Going to small claims hearing: so many questions

Smallclaimsquery

Whilst I may not get the full amount I am asking for I don't see how I could lose. Ignoring the three weeks that the landlady didn't keep on top of her tradespeople. For the first three weeks, she ignored my and the agencies request for her to send someone to fix the issues.

justme111

Can you please update us on a decision. I am a bit surprised people say you have no case. I wonder if any of those who write it would be without hot water and heating for 6 weeks if they were the owners of the house and had money to fix it. A stove you saying? Bathing oneself and doing washing using hot water from a saucepan for 6 weeks in winter? I would say it is uninhabitable. When claiming for increased commute do not forget to claim for your time at whatever hourly rate you are on. I suppose it is bad that you did bot send the landlord written notification at their address as soon as you found you had an issue

Pixie5740

justme111 wrote: »

Can you please update us on a decision. I am a bit surprised people say you have no case. I wonder if any of those who write it would be without hot water and heating for 6 weeks if they were the owners of the house and had money to fix it. A stove you saying? Bathing oneself and doing washing using hot water from a saucepan for 6 weeks in winter? I would say it is uninhabitable. When claiming for increased commute do not forget to claim for your time at whatever hourly rate you are on. I suppose it is bad that you did bot send the landlord written notification at their address as soon as you found you had an issue

I have been both a tenant and an owner-occupier without a working boiler. Last January and February I was just over 2 months without a working boiler. I had the money to replace the boiler but it took a few weeks to get some quotes (one quote came in 5 months after the new boiler had been installed and it was dated 5 months after so it didn't just get lost in the post) and then another few weeks for parts to be ordered and then it all had to be installed. Winter is a busy time for heating engineers, just because you have the funds available it doesn't mean that things will be fixed instantly.

Bob_Bank_Spanker_2

Smallclaimsquery wrote: »

Whilst I may not get the full amount I am asking for I don't see how I could lose. Ignoring the three weeks that the landlady didn't keep on top of her tradespeople. For the first three weeks, she ignored my and the agencies request for her to send someone to fix the issues.

Because you cannot demonstrate your loss. The best you can come up with is an hours extra commute, however you are expected to mitigate your losses, and I don't see that you've done this in any way. It is an interesting one, do let us know how you get on, and good luck.

[Deleted User]

To win, you'd either have to demonstrate that there is a clause in your tenancy agreement that says heating must be working at all times, or prove that the property was unliveable for the six weeks. Sorry, but I don't think you can do either.., all for £60.

I question whether someone who thinks this is worthwhile did not help create the 'angry LL' situation being complained about. There are set procedures to get repairs done, could have asked for alternative heating, all of which were not followed.

G_M

The hearing will be held in a side room, informally - not in the courtroom.

You, your witnesses, the LL, her witnesses, and the judge will sit round a table.

Lawyers are not permitted.

The judge will take an informal approach to allow each side to present their side of the argument, without legalistic procedures.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that I agree with others that your case is weak.

My actual loss was an extra one hour commute both ways which at five times a week meant ten extra hours commuting which worked out at roughly £60 pounds on the train a week.

I would be amazed if the judge accepted this. Lack of heating did not make the property uninhbitable so you had no reason to move, so no extra commute was justified.

I'm unclear if you actually reported the problem properly to the LL, IN WRITING, to the proper ADDRESS provided for serving notices within those first weks.

If the LL sent in contractors, that is a reasonable response. If those contractors either let the LL down, or took time to identify the problem, or find the parts required, then again, that is not the LL's fault. We all suffer those problems! The issue is whether the LL acted reasonably eg by chasing the contractors, finding alternative contractors etc after a resonable time-frame.

I hope you'll come back and tell us how it goes, but I'm not optimistic for you.

Originally Posted by Pixie5740
If this does go to court and you lose you will not only have to pay your court costs but the landlord's as well.

Not (usually) in small claims.

No. The party that wins can claim their costs against the party that loses.

* Not legal costs (no lawyers, legal advice costs), but
* personal costs eg lost income from attending the hearing, travel costs, other expenses eg postage, court costs etc

Miss_Samantha

You have the right to be represented by a lawyer.

Bob_Bank_Spanker_2

G_M wrote: »

Lawyers are not permitted.

What a perfect world that would be! Unfortunately it isn't true.

lincroft1710

Let's hope your LL appears at court and is angry, obstructive and confrontational, judges love that - NOT. More likely she will put on a tearful act of being a poor little old frail widow whose tenant is trying to take the bread from her mouth.

As someone with much experience of tribunals (but not Small Claims) the outcome can never be guaranteed. You need to be confident (but not cocky), reasonable (but not giving in), polite (to all parties even when you hear untruths or potential slander), slightly deferential and a good listener

FBaby

My actual loss was an extra one hour commute both ways which at five times a week meant ten extra hours commuting which worked out at roughly £60 pounds on the train a week.

Was that a financial loss, ie. you had to buy tickets for it or do you have an monthly card anyway, so it made no difference?

It's a pity you didn't do your research because your chance of a win are so low, you might have decided to wasn't worth the stress. It's probably why the landlady got angry, you are wasting her time.