Can I claim for compensation as a renter for repair taking longer than two weeks?

turnrr

It took exactly a month for our broken shower to be fixed, which was the only shower in the rented flat. Then we had quite severe issues with mould, it took a month again for them to give us a new heater to deal with the mould, then our electricity bills tripled as we tried to combat the mould on our own, they refused to even reply about the mould throughout the whole tenancy.

This was in England.

How can I make this case, should I contact the renting company directly first, I expect them to deny everything, what are the next steps after this?

Any advice much appreciated !

lincroft1710

Are you saying you have moved out of this rental?

turnrr

lincroft1710 said:

Are you saying you have moved out of this rental?

Yes

vitaweat

turnrr said:

It took exactly a month for our broken shower to be fixed, which was the only shower in the rented flat. Then we had quite severe issues with mould, it took a month again for them to give us a new heater to deal with the mould, then our electricity bills tripled as we tried to combat the mould on our own, they refused to even reply about the mould throughout the whole tenancy.

This was in England.

How can I make this case, should I contact the renting company directly first, I expect them to deny everything, what are the next steps after this?

Any advice much appreciated !

If you have a quantifiable loss (e.g. increased electric bill) you can sue to have that amount made good.

Don't imagine you'll get rich off the back of this with millions in compensation though and it is a massive PITA.

lincroft1710

I would just forget about this. You would only have a claim for quantifiable losses, and it would be hard to prove that you acted reasonably in your attempt to cure the mould situation if it resulted in your electricity bills tripling. What was the amount of the increased electricity bill?

macman

A heater won't cure mould: improved ventilation will prevent it's occurrence. And it is not possible that your electricity bill tripled purely as a result.
Mould in a bathroom, 9 times out of 10, results from lack of ventilation,  so it's not resolvable just by the landlord, unless there is no window or fan, or they don't open or work.
Your claim is against the landlord, as specified in your tenancy agreement, not 'the renting company' (if by that you mean a letting agent).
Your compo, if you succeed,  will be limited to your actual quantifiable losses, which will be very small based on what you have told us. Better to have taken this up with your local EH after he failed to fix it in the first week or so.

turnrr

macman said:

A heater won't cure mould: improved ventilation will prevent it's occurrence. And it is not possible that your electricity bill tripled purely as a result.
Mould in a bathroom, 9 times out of 10, results from lack of ventilation,  so it's not resolvable just by the landlord, unless there is no window or fan, or they don't open or work.
Your claim is against the landlord, as specified in your tenancy agreement, not 'the renting company' (if by that you mean a letting agent).
Your compo, if you succeed,  will be limited to your actual quantifiable losses, which will be very small based on what you have told us. Better to have taken this up with your local EH after he failed to fix it in the first week or so.

The mould wasn't in the bathroom, it was in the kitchen and bedroom, it really seemed like structural mould, not from ventilation. The cost of the electricity bill was from keeping a dehumidifier and multiple heaters on during the day and night.
Another forum poster advised looking into the MCOL/N1 paper form. Is pursuing all of this a waste of time if my aim is getting my losses back or close?

Thrugelmir

Wturnrr said:

It took exactly a month for our broken shower to be fixed, which was the only shower in the rented flat. 

When you own your own property you try finding tradespeople at short notice! Unfortunately they don't sit around waiting for work. 

[Deleted User]

Please can you very clearly list your actual losses and anything else you might be claiming for and put a value on everything. It surely depends on the figures as to whether it is a waste of time (although I am 99% sure that it is).

turnrr

brett19852010 said:

Please can you very clearly list your actual losses and anything else you might be claiming for and put a value on everything. It surely depends on the figures as to whether it is a waste of time (although I am 99% sure that it is).

the regular bill was around £50 monthly, then once the mould appeared it changed to £140, then £70.

turnrr

sorry and then lastly a monthly bill of £200