Can my landlord charge me for an electrician call out?

rezn89

Hi,

I received notice from my estate agent that my landlord feels I should be liable for an electrician call out fee, but I wanted to find out whether this is right.

Our washing machine broke (belt went, was making a funny smell) and I turned off the trip switches in order to unplug the appliance from the wall. When I went to turn them back on, the electricity wouldn't go back on. I had to call the landlord directly as no one answered my call at the estate agents office (it was a Sunday). They said that I 'probably damaged the wiring through use of the washing machine' and opted to call an electrician. He informed me that the main trip switch is very stiff and just needed pushing really hard. Otherwise there was no problem.

The landlord is claiming that the call out was due to an electricity fault due to a faulty appliance affecting the electrics, and consequently feels I am liable to pay. Can anyone please advise?

Comms69

Depends- the main issue is the LL didn’t explain you may be liable if the fault is of your causing.

Additionally the problem was a very simple fix; which many tenants would realise.

How much is it?

anselld

Well you seem to have initiated the call-out for a no fault found issue.
It seems fair enough that you should pay.

rezn89

I don't know the cost, the agents haven't told me yet which I felt was odd. Unfortunately, I was at home by myself and I was worried about breaking it. I had never touched the switches before, and pushing it as hard as I could didn't push it back up.

jojo19834

If you knew you had to pay would you have called them?

NinaSwiss

jojo19834 wrote: »

If you knew you had to pay would you have called them?

Sounds to me like OP called the landlord not the electrician.

Landlord then called the electrician.

Bossypants

This is one of those situations where it's unfortunate for you, but I'm struggling to see why the landlord should pay. The switch was working fine, the problem is that you didn't realise how it worked, so someone had to take time out of their day to come and show you. Why should the landlord pay for that? The agents are probably waiting on the electrician's invoice to tell you the cost.

Also, to be honest I am struggling to see why you found it necessary to turn the electricity off just to unplug something in the first place?

G_M

rezn89 wrote: »

Our washing machine
1) when you say 'our' w/m, do you mean you own it?
2) if not and it belongs to the LL, what does your tenancy agreement say about repair/maintenance of the w/m?

broke (belt went, was making a funny smell) and I turned off the trip switches in order to unplug the appliance from the wall.
3) Why not just switch off at the socket or remove the plug?

When I went to turn them back on, the electricity wouldn't go back on.
4) do you mean you could not re-set the trip switch or
5) you re-set the trip switch but the power still did not come on?

I had to call the landlord directly as no one answered my call at the estate agents office (it was a Sunday).
I wonder why!

They said that I 'probably damaged the wiring through use of the washing machine'
Hmm.. seems a pretty premature diagnosis.

and opted to call an electrician.

He
6) who? the landlord or the elecrrician?

informed me that the main trip switch is very stiff and just needed pushing really hard. Otherwise there was no problem.
7) did the electrician comment on the washing machine? Or the smell?
8) after (presumably) re-setting the trip switch, did the elecrician test the w/m?
9) was there actually a fault with the w/m?

The landlord is claiming that the call out was due to an electricity fault due to a faulty appliance affecting the electrics, and consequently feels I am liable to pay. Can anyone please advise?

Please provide more information

rezn89

Thanks for the feedback, BossyPants.I appreciate it and expect you are right. I'm sorry I do not know how to tag people in posts.

G_M - Just replying by number, hope that's ok.
1) I own it.
2) See above.
3) The socket was behind the washing machine under the counter and meant I had to pull the machine out to turn it off. Because the machine had a burning smell I was concerned about doing this with the electricity still switched on.
4 and 5) I learned when the electrician came that what was happening was that I could not reset the trip switch, but what I thought was happening was that I reset it but it was flipping back because it was re-tripping.
6) The landlord opted to call the electrician.
7) Yes, he said the burning smell probably came from the drum and the belt but didn't look at it. He was speaking from experience, I think.
8) No he didn't test it, but he did look at the wall socket and confirmed it was not damaged.
9) The belt had slipped but I did not try and run it again, and have since bought a new washing machine as it was an old machine.

G_M

G_M - Just replying by number, hope that's ok.

No problem - that's how I paint. And bake.
So
* the w/m was yours
* the w/m was (it seems) faulty)
* the trip switch /household electrics were not faulty

On that basis, yes I'd say you are liable.

If you could show/prove that there was a fault with the trip switch/mains electrics, you might have a better claim against the landlord.

rezn89

Thanks for getting back to me. Seems as much - I had already emailed the agency to contest on grounds of there being a fault (as the property was not danaged) so I'll wait to hear back but looks like I'll have to pay up. It's unfortunate, but lesson learned!