Key broke, who pays?

Wanderingpomm

A million pieces??

sevenhills

Wanderingpomm wrote: »

A million pieces??

I am guessing the OP is female

Linnea

Does that matter?? I'm only asking for advice, so thanks a lot.

CarrieVS

Linnea wrote: »

Does that matter?? I'm only asking for advice, so thanks a lot.

They're just implying, contrary to everything I've ever come across in reality, that only women exaggerate or use hyperbole, because they're an !!!!!!. I guess it makes them happy, and you and I and everyone else with a functioning brain can just ignore them.

Norman_Castle

Who should pay for the key, me or the landlady?

I've never had a key break but a few friends have. These friends treat their keys as a multipurpose tool using them as a screwdriver, knife or for opening tins of paint. All of their keys are damaged.
If the lock had failed that would be the landlords fault but broken keys tend to be due to abuse which makes it the tenants fault.

Teamocil

Thrugelmir wrote: »

What most people would have to have done in the same situation. Not a question of fault. Just getting the matter resolved as quickly as possible.

Assume that the LL thinks that you were aware of an issue with the lock already. Something a spray of lubricant would have resolved.

Maintenance is the landlord's responsibility anyway.

This is standard BtL landlord behaviour. Of all the things you'd intentionally damage, she thinks you chose your means of entering your home? She should pay up, obviously. She knows this and is trying to weasel out of it.

yoshiyella

Norman_Castle wrote: »

I've never had a key break but a few friends have. These friends treat their keys as a multipurpose tool using them as a screwdriver, knife or for opening tins of paint. All of their keys are damaged.
If the lock had failed that would be the landlords fault but broken keys tend to be due to abuse which makes it the tenants fault.

However, was this key new to the tenant? If so then I would agree but it also may have had dozens of previous owners of the key who as you say misused it.



Surely that then would be responsibility of the landlord and not this tenant?

Teamocil

yoshiyella wrote: »

However, was this key new to the tenant? If so then I would agree but it also may have had dozens of previous owners of the key who as you say misused it.

Surely that then would be responsibility of the landlord and not this tenant?

It might even have been the landlord herself.

phill99

Teamocil wrote: »

Maintenance is the landlord's responsibility anyway.

This is standard BtL landlord behaviour. Of all the things you'd intentionally damage, she thinks you chose your means of entering your home? She should pay up, obviously. She knows this and is trying to weasel out of it.

This is where you are very wrong.


Tenants have a liability to act in a 'tenant like manner'. This was laid down by Lord Denning when he was Master of The Rolls in Warren V Keen. This is what was held:
Lord Denning stated in his judgement:
‘The tenant must take proper care of the place. He must, if he is going away for the winter, turn off the water and empty the boiler. He must clean the chimneys, where necessary, and also the windows. He must mend the electric light when it fuses. He must unstop the sink when it is blocked by his waste. In short, he must do the little jobs about the place which a reasonable tenant would do.
In addition, he must, of course, not damage the house, wilfully or negligently; and he must see his family and guests do not damage it: and if they do, he must repair it.’ and ‘if the house falls into disrepair through fair wear and tear or lapse of time, or for any reason not caused by him, the tenant is not liable to repair it.’

So to my mind, repairing a lock would come within this.

Teamocil

phill99 wrote: »

This is where you are very wrong.


Tenants have a liability to act in a 'tenant like manner'. This was laid down by Lord Denning when he was Master of The Rolls in Warren V Keen. This is what was held:
Lord Denning stated in his judgement:
‘The tenant must take proper care of the place. He must, if he is going away for the winter, turn off the water and empty the boiler. He must clean the chimneys, where necessary, and also the windows. He must mend the electric light when it fuses. He must unstop the sink when it is blocked by his waste. In short, he must do the little jobs about the place which a reasonable tenant would do.
In addition, he must, of course, not damage the house, wilfully or negligently; and he must see his family and guests do not damage it: and if they do, he must repair it.’ and ‘if the house falls into disrepair through fair wear and tear or lapse of time, or for any reason not caused by him, the tenant is not liable to repair it.’

So to my mind, repairing a lock would come within this.

So what repairs wouldn't be covered, to your mind?

It is extremely unlikely that any tenant would intentionally damage their means of getting into their home. The landlord should pay up.