Deposit dispute: Sofa wear & tear

jacklsmith

Hey all! New member looking for a sense check before I escalate this.

We've had a few standard deductions from our deposit after a tenancy, of of which feels pretty fair (some of the above-average damage I even listed to help out before we left)

The biggest charge however feels totally unfair, and the landlord is refusing to budge. He's quoted £600 for a full material replacement for 3 big sofa cushions. However, I feel this falls under wear and tear that we fully aren't responsible for because of the following reasons:

• He's stated in writing this sofa is 4+ years old, and was used originally by this family, and then the previous tenants. We simply used this sofa (in a totally normal way) for just the one year of our tenancy.
• The material tear damage is all focused to the corners of the cushions that were placed at the bottom, not visible as they were face down on the sofa, and then covered even more by our own smaller cushions. We only became aware of the tears right at the end as they were being professionally cleaned, so couldn't let him know as soon as the damage visibly appeared.
• Ultimately this feels like bad timing for us. The strain on the corners certainly begun straightaway with the previous 3 years of use, and then happened to literally snap during our year of use. I even offered to pay 25% of the bill (considering we had the sofa for 25% of its "life"), but he wouldn't accept the middle ground.

Does this sound like I'm in the right here? And would win a case with Deposit Protection?

I've attached the photos in the original inventory, and then the photos of the tears in the check-out inventory. Just replace the [DOT]s with actual dots.

Original:
d[DOT]pr/i/XOCail

Damage:
d[DOT]pr/i/6vJGst

Any opinions welcome :beer:

AdrianC

jacklsmith wrote: »

Original:
d.pr/i/XOCail

Damage:
d.pr/i/6vJGst

Just take it to arbitration. The worst that can happen is they agree that your landlord is right, and award him what he's currently asking (...which they won't do, because he's taking no account of the life expectancy of the sofa).

Frankly, the difference between those before and after pics does look like excessive wear for one year. I don't know what the arbitrators would give as a reasonable life expectancy for sofa cushions - but if we say they have a ten year life expectancy, then you owe 60% of the value of the cushions - the landlord has lost six years of the ten year expected life. If we say they have a five year life expectancy, then you owe 20% - one year of the five. If we go with the £600 full value, that's £360 or £120.

But I'd be surprised if the cushions really were £600 full value - a complete new sofa would be cheaper.

lurkylurky

Could you ask where they bought the sofa then look on eBay for something similar and/or ask the shop how much it cost new. £600 seems excessive.

[Deleted User]

Do you think it was 4 years old? I know I've been told things in rental properties were much newer than you could easily see they actually were.

It is not unusual for fabric to be ok, but suddenly tear because of age, just reached the point of fibre degradation at which this can happen.It doesn't always have anything to do with 'excessive wear' just age.

But again, I'd say in the arbitration documents that the sofa wasn't of superior quality, of undetermined age, had a limited life span. The fibres broke down while in your use but could have been breaking down before this because of their age and previous use. This does not mean you should pay for a complete replacement of the sofa cushions. If nothing else, you should not be paying for betterment.

Another way of doing this (which I have done) is getting some matching fabric and making some cushions yourself, if you are lucky enough to find a matching fabric.

But I suspect you are better off going to arbitration, you shouldn't have to pay £600 for new cushion covers, that's way too excessive.

fishpond

There are 2 sides to every story. You damaged it, man up and pay for it.

[Deleted User]

Challenge it all the way through arbitration, nothing to lose. I'd say it looks like a cheap sofa anyway and clearly not of good quality and that doesn't appear to be deliberate or neglectful damage.

I've rented half a dozen houses and I never get a furnished property for this reason, too much chance of a claim for furnishings not being exactly as they were when you moved in. So far I've only lost £200 of deposit for a badly stained carpet in my kids bedroom that I accepted (and negotiated the price).

Mutton_Geoff

Just take them to someone local with a sewing machine and stitch them back together. Did you spend a year having pillow fights?

kinger101

The photos seem to be comparing apples with oranges. I cannot determine if the cushions shown in the second set are shown in the first. At the very least, the same level of detail isn't present in set 1.

Your story doesn't quite stack up though, as even Mr. Magoo would have spotted that damage, so to claim you hadn't previously noticed makes me think you're telling porkies.

Either way, it looked like a cheap sofa near the end of its life* in the first set of photos, and the landlord is clearly being silly expect £600. Just dispute it (but try to make yourself sound more credible).

*I've seen nicer ones in skips and on the front lawns of not so nice housing estates.

Jarviscocker

No way is the damage from you sitting on the sofa.

Skiddaw1

Jarviscocker wrote: »

No way is the damage from you sitting on the sofa.

Actually.... I'm with deannatrois on that one. Cheap cushions can split quite easily once they reach the 'fabric fatigue' stage.



If it isn't too late, I'd be tempted to do what Mutton Geoff suggested and ask a local tailor outfit to repair them for you. Certainly wouldn't cost £600!

Paully28

How on earth have you done that much damage in a year? However, I think £600 is excessive as you could buy a new sofa for that, and definitely buy a sofa of that age prior to you moving in for less than that. Go to arbitration.