rent from letting Agent - do i get re-imbursed by agent for a fault ?

StuieUK34

Hey all,
Ask the question for my young one...

She rents a flat which is fully managed by a letting agent (letting agents with several branches)
reported a fault with the door (handle/lock system not performing well) prior to event, no immediate fix done.
4 days later, system fails so she cant get into the property.
No emergency number for letting agent, just an email address to reach out to.
After an 90mins, call placed with local locksmith who arrive within 10 mins.
At same time as locksmith arrives, she gets call from letting agent.

Letting agent advises to have locksmith do his thing, and for her to get a receipt and send it in for re-imbursement.

Its been a week since submitting the receipt, and no refund.  Reaching out to the letting agent, they say "waiting to hear back from the landlord"....
Question is:
As the agreement is between the letting agency and my daughter, should it be the case of the agency refunds her a they authorised the work to be done, and then its down to the letting agent to seek their costs from the landlord ?

Gut feeling is letting agent trying to pull a fast one.
Being open:  I want to go straight in with the letter providing the facts, givng them until Weds next week to make payment.  Same letting stating at the bottom it will be a "letter before action"

May seem fast paced, but to put in context:  fault reported, no action taken.
Fault occured, unable to access property.  available funds until end of month now spent on locksmith, technically leaving £0 for general living until payday.

user1977

StuieUK34 said:

As the agreement is between the letting agency and my daughter

Is it? I would have thought it more likely to be between the landlord and tenant, even if it was the landlord's agent doing everything on behalf of the landlord. Ultimately it's the landlord who is responsible.

FlorayG

When I used to use an agent, it said in our agreement that the agent would pay out up to £X if needed and take that amount from the next due rent - so it may be that they will refund your daughter when she pays next month's rent. You should ask them that.
If the amount is over £x, the work can't be done until the landlord agrees

Mark_d

It's slightly odd that a professional property management agent doesn't have an emergency phone number.  What should the the tenant do if there was a water leak etc?  It sounds to me that the agent is little more than an interface between landlord and tenant.
Does the lease note the letting agent as the landlord?  It sounds to me that the letting agent gave advice to your young one - this is not the same as approving the work/costs.
I don't feel that the handle/lock not performing well requires immediate action - so landlord not at fault here.
I feel you are being unreasonable by expecting re-imbursement within a week.
A "letter before action" requiring less than a week to make payment, will be laughed at by anyone who sees it.  It would only serve to sour the relationship with the landlord.

deannagone

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the repair situation, expecting the LA to get agreement from the LL to pay the bill, and the bill to be paid within one week or even two weeks is completely unreasonable.  Particularly as, legally, the LL/LA had no authorised the repair work.  

Was there no where else your daughter could go til the morning?  Did she get quotes for the repair and go for the cheapest one (a lot of emergency lock repair/replacement places charge enormous amounts for repairs when there are actually easier ways to get a door unlocked if they know what they are doing - you don't need to drill the lock if you know what you are doing).  It could even be that a spray of oil into the lock could have allowed the key to work.

I realise that you feel this situation shouldn't have happened at all as a repair need had already been reported and not complied with.  However, I am afraid legally, your daughter is on quite dodgy grounds in asking for almost immediate refund of the repair costs that weren't even authorised.  Even if they weren't authorised because the LA provided no 24 hour contact number. 

StuieUK34

noted.

cheers for info.
I figured a week seemed reasonable, just like when we get parking tickets, in that if u dont pay within 2 weeks, the fine goes up, etc etc .

And yes, very odd that a letting agent with several branches has no emergency number (guess the email setup means someone on call for the agents monitors the mail out of hours).

I dont have a copy of the lease, hence the thread being a question:
Question being:  if the letting agent authorises remedial works to be done, is it them who re-imburse ?
(figured if the property is fully managed by the letting agent, surely the tenant only deals with the letting agent, which includes the repairs)
**note:  the Letting Agent Authorised the use of the locksmith.
****  The lock wasnt drilled:  (Non-destructive entry) / Gearbox failure in lock system through fatigue), £225 total fee.

user1977

The agent is (as the name suggests) merely the agent of the landlord, so as above, it's the landlord who is legally responsible in matters with the tenant.

theartfullodger

Tenant needs to take action, not you 

Which country? E.g. NI, Wales...?

Who is named as landlord in her tenancy agreement? That's who to take action against. Yes I realise all dealings & paperworks & payments very probably via agent. (been Landlord 20+ years btw..). btw there is no requirement for agent or landlord to have emergency contacts for tenants to use. (Had she asked for one??)

However if really keen to go after agent go through agent's complaints process then if still not sorted then lettings agent redress scheme... See....
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/letting_agent_redress_schemes

- me, I'd go direct to landlord.  If she has no address for him suggest gov.uk land registry search for property, £3 only, gets address and name of property owner.. (may not be landlord... yes, bonkers I know..)
https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

35har1old

theartfullodger said:

Tenant needs to take action, not you 

Which country? E.g. NI, Wales...?

Who is named as landlord in her tenancy agreement? That's who to take action against. Yes I realise all dealings & paperworks & payments very probably via agent. (been Landlord 20+ years btw..). btw there is no requirement for agent or landlord to have emergency contacts for tenants to use. (Had she asked for one??)

However if really keen to go after agent go through agent's complaints process then if still not sorted then lettings agent redress scheme... See....
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/letting_agent_redress_schemes

- me, I'd go direct to landlord.  If she has no address for him suggest gov.uk land registry search for property, £3 only, gets address and name of property owner.. (may not be landlord... yes, bonkers I know..)
https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

The landlords address should be on the tenancy agreement