untenat-like manner (not reporting potentially dangerous damage).

Your insurance might cover it i you have 'accidental damage' cover for the LL's property.......

Report it in writing to the LL.

If the LL buys a replacement, he should take account of the age of the hob in calculating what % of the replacement cost to charge you or your insurance company.

ps - my ceramic hob is 12 years old and looks/performs as it did 12 years ago. I certainly don't expect its natural life to end any time soon. Maybe at 20+ years??

mither_2

Thanks all.
I think I'll just approach the landlord and see what feedback I get. Questionable whether a claim under my contenst insurance would work and landlord certainly won't want to claim on their insurance so best solution may be to try and get landlord to cover part of the cost along with me.
When I leave the property, hopefully, in the next 6-12 months, it will be spotted and then they'll try and reclaim costs from my deposit. At that point I'll likely have a lot less room to bargain. In the mean time it is a bit dangerous as people have said here.

[Deleted User]

mither wrote: »

Thanks all.
Questionable whether a claim under my contenst insurance would work and landlord certainly won't want to claim on their insurance so best solution may be to try and get landlord to cover part of the cost along with me.

As an aside, my wife is as equally butter fingered as yourself and dropped a jar onto our (built in) hob. We ended up claiming on buildings rather than contents (both insurances were with Halifax).

It was explained to us that contents insurance is for all those items that would fall out if you turned the house upside down and shook it. Buildings was for everything else.

thesaint

If the landlords insurance covers it, then he is required to claim on his insurance. If you decide to pay despite there being cover, then that's on you.

NectarCollector

this should be covered by your own contents insurance, under a clause along the lines of 'accidental damage to the properties fixtures and fittings'. so you may have to make a claim.

I've been renting several years, lettings agents always insist that I take out contents insurance that specifically cover this type of accidental damage

G_M

thesaint wrote: »

If the landlords insurance covers it, then he is required to claim on his insurance. If you decide to pay despite there being cover, then that's on you.

Interested to hear this - can you support the contention on this occassion?

mither_2

Thanks all. Good point regarding the landlord's building insurance. Wasn't aware that they would be required to claim. Not sure how far I'll get with that plan but worth a try. I still have a feeling this cost is going to end up with me.