Where do we stand ? No hot water or heating for 10 days

MoroFenrir

Where do we stand ? No hot water or heating for 10 days .

Our boiler stopped working on saturday the 10th of december and we reported it on the sunday 11th december .

On the afternoon of monday the 12th they got in contact with us and arranged with us for a engineer to come out on wednesday the 14th (as we were busy on the tuesday the 13th) , the engineer could not repair it that day and was meant to return the next day , but we found out the day after (the 15th) that this man was not qualified to deal with gas , the estate agents is now suing this company for sending someone unlicenced to work with gas , we had to wait until Monday 19th for the part to arrive that they need to repair the boiler (in the meantime the estate agents refunded us £25 for the cost of an electric heater) , the part did not arrive monday and it arrived today (tuesday 20th) ,

The new engineer comes out and says the fan is not the problem , and there are too many problems with the boiler, it's a 15 year old boiler and not worth repairing , it needs replacing .

the estate agents are now getting in touch with the landlord to approve the cost of the replacement boiler


Where do we stand ?

People are saying that we can claim compensation as it's now been 10 days in the freezing cold with no heating and hot water, and it's still not fixed.

Others are saying the landlord should be putting us up in a B&B until the repairs are done ,

some say we should stop paying rent until its sorted

I asked the estate agents if I could get my costs back *(its costing me £10 a day in fuel to drive an hour round trip to family's house to get a bath every day!) but they said that's not something they can do .

Rosemary7391

Have you a kettle or a working hob? It'd be cheaper for sure to just heat a little water to wash in that way! I think they're being fairly reasonable - they've paid for an electric heater, they're trying to get it fixed. This is a bad time of year for these things unfortunately, so it takes a little time. It's not fun, but it'd be no more fun if it was a house you owned - you'd probably not get it fixed much faster, if at all faster.

tom9980

MoroFenrir wrote: »

Where do we stand ? No hot water or heating for 10 days .

Our boiler stopped working on saturday the 10th of december and we reported it on the sunday 11th december .

On the afternoon of monday the 12th they got in contact with us and arranged with us for a engineer to come out on wednesday the 14th (as we were busy on the tuesday the 13th) , the engineer could not repair it that day and was meant to return the next day , but we found out the day after (the 15th) that this man was not qualified to deal with gas , the estate agents is now suing this company for sending someone unlicenced to work with gas , we had to wait until Monday 19th for the part to arrive that they need to repair the boiler (in the meantime the estate agents refunded us £25 for the cost of an electric heater) , the part did not arrive monday and it arrived today (tuesday 20th) ,

The new engineer comes out and says the fan is not the problem , and there are too many problems with the boiler, it's a 15 year old boiler and not worth repairing , it needs replacing .

the estate agents are now getting in touch with the landlord to approve the cost of the replacement boiler


Where do we stand ?

People are saying that we can claim compensation as it's now been 10 days in the freezing cold with no heating and hot water, and it's still not fixed. You have suffered no loss to claim compo

Others are saying the landlord should be putting us up in a B&B until the repairs are done , The property is not uninhabitable, you have heat and means to make hot water

some say we should stop paying rent until its sorted If you want to get evicted go ahead

I asked the estate agents if I could get my costs back *(its costing me £10 a day in fuel to drive an hour round trip to family's house to get a bath every day!) but they said that's not something they can do .You choose to require a bath every day, wasnt long ago we used to have one once a week

Seems the Landlord/Agent is reacting reasonably to me, having owned properties that have lost the use of the boiler and electric shower in the past 6 years its not always a simple fix and can take a long time to get sorted. Its likely this wont be fixed until early January at best unless you are lucky.

HouseBuyer77

A general test for whether or not a LL's attempts at repairs and time taken can be to consider what an owner occupier would do in a similar situation. I suspect they'd be no better off (assuming they'd also innocently employed a dodgy plumber delaying things). Getting hold of plumbers in winter is always tricky (they are busy dealing with the many boiler breakdowns!).

The agents have paid for your electric heater (though personally I'd say it's reasonable to claim for a few oil filled radiators so you can keep a few areas of the house warm). You might want to make a note of your electric usage over this period and claim for the extra costs (difference between the electric bill and what you would have used minus the cost of the gas you're not using).

Beyond that there's not much else you can do. Electric heating can keep the house warm. Lack of hot water for shower/bath is a pain but you can boil a kettle or two and make up a plastic basin of warm water you can use to wash yourself in the bath/shower cubicle easily enough.

Is the boiler a combi boiler? If not, you will have a hot water tank. If this has an electric immersion heater then you can still shower/take a bath as normal.

G_M

MoroFenrir wrote: »

...........

People are saying that we can claim compensation as it's now been 10 days

Others are saying the landlord should be putting us up in a B&B until the repairs are done ,

some say we should stop paying rent until its sorted

.

Who ARE all these people?

They do not appear to be those who responded here to your previous thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71777436#Comment_71777436

(why start a new thread at all?)

I asked the estate agents if I could get my costs back *(its costing me £10 a day in fuel to drive an hour round trip to family's house to get a bath every day!)

:rotfl:Nice try!

edit: as a suggestion, ask the neighbours if you can have a bath there. Maybe offer them £10 per week for daily baths? Cheaper than driving to the family!

saajan_12

Think whether the course of events is *reasonable for an owner occupier*. The LL / LA don't seem to have made any unreasonable delays, so there's no compensation due.. these things happen. If they provide alternative heating and hot water by paying for *, they would be providing heating. So, the place is habitable, hence no need for a hotel or alternative accommodation, nor a rent abatement.

* Electric / oil radiators in a living rooms / kitchen (can be moved to bedrooms at certain time)
* Increase in electric bills (minus gas bill saving) compared to last month / same month last year
* Hot water available through kettle / local basic gym membership / transport costs to get to a shower (whichever is cheapest)

theartfullodger

MoroFenrir wrote: »

Where do we stand ? No hot water or heating for 10 days .............

Probably slightly less comfortable and tiring of cold showers I'd guess.

Our boiler died:

It took well over a month to get new boiler in (the wife owns the house, I am but a mere lodger). Who does MoroFenrir think should compensate me?

dlmcr

Think you are getting a pretty good deal getting a new boiler for nowt other than a few phone calls.
When I bought a house my boiler packed up within a couple of weeks. £1850 later I got a new one installed. They did come round pretty fast though, took less than a week even around Christmas time.
Maybe you should buy a house and then you will understand the concept of acting in a reasonable way when things break that are out of yours or the landlords comtrol. If I was the landlord of your property and had paid to get a new boiler installed an attitude of wanting compensation would really get my back up and I would be getting a S21 in the post by return

marksoton

theartfullodger wrote: »

It took well over a month to get new boiler in (the wife owns the house, I am but a mere lodger). Who does MoroFenrir think should compensate me?

I could make a few suggestions but it's not becoming a good forum member... :A

kinger101

MoroFenrir wrote: »

Where do we stand ? No hot water or heating for 10 days.

Somewhere warm. Like the local boozer.

Norman_Castle

dlmcr wrote: »

Think you are getting a pretty good deal getting a new boiler for nowt other than a few phone calls.

They're not getting a new boiler. The home they rent is getting a new boiler.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/housing_disrepair_check_if_you_can_claim_compensation

OP. Personally I would be boiling water in the kettle to wash and only have a bath once or twice a week. If the heating isn't likely to be repaired over Christmas and the new year I would be asking for a few more heaters unless the one you have is sufficient.