Tenants changed the lock. Who pays?

theoriginalvicar

Hi Amalis

I am also a Landlord but in the Midlands

I presume from your post that you manage the property yourself and do not use an agent ? Have you agreed with the tenants formally what they should do in an emergency ?

Most agreements with tenants do state that they should contact the landlord before engaging any tradesmen and incurring any cost, failure to do so would mean that they bear the cost and not you.

£395 is a big hit to your monthly rental no doubt.

If it is clear that they should of contacted you first then they should pay

However if it is unclear then maybe you should reach a compromise with them to share the cost ?

Good tenants are not easy to find

HamburgerHilll

From a tenants viewpoint I think I'd be happy to share the costs in the circumstances you've described. Perhaps it's worth asking them (failing that as others have said if the locksmith bill hasn't been paid (highly unlikely as they tend to have card machines at the ready!) then maybe query the bill.

Smodlet

Accidental damage to the fabric of the building, which includes locks, should be covered by the buildings insurance policy taken out by the LL, not the tenant. If the LL failed to take out accidental damage cover, it is their problem. Why should a tenant pay any part of the cost of a repair to damage they did not cause and are not responsible for? It is the LL's property so their responsibility to maintain.

We already know these are good tenants who (presumably) have caused no damage in the past. Had they caused the problem, of course they should pay for it in full.

FBaby

What's in your contract? Most good ast will have a clause on what the tenant is expected to do when there is damage to the property and in most instance, it will say that they are expected to inform the LL or its agents asap.

If that's the case, then it is easy, you write to say you accept liability for the failure of the lock but that they need to accept the liability for the emergency call as they failed to follow the rules as set in the contract. Negotiate a price. You could contact two locksmiths of your choice and ask for a quote for changing the same lock out of hours. Ask them to pay the difference between the best quote and the bill.

If they refuse, then make a claim on their deposit when they leave (assuming you did take a deposit and protected it legally).

Smodlet

Assuming at least one of the tenants had access to the LL's number while locked out of their home, that is a very good point, FBaby, but what if they did not? Their responsibility to have it with them? Not everyone has a mobile phone (though most do) Doubt many still have bits of paper or diaries in their handbags these days but no reason why they could not, I suppose.

pinklady21

I had a similar issue with my long term tenant last year. She reported an issue with the plumbing to me via email and asked if she could arrange for a plumber to call at her convenience. I responded saying I was happy to arrange for the plumber, but if she would prefer to do that herself, then fine. I would be prepared to meet the reasonable costs on condition that she sent me an estimate before instructing any work.
In the end she went ahead and got the work done, without notifying me of the cost first. And it was twice what it should have been.
I had a fairly recent bill for other plumbing work, and sent that to her offering to pay half, as I felt that her plumber had overcharged.
While she wasn't very happy, she agreed that she should have checked with me first as I had asked her to do.
So - in your case, agree with other posters, check with the locksmiths what they actually did, ask them what they did with the old lock too. Call a couple of other emergency locksmiths and ask them what they would charge for equivalent work.
Then armed with that info, either suck it up and pay the full whack, or negotiate with your tenants or the locksmith or all of them!
Make sure that in future your tenants are aware of the procedure if there are any emergency repairs required. Best of luck.

amalis

I am very upset now. Checked my Home emergency insurance and the lock changes are covered. Emergency call outs are also insured. So, have the tenants called me before I would have called the insurance company and it would have coasted me gbp50 only. Girls were also informed about the insurance and I sent ther a copy of the document.
The insurance company will not reimburse now for work done by anyone else

amalis

I assume they have my number stored because previously we did contact each other by sms and phone calls as well.

Barny1979

If they are leaving soon, then why not discuss the splitting of the bill, as there is no relationship to be damaged so to speak?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Penitent wrote: »

You still haven't confirmed if the tenants had your number to hand (i.e. in their phone) when they were locked out, not just written down on a bit of paper inside the locked house.

Well how on earth would he know? How many people that you call have stored your number? They are obviously going to say no if he asks them now.