House Fire - Repair Costs

JadonM

Hello,

Firstly, my apologies if this is in the wrong section on the forums. It felt like the most appropriate for the issue(s) we are facing.

Long story short, last year in April we had a fire in the council house we rent in Reading. Since then they have told us we have to pay back £2000 of the repair cost, they capped it at this rather than charging the full amount of over £8000. There have been many issues inbetween with them though.

We are at a point where we have had some free legal advice in regards to where we stand on this, we were advised to dispute certain things which we have done. These are, when we were moved into temporary accommodation the council helped move some belongings for free - they broke some chest of drawers. The damage was only cosmetic, but the only way to repair this would be by buying a new set. It was a piece of wood between the drawers, which as it was broken left a gaping hole. They've offered to deduct £20 off the bill, as opposed to the £59 that it cost (and still does).

Secondly, they disposed of a large number of dog food tins without our permission. These were sealed and not used, were in the kitchen where the fire took place but as they were sealed they'd not have been contaminated in anyway - regardless, we did not agree to them disposing of these and they never made any effort to ask us about them. From what I can tell, we'd be covered under the Interference With Goods Act of 1977?

They also took our dogs to kennels without our written permission. The dog warden came round, rather aggressively demanding the dog leads, collars and the dogs themselves and given the situation we felt like we had to oblige. However, we were told we cannot know where the dogs are going and never agreed verbally or written to this. The council haven't provided anything to suggest they can legally reclaim these costs when we asked.

I'm looking for some advice in regards to the above, hopefully there are some laws that would cover us on these? It seems common sense doesn't apply to the person who we're in contact with, hence we're at a bit of a deadlock with them over the deductions.

Thank you,
Jadon

AnotherJoe

Presumably there's a LOT you have omitted, but since you've had legal advice seems to me you should act on it rather than what anyone here would say since they dont know the full story. It wouldnt be normal I'd have thought to be charged at all so there is obviously a long back story here.


And at risk of heading down that path myself, why do you think they needed your written permission to take the dogs when they were standing right there in front of you asking for the leads etc to take them away and you implicitly gave them permission to take them away?

As a layman I'd say any tins that had been in a kitchen with a fire would be suspect, maybe they had a small burst and leaked allowing bacteria in and they are always going to take a precautionary position on that.

EachPenny

JadonM wrote: »

Long story short, last year in April we had a fire in the council house we rent in Reading. Since then they have told us we have to pay back £2000 of the repair cost, they capped it at this rather than charging the full amount of over £8000. There have been many issues inbetween with them though.

If you want any advice worth having (and isn't obtainable from your solicitor) then you'd need to explain how the fire started and who was responsible.

You might not want to do that on a public forum though, so that would severely limit the value of what any of us can tell you.

JadonM

I’m happy to explain the story in more depth.

It was on 10th April 2017 when the fire started, just after 6pm. My partner had left a candle on the kitchen windowsill and that’s unfortunately how it started. The council are obviously aware of this and we never have denied it being our fault.

Unfortunately they don’t have buildings insurance and as tenants, we cannot take out buildings insurance - only contents. But that’s irrelevant really anyway.

We were made aware we’d have to foot the bill for the repairs. However, as we were being moved into a B&B for a few days before a flat was found, we were told we’d need to arrange for our dogs to go elsewhere as the house wouldn’t be appropriate for them to stay in.

The house was smoke damaged but in terms of fire damage, it was limited to a small area on the kitchen worktop and the window was smashed. The front door had to be knocked in by the fore brigade as it was locked.

We were in the process of speaking to neighbours, friends and family about them having the dogs for a short time. During the process of us trying to find somewhere, the dog warden came to the house demanding the dogs. We were given very little option but to comply and because of the fire happening we were all understandably stressed as it was, so we did as she demanded. However, we weren’t happy with it and didn’t specifically agree to it - we felt more forced into the situation and that has been raised with the council previously but they’ve as good as ignored that.

From what I understand, before disposing of a tenants items reasonable effort must be made to contact the tenant and arrange collection of the goods before they can be removed. No such contact was made, they haven’t been able to provide anything to suggest otherwise either.

We never signed anything to say ANY goods could be removed and were advised by the housing officer we would have to sign something forst, as per the law I previously quoted - my understanding of that.

anselld

So you have lost your dogs and £2000, but you want to be reimbursed for a £59 chest of drawers and some dog food?

Or am I missing something?

JadonM

We got our dogs back after the Easter bank holiday weekend, they said they came round to drop them off despite no contact being made prior to this and the council knew we were moving goods from house to flat still, so they were kept over the bank holiday weekend.

However, we never agreed to and wouldn’t have chosen kennels for the dogs as they were both rescues but one really struggles with kennels so we’d never have chosen to put them in them, but as explained before given the stress and having an angry dog warden in front of us...

The drawers were looking for a full reduction for, yes. And to recoup the cost of the food. Plus not pay for the kennels which we don’t believe they have any legal grounds to ask us to pay.

HampshireH

Rather surprising a council dont have buildings insurance.

Your contents insurance would cover anything damaged during the fire.

You LL have moved you and covered the costs since April until whenever you moved back (you dont say when this was) when it was your fault the fire started. Luckily social housing tenants are granted this luxury regardless of fault. Private renters and home owners dont have this security). The costs to house you significantly outweigh the cost of a few tins or dog food and a chest of drawers.

You dont say what the advice you got from your solicitor was???

Most housing associations wont move tenants items personally for fear of tenants like yourselves claiming damages.

Why didnt you pay for someone to move your belongings? If you had told the council you had arranged this then the responsibility would have fallen on your preferred removals company.

It seems the council were trying to help you by moving things for free for you which you obviously agreed to.

Accidents happen (as you know by lighting a candle and leaving it near something flammable)

davidmcn

HampshireH wrote: »

Rather surprising a council dont have buildings insurance.

Who said they don't have insurance? They almost certainly do, but that's irrelevant to the question of whether they (or their insurer) can recover their costs from the OP.

(chances are that their insurance will have a high excess anyway)

HampshireH

Couldn't have sworn I originally read it in the OP and that was why they were asking for £2k. Must have misread it.

comeandgo

Councils don't have building insurance, they self insure. It would cost far too much to insure all properties.

HampshireH

Unfortunately they don’t have buildings insurance and as tenants, we cannot take out buildings insurance - only contents. But that’s irrelevant really anyway.

The OP states the council dont have buildings insurance which I found hard to believe.