Deposit advice - Updated 10.06.08

sexki11en

Received an e mail from the LA today see below:

Sexki11en
Mrs LL will be visiting the flat shortly, so we will contact you again after her visit.
Regards
LA

Short & sweet eh? My betting is the LL doesn't know we're threatening her with court action. Maybe as soon as she does, attitudes might change? Anyway, amazing how they could contact the LL for this yet when I asked about the copy of the receipt for the sofa, she was on holiday!!!

Tori_Bellatrix

Be interesting to see what the LL comes back with .. Maybe she needs to 'reassess' the damage ... either way, keep to the plan. Once you know the score from the LL, decide how much you are prepared to offer (if any), send an LBA asking for the balance back and then proceed with action if a suitable solution is not forthcoming ...

sexki11en

So on your guys advice I phoned the Sofa shop to ask a few things.

The first interesting thing they told me is that LL is making a claim on her insurance for the sofa (as well as charging us!)

Second interesting thing is that the sofa wasn't new in Aug 05, it was 14th September 2004. Which by my reckoning means we only have to pay the equivalent of the remaining 16 months of the 5 year guarantee, not half like the LA were telling us.

The sofa on the website is same model but different fabric. Does anyone know if she can insist on exactly the same fabric when theres a half price option for the same model, same colour just different fabric?

We've worked out the costs for all avenues as follows (bear in mind they were telling us to start with it would cost us around £650

New covers: £151.97
New sofa (original fabric) £279.76
New sofa (special offer on web) £159.73

All a bit different to the money they are trying to claim. These are not mistakes, they are lying through their teeth. They would have been able to give us a copy of the original receipt from the beginning as the shop has a copy but says the LA said they didn't need a copy! They obviously thought we would be a soft touch hey?

tbs624

sexki11en wrote: »

So on your guys advice I phoned the Sofa shop to ask a few things.

The first interesting thing they told me is that LL is making a claim on her insurance for the sofa (as well as charging us!)

Giving the LL the benefit of the doubt , it could be that s/he has started on that route because tthe LA/LL thinks you're not going to pay up but it would clearly be fraudulent to pursue it via the insurance company as well as seeking reimbursement from you. She also will in all probability have found that pet damage is excluded, evenif she has accidental damage cover as a top-up.

sexki11en wrote: »

The sofa on the website is same model but different fabric. Does anyone know if she can insist on exactly the same fabric when theres a half price option for the same model, same colour just different fabric?

I think you have to be prepared to replace with the same as it's currently available - that would be "reasonable" IMO. The LA/LL clearly aren't, from what you say, but as I mentioned before - just in case you have to go to court - it helps if you can be seen to be on the right side of "reasonable" in your own dealings.

puddy

sexki11en wrote: »

So on your guys advice I phoned the Sofa shop to ask a few things.

The first interesting thing they told me is that LL is making a claim on her insurance for the sofa (as well as charging us!)

Second interesting thing is that the sofa wasn't new in Aug 05, it was 14th September 2004. Which by my reckoning means we only have to pay the equivalent of the remaining 16 months of the 5 year guarantee, not half like the LA were telling us.

The sofa on the website is same model but different fabric. Does anyone know if she can insist on exactly the same fabric when theres a half price option for the same model, same colour just different fabric?

We've worked out the costs for all avenues as follows (bear in mind they were telling us to start with it would cost us around £650

New covers: £151.97
New sofa (original fabric) £279.76
New sofa (special offer on web) £159.73

All a bit different to the money they are trying to claim. These are not mistakes, they are lying through their teeth. They would have been able to give us a copy of the original receipt from the beginning as the shop has a copy but says the LA said they didn't need a copy! They obviously thought we would be a soft touch hey?

good work, how can she claim on insurance and charge you for this as well???

zebulon

sexki11en wrote: »

They would have been able to give us a copy of the original receipt from the beginning as the shop has a copy but says the LA said they didn't need a copy! They obviously thought we would be a soft touch hey?

I wonder if you could you get a copy from the shop directly ? did you ask?

sexki11en

zebulon wrote: »

I wonder if you could you get a copy from the shop directly ? did you ask?

I didn't but I will on Tuesday. Didn't want to push my luck!

sexki11en

tbs624 wrote: »

Giving the LL the benefit of the doubt , it could be that s/he has started on that route because tthe LA/LL thinks you're not going to pay up but it would clearly be fraudulent to pursue it via the insurance company as well as seeking reimbursement from you. She also will in all probability have found that pet damage is excluded, evenif she has accidental damage cover as a top-up.


I think you have to be prepared to replace with the same as it's currently available - that would be "reasonable" IMO. The LA/LL clearly aren't, from what you say, but as I mentioned before - just in case you have to go to court - it helps if you can be seen to be on the right side of "reasonable" in your own dealings.

Thanks for that, I didn't think so but had to ask! Of course, we're hoping it will just be covers but wanted to cover all bases.

No word from the LA yet (no surprises there) but they are fully aware they have until tomorrow to gewt all the required documents over to me or we'll submit court papers.

sexki11en

See below a response by e mail from the LA today


Dear Sexki11en
We now have another quote for the correct replacement sofa covers of
?569.90

Here are the itemised deductions

The cost of cleaning will be ?70
The cost of carpet cleaning about ?70
Contribution to cost of replacement sofa covers ?342.00 based on the Rent
Service depreciation guides taking into account age, style, quality,
lifespan and intended use of the covers and also the estimate of a 12 year
lifespan from Sofa workshop.
Cost of correcting latent defects (ie fleas ?94) if the Landlord requests
this after her visit.

Our cleaning company will be sent in on 29th May if you have not been able
to arrange for your cleaners to return the property to the condition it was
supplied to you.

Regrds
LA

I will send a response to this tonight. We STILL have no receipt for the sofa, nor a copy of the check out inventory which we have now requested twice.

Also, I was under the impression that they could only charge us for the remainder of the guarantee of the sofa - not expected lifespan . Am I right here or can they charge us for the 12 year expected life? All replies and comments on any aspect of the e mail above gratefully accepted so I can sit down tonight and construct an e mail as the dealine we originally gave them before we took it further was tomorrow. Also I have not yet informed them that I know the sofa was purchased in 2004 - not 2005 as they have told us.

Sk x

Tori_Bellatrix

As far as I am aware they can only charge you for the amount of years left for the usage of the sofa (although cat scratches doesn't impede it's use as a sofa .. :rolleyes:)

What you need to do now is write one final letter before action which confirms what you are proposing to offer towards settlement ... taking into account any monies you have already spent. Itemise on the letter what you do and don't agree with and what you are prepared to offer in settlement. By all means as this stage, mention what you have found out about the sofa costs.

You need to be consise, precise and to the point but also show that you are looking for an amicable agreement (a judge will want to see that you tried to settle before taking action). Give them a final deadline to submit any receipts and reply to you. Once you reach that deadline and things have not reached a satisfactory ending that you take further action via the courts without any further communication to them - you can advise them of this if you letter (I know my solicitor did when he wrote to my ex-LL)