Ceiling Collapsed, rented property

wesleyad

You are likely owed money for damages to contents, I agree its harsh for you to claim on your own insurance as this will be declared for next 5 years.

You are likely due alternate accommodation (but not reduced rent if you take that up).

If you are looking for punitive damages that isn't something we do in UK (well technically it does exist but very rare, not like the US)

I'm sorry, I know this must have been a bit of a shock, but starting to throw around stress and compensation instantly turns people off. It's going to be nigh on impossible to prove. You can't start saying "could have", because it didn't! You were aware of the crack and made sure you weren't under it. You can't then claim for "what could have happened if you'd been crushed"

It sounds harsh but it's the way life is. If you happened to have owned the home, you'd have got someone out to look and quote, but highly likely no work would have started in the 10 days. So it would have still fallen in. This happens to people all the time.

You are relying on any good will from the LL in this case.

akira181

Similar happened in my rented flat. I live in a old style tenement flat with high ceilings and a crack was the hallway above the front door for ages. We informed the landlord every month that the crack was there and getting bigger via email. About 4 months passed and it came down with some force, narrowly missing my flatmate. We cleared all the rubble and it weighed approx 22KG, so that could easily have killed someone.

LL came out, got a plasterer round the next day to fix it and that was that. We never had to move out and we swallowed the cleaning costs (of the rubble and the mess the plasterer left) but I sent a bill of all the damaged occurred (furniture, router, lamps, jackets, rugs, etc) as she was informed every month and done nothing.

After some arguing the LL paid up, I don't see why the tenant is liable for any damages occured. If there is physical evidence that the letting agent were notified of the crack (emails, etc), then steps should be taken to rectify it asap. I'd class asap as 48 hours.

FreeBear

Rogen07 wrote: »

The plaster that fell was very heavy and the ceilings are very high.

Removed a lath & plaster ceiling from a room approx 4m x 4m - Best part of a tonne (it filled a dump bag used for bulk sand).

Lath & plaster ceilings do fail - Often, it is the nails rusting away and the laths swell & contract with changes in humidity. Another cause is water leaks causing the wooden laths to swell & breaking the nibs of plaster.

As for asbestos, this is only of concern if Artex had been applied prior to 1999. With lime plaster, there is an infinitesimal risk of Anthrax from the animal hair used in the plaster, but the caustic nature of lime and time will have killed off the spores.

societys_child

A loss in profits is the only way to inconvenience a business in the same way this has inconvenienced us.

Not sure why you feel the need to inconvenience anyone. Revenge?

Pixie5740

What is insurance for if not to use when there has been an accident?

moneyistooshorttomention

Pixie5740 wrote: »

What is insurance for if not to use when there has been an accident?

Not OP's concern if the landlord covers the landlords' costs from the landlords' insurance:)

Pixie5740

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Not OP's concern if the landlord covers the landlords' costs from the landlords' insurance:)

And does landlord's insurance cover the tenant's contents?

Rogen07

We’ve spoken to a property lawyer that we have in the family and they seem to think that it would.

We’ve also spoken to a friend who works for another estate agents and they also think the same.

It’s not a case of “revenge” but I don’t think it’s possible to say that we haven’t been inconvenienced. We’ve had to temporarily move out because the ceiling collapsed. Our outlook would’ve been different if action was taken by them when we initially told them it was a concern.

The report made at the home visit stated this was a severe issue and required immediate attention. This was on the 13th September. The renting manager also confirmed the report wasn’t then submitted until the 18th September. I would say there is a definite failing on their part here

Pixie5740

Think that what would? The landlord's insurance would cover your contents? As far as I know it is uncommon for landlord's insurance to cover the tenant's contents but then again I am not a lawyer nor am I an estate agent.

Please do keep us posted on your case it may prove a valuable source for future posters who find themselves in the same unfortunate circumstances.

moneyistooshorttomention

Pixie5740 wrote: »

And does landlord's insurance cover the tenant's contents?

Perhaps a landlord could tell us that - or whether OP might have to chase the landlord through the Small Claims Court for reimbursement for that.