Am I required to pay £120 to my landlord for a new hob?

rarahsus

My partner and I have rented a property for just over a year now, when we moved in there was a functional hob however it was worn and not a really quality brand just standard/cheap. We took good care of the whole property including the hob. Unfortunately , Just before our tenancy ended we were cleaning the hob in a normal , gentle manner and the dial knob snapped off with a light touch. The landlord would now like to charge us £120, stating that this is "toward the cost of repair to hob knob". Looking online at the same model we have found the hob for just £99 brand new. We would suggest that the hob was old and cheap and therefore would have broken soon anyway and were just unfortunate to be the one to break it as it became weak. Is this not be expected, does it not count as general wear and tear? Seems like the landlord can just buy cheap stuff when it breaks get it replaced and never have to invest any money into the upkeep of their property. Even if it was fair to charge us because we broke it by being reckless, buying a brand new hob to replace a used hob would mean it was better condition than when we arrived. Any advice or thoughts?

[Deleted User]

Only a professional looking at the hob would be able to advise on whether the apparatus was worn in the first place.
However, I do think you may be getting a bit carried away. The hob dials in my rental property are unbranded/cheap and still working after 20 years with heavy tenant use.

anselld

"Betterment", ie new for old is not allowed.  If a replacement hob is needed only a portion can be claimed based on the age and condition of the old hob.

If the hob can be repaired by replacing the knob then that should be done rather than replacing the whole hob.

If the L continues to be unreasonable then dispute via the relevant protection scheme.

greatcrested

My instinct is that this is damage rather than fair wear and tear, but of course the precise details of how it happened would be determined by a court (should it go that far).

Having said that

* can it be fixed by a replacement knob? If so how much is a replacement knob (plus labour)?

* if the knob cannot be replaced, a new hob may be required. Remember on top of the price of the hob (£99?) there is potentially a delivery charge and/or a fitting cost (gas engineer or electrician?).

* 'betterment' applies if a new hob is purchased. If the hob had an expected lifespan of, say,12 years, and was, say, 9 years old when the knob broke, then the LL can only claim 1/4 of the price of a replacement hob

Petriix

It's highly debatable what the expected lifespan of a hob should be. It would be a reasonable argument to suggest that, if it is outside warranty then it could be expected to fail at any time. If it was brand new then the faulty knob should be replaced by the manufacturer.

I would challenge the landlord to provide proof of the age and cost of the hob with a receipt for the purchase and/or installation. Depending on the response I would then suggest that they make a claim under warranty or accept that it was outside its expected life. At most you could agree to cover a portion of the repair or replacement cost commensurate with the age of the hob. 

CheesyWiggles

Every hob we’ve used, in every house we’ve rented has had a knob or two break on it. Perhaps we’re careless, though I just don’t think the quality in these products is what it once was.

There are websites where you can buy replacements knobs for hobs. Sometimes they’re generic, sometimes like for like replacements. Rarely more than £20 though. That’s the right way to go.

Petriix

You can normally buy a whole pack of hob knobs for around £1.

MalMonroe

Petriix said:

You can normally buy a whole pack of hob knobs for around £1.

I think you mean Hobnobs?

MalMonroe

No, this landlord is just being horrible. You shouldn't be charged for replacing the hob or the hob knobs either. (Can't you just stick it together with superglue?) 

Elmer_BeFuddled

Petriix said:

You can normally buy a whole pack of hob knobs for around £1.

Think you've got the wrong hob knobs!

saajan_12

G

Petriix said:

It's highly debatable what the expected lifespan of a hob should be. It would be a reasonable argument to suggest that, if it is outside warranty then it could be expected to fail at any time. If it was brand new then the faulty knob should be replaced by the manufacturer.

I would challenge the landlord to provide proof of the age and cost of the hob with a receipt for the purchase and/or installation. Depending on the response I would then suggest that they make a claim under warranty or accept that it was outside its expected life. At most you could agree to cover a portion of the repair or replacement cost commensurate with the age of the hob. 

Rubbish. 
Any product CAN break at any time, there isn't a switch on the day after the warranty runs out but its ridiculous to say that the expected lifespan is equivalent to the length of the warranty. There will be variation in each item in a batch, usually with some distribution curve. Manufacturers aren't in the business of frequently supplying things twice, so would usually only give a warranty for a short period over which the probability of the product breaking is very low. If they gave a warranty for the expected (ie average) lifespan then ~50% of products would break within warranty.

As for demanding receipts, the landlord doesn't necessarily have to provide receipts of the purchase to you . It's up to them how they demonstrate the damages - this could be a proportion of the remaining useful life, based on proving the age and replacement cost, or it could be the cost of a second hand cooker in similar condition / spec. The original cost is irrelevant.