Replacement Mattress

HarryGray

Hi all, 
We have just about to get out of our rental. When we moved in the mattress left by the LL was stained and clearly very used, it was also unbelievably uncomfortable. We bought our own mattress and gave the LL mattress to the charity shop.

We are now taking our mattress to our next house. The mattress that was originally in the rental has now been discontinued and was £167 new. My question is, should I bother buying a mattress for this rental and spending £50 on it, or shall I just accept the deduction in deposit because the LL will probably deduct it anyway given its not the same mattress/depreciation we shouldn't be charged £167?

Thanks
Harry

AdrianC

They're due the portion of the cost for the remaining life of the mattress. Which, by the sound of it, is just about zero.

Herbalus

On the other hand, you disposed of somebody else’s possession without their permission, so you need to replace it. If the rental came with a mattress you need to leave a mattress.

for an easy life you could probably just accept the deduction, as then replacing the mattress is the landlords task. But to be certain how much you’ll spend on it, I’d replace it myself.

numbercruncher8

If you don't have evidence, or this was not noted on the moving in notes, or the issue was not raised with the landlord before it is the simplest course of action to just buy one for £50.

On the other hand if they OK'd the fact that the existing one was end of life and agreed to the disposal then there may not be a deduction at all, especially if you are on good terms.

Soot2006

101 free/super cheap mattresses on Facebook Marketplace.

greatcrested

You should always get the LL's consent before disposing if his possessions!

Having said that, the consentpt f 'betterment' means the LL cannot claim for a brand new mattress to replace an old tatty one at the end of its life, so

* who was the mattress descibed in the inventory?

If it was as you describe it above, then clearly it was already near the end of its life so a claim of perhaps one year's use out of 10 might be allowable (ie 1/10th of £167 = £16.70)

On the other hand if the inventory said "new mattress", or just "one mattress" there is potential for disagreement over the mattress's original condition and outstanding life-span.

MovingForwards

Just get a cheap / free one and stick that on the bed. It's what I did on the first rental.

pinkshoes

I'd just put a post on FB asking if anyone is getting rid of a double mattress. That way you can take yours and leave a replacement that is the same condition as the one that was there originally. 

GHolmesAdmin

I distinctly remember hauling a disgusting mattress down to the cellar in one bedsit I rented, using mine, then hauling the rancid one back when I left, I'm shuddering at the memory, I'm sure that mattress lived in the cellar except between tenants.

need_an_answer

As others have said you need to leave something or else you do invite a bill from the LL.
Should the issue then need to be adjudicated via the deposit services you can at least then claim you left a suitable mattress in the place of the one you disposed of....if you leave nothing then you do open up the potential for the LL to name their price for the deduction.

saajan_12

HarryGray said:

We bought our own mattress and gave the LL mattress to the charity shop..We are now taking our mattress to our next house. 

This is inherently unreasonable - you shouldn't have disposed of the LL's property without permission, and open yourself up to covering the LL's resulting loss. However the age of the exisitng mattress does mean the value of the LL's claim is small. You could: 
- leave your current mattress there.
- replace the LL's mattress with another 2nd hand one in similar condion
- Pay the depreciated value of the LL's mattress. 
You know the cost of the first two, so there's some certainty there, so for the 3rd you could ask the LL what the depreciated value would be - they can't make up a high number, but they could clarify when they bought it so you can decide which is cheapest. A mattress can get stained within the first year and its personal choice whether you wanted to sleep on it, but that doesn't mean it didn't still have years of life before the springs etc actually wore out, and could have been used with a mattress cover. 

Find out (a) when the LL bought the mattress and (b) what the expected lifespan was (might be a guess). Then calculate (100% - a / b ) x £167.