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Call out fee charged due to incorrect provided instructions.
doomfreak777
Posts: 5 Forumite
Hi all,
Writing this on behalf of my girlfriend. She has recently moved to a flat in Essex, which she is renting though an agency.
On move in, there was no hot water in the property. It is an all electric property so hot water is from an immersion tank.
The flat came with a book of instructions on operation of utilities etc. After following the instructions to get the hot water working (I.e. position of certain stop cocks / valves) and going up into the loft to look at the immersion heater itself, we still could not get any hot water out of the taps. We informed the agency, who sent out a plumber the day after.
After doing a bit of digging through the hallway cupboard, plumber found a simple panel with timer and switch for the immersion heater (which was positioned ‘off’, and been this way for a while, since we know the previous tenant who also complained of no hot water). Doh! Unfortunately it was as simple as turning on this switch.
This was overlooked though due to the instructions not even mentioning any sort of panel etc to control the immersion heater. Now she is being asked to foot a £96 call out bill (which she simply does not have due to the extortionate cost of living down South), and after stating that the instructions were incorrect, the agency has come back saying they are under no legal requirement to provide instructions.
Do we have any recourse here at all? I feel like we mostly likely do not. The flat was supplied to us with the hot water turned off and that’s the only avenue I can really imagine would be of any use but legally probably not?
Thanks for your help!
Do we have any recourse here at
Writing this on behalf of my girlfriend. She has recently moved to a flat in Essex, which she is renting though an agency.
On move in, there was no hot water in the property. It is an all electric property so hot water is from an immersion tank.
The flat came with a book of instructions on operation of utilities etc. After following the instructions to get the hot water working (I.e. position of certain stop cocks / valves) and going up into the loft to look at the immersion heater itself, we still could not get any hot water out of the taps. We informed the agency, who sent out a plumber the day after.
After doing a bit of digging through the hallway cupboard, plumber found a simple panel with timer and switch for the immersion heater (which was positioned ‘off’, and been this way for a while, since we know the previous tenant who also complained of no hot water). Doh! Unfortunately it was as simple as turning on this switch.
This was overlooked though due to the instructions not even mentioning any sort of panel etc to control the immersion heater. Now she is being asked to foot a £96 call out bill (which she simply does not have due to the extortionate cost of living down South), and after stating that the instructions were incorrect, the agency has come back saying they are under no legal requirement to provide instructions.
Do we have any recourse here at all? I feel like we mostly likely do not. The flat was supplied to us with the hot water turned off and that’s the only avenue I can really imagine would be of any use but legally probably not?
Thanks for your help!
Do we have any recourse here at
0
Comments
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So - was there another switch for the immerser? Surely she didn't think there was no switch or control for it?0
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Tell them to take it to court and see how far they get. Whether or not they are legally obliged to, they did provide instructions, which were misleading and were the cause of them calling out the plumber in the end.0
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I agree with both the above.
Most adults know that an immersion heater is contriolled by a switch, seperate from the consumer unit, so it would have been logical to simply phone and ask where it is. However, most of us would also realise it should be accessible and not hidden under floorboards, so we'd find it by a process of elimination.
However, by giving instructions that omitted this basic info and not asking the right questions when you 'phoned, the agency have probably dropped themselves in it.
Question is, will you be willing to test this, strain your relationship with them and possibly waste time on a claim for < £100?0 -
The OP says it was in "the hallway cupboard", not under floorboards.Most adults know that an immersion heater is contriolled by a switch, seperate from the consumer unit, so it would have been logical to simply phone and ask where it is. However, most of us would also realise it should be accessible and not hidden under floorboards, so we'd find it by a process of elimination.
A cupboard is a common place to put the switch.0 -
She should refuse to pay. In providing the instruction it was reasonable for her to follow them - I’m sure if she hadn’t and something had gone wrong she would have been ‘liable’
Surely there’s another way of getting hot water than the immersion heater also? If not that’s going to be expensive....I’d thought the immersion was an electric kettle style overuse to a boiler system giving you a quick blast of hot water - perhaps I’m wrong on this but it’s not what I would expect.0 -
Many flats are electric only. In which case it's the only way.0
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I think the agency are at least partly responsible here. They should have asked if you had checked XYZ including 'secret switch'. It was them who called out the plumber , unless you demanded one immediately !Decluttering, 20 mins / day Jan 2024 2/20
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I know electric boilers exist. The fact that they're not popular probably means something.AnotherJoe wrote: »Many flats are electric only. In which case it's the only way.0 -
I'm in two minds on this one. On one hand, they are under no obligation to issue instructions but if they do then they really ought to make sure they are correct. But then on the other hand it really ought to have been something you could figure out for yourselves quite easily.
I doubt you'll get anything but a headache trying to get it back from the landlords agents, so let it lie.(Although I could be wrong, I often am.)0
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