Lodger question (damage) - solved

TranceNRG

Hi everyone,

I'm after a bit of advice from landlords here.

We’ve had a lodger in one of our rooms for 2 years and he’s moving out end of this month. Before we rented out the room, we did a complete refurbishment of the house the room was almost brand new with brand new carpet. We got a new bed, new Silentnight mattress and a mattress protector. He has been a pretty good lodger and I can’t see any damage on walls or carpet. However few months ago when I was talking to him one day (he was in his room and changing bed sheets), I noticed there was quite a big patch (brown/reddish stain between 10-20cm wide) on the mattress protector (right in the middle of the bed). He quickly put a sheet over it probably to cover it. I didn’t want to ask him about it at the time.

Now that he’s leaving and we have a new lodger moving in on the same day, I’d need to check it out. I am sure whatever caused the patch has gone through the mattress protector and is on the mattress as well. I think it’s not nice for the new lodger having a mattress with a big patch on it. We are wondering what to do. I don’t think a big patch is covered under ‘fair wear and tear’. Should we ask the lodger some money towards replacing the mattress (I think it was £300-400 when we bought it)? We can take it out of his deposit. Perhaps we should take half the money from him (£200) and we pay the the rest? Or should we just take the hit since he’s been a pretty good lodger so far? Should we just replace the mattress protector?

What would you do in this situation?

Thank you.

propertyrental

What do you mean by 'patch'? That sounds like it was torn and repaired....?

Or do you mean a stain?

My instinct is that a stain on a mattress protector is wear and tear - after all, that's what the protector is there for! 

If the mattress itself is stained, that would (in my view) be different.  But you can't claim for 'betterment'. The mattress is 2 years old. Average mattress life is,,, 8 years? So it is 1/4 of the way through its normal life. At most you could claim 3/4 the cost of a replacement mattress.

I'd just buy a new protector for the new lodger.

TranceNRG

Yeah it's a stain and quite a big one (more than 10cm wide from what I remember). This was most likely from dropping some liquid and not sweat or anything. The rest of the mattress protector looked completely white.
If it's just the mattress protector, we wouldn't care and would replace it as they are not expensive but I'd be surprised it hasn't stained the mattress as well. Not sure if the new lodger would be happy with a mattress with a big brown/reddish patch in the middle of the mattress (that otherwise looks new). 

Do you think asking for half of the cost of the mattress is reasonable? 

elsien

Turn the mattress over? 

saajan_12

Do you know that it has indeed gone through the mattress protector - as that's its job. 

In terms of the turnaround time, I'd just buy a new protector ahead of time, and if it turns out the mattress is also very bad then arrange for that some time after the move. I don't think its terrible for the new tenant for a short period with a good quality protector between them and the mattress. 

In terms of the deposit, I wouldn't charge for the mattress protector - they have a very short lifespan, its somewhat there to catch stains so a higher assumed wear & tear, and overall just relatively cheap to be worth arguing over. I would charge a depreciated cost of the mattress IF it is indeed badly stained. You don't know that it is yet. 

TranceNRG

I guess we can (if it hasn't gone through the whole mattress - if he spilt some drink).

The fundamental question is, should he pay for some 'damage' if he's spilt some liquid as it was a brand new mattress and it's not wear and tear ? This is a question for landlords here.

TranceNRG

saajan_12 said:

Do you know that it has indeed gone through the mattress protector - as that's its job. 

In terms of the turnaround time, I'd just buy a new protector ahead of time, and if it turns out the mattress is also very bad then arrange for that some time after the move. I don't think its terrible for the new tenant for a short period with a good quality protector between them and the mattress. 

In terms of the deposit, I wouldn't charge for the mattress protector - they have a very short lifespan, its somewhat there to catch stains so a higher assumed wear & tear, and overall just relatively cheap to be worth arguing over. I would charge a depreciated cost of the mattress IF it is indeed badly stained. You don't know that it is yet. 

Thanks. Yes we'll buy a mattress protector and if the mattress has a bad stain on it then worry about it then. We are probably worrying too much

propertyrental

TranceNRG said:

....

The fundamental question is, should he pay for some 'damage' if he's spilt some liquid as it was a brand new mattress and it's not wear and tear ? This is a question for landlords here.

See my answer above.

TranceNRG

propertyrental said:

TranceNRG said:

....

The fundamental question is, should he pay for some 'damage' if he's spilt some liquid as it was a brand new mattress and it's not wear and tear ? This is a question for landlords here.

See my answer above.

Thanks. We weren't going to charge the full amount anyway and at most half of the cost. But we'll order a new mattress protector (not going to charge him for that) and go from there. Maybe the mattress is not stained.

theartfullodger

What does the longer agreement state about deposit, please?  Without knowing that, can't really comment.  Can't read it from here.

I'd try and negotiate... see how it goes....

TranceNRG

theartfullodger said:

What does the longer agreement state about deposit, please?  Without knowing that, can't really comment.  Can't read it from here.

I'd try and negotiate... see how it goes....

We use a standard lodgers agreement and it said the room should be handed back in the state it was found in, fair wear and tear accepted. There was also a list of items so it shows the mattress is brand new.