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Received a bill from Council for repair to boiler


axil23

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I was away for a holiday and had given my tenant all the contact details in case I was unreachable but he instead went to the council who sent someone out to repair the boiler and then sent me a £500 bill. I have a person on board who I pay a Annual Maintainance charge to so he would have fixed it for free.

I am now liable for this or shall I now take this up with the council?

Then I got a call from the council that the boiler has broken down again so now I have to call another plumber out as mine is away for holiday. I have asked them to wait for a week but they want the details of the plumber by tomorrow. What are my legal rights on this? Can I insist that they wait till my plumber is back in 10 days? Its the summer so I guess the central heating is not a must. They have a electrical shower.

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Guest caravanj

Why do the council keep getting involved, what the hell's it got to do with them?

I'd give your tenant a written warning about not following your instructions & in the meantime refuse to pay the council.

Your tenant cannot demand immediate attention, the law says that you must fix a problem in a reasonable time & if your plumber is away for a few days then they can wait. Also I'd insist that whoever the council got in came & fixed it for free if it's only a short while since it was fixed the last time.

I'd just give your T a Section 21 notice & get rid. They sound like trouble.

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Have you paid the bill?? If not i would send it back to the council stating you did not instruct the contractor and enclose details of the maintenance contract you have in place and inform them the that the tenant was given your contact details for emergencies. Also tell them if they try to enforce payment you will serve notice on the tenant fore-with.

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We had a similar thing last Friday, we were on Dartmoor in the Caravan on a short break ,one of our tenants phoned to say the main sewer was blocked (a known fault ,the pipe has sunk and is not running to a fall) I told her to phone the council who are responsible for the drain and unblock it free of charge ,unfortunately she phoned Wessex Water who came out and water jetted the drain and saddled me with a £114 bill.

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Have you paid the bill?? If not i would send it back to the council stating you did not instruct the contractor and enclose details of the maintenance contract you have in place and inform them the that the tenant was given your contact details for emergencies. Also tell them if they try to enforce payment you will serve notice on the tenant fore-with.

Great to see you on here Grampa smile.gif

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The Council have no authority to proceed with any repairs without authorisation from the Landlord UNLESS of course it is in the AST contract you may have with the Council.

If you have no contract you are not liable.....it's as simple as that and not only that a £500 repair bill for a boiler repair is ridiculous!

If it was as bad as that then the option for a total replacement boiler would have been considered wouldn't it?

Mel.

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The Council have no authority to proceed with any repairs without authorisation from the Landlord UNLESS of course it is in the AST contract you may have with the Council.

If you have no contract you are not liable.....it's as simple as that and not only that a £500 repair bill for a boiler repair is ridiculous!

If it was as bad as that then the option for a total replacement boiler would have been considered wouldn't it?

Mel.

They said that they tried to contact me but naturally my phone was off as I was away. But the tenant knew to call my employee who he has met tons of times before. So the council are saying that they had no choice as there were kids in the house.

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Guest caravanj

They said that they tried to contact me but naturally my phone was off as I was away. But the tenant knew to call my employee who he has met tons of times before. So the council are saying that they had no choice as there were kids in the house.

Well it comes back to your T who didn't follow your instructions.

I'd get an estimate from your plumber for what he would have charged & then bill your T for the excess amount.

If the T doesn't agree to pay then Section 21 the idiot.

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The council cant just turn up and do a repair of any kind unless they have issued an enforcmeent notice and the only notice I am aware of at present is an Emergency Remedial Action Notice pursuant to the Housing Act 2004, whereby there must to be a category 1 hazard using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. A defective boiler in May wouldnt be a cat 1 hazard unless it supplies hot water, but again this can be provided on a temp measure by other means.

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The council cant just turn up and do a repair of any kind unless they have issued an enforcmeent notice and the only notice I am aware of at present is an Emergency Remedial Action Notice pursuant to the Housing Act 2004, whereby there must to be a category 1 hazard using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. A defective boiler in May wouldnt be a cat 1 hazard unless it supplies hot water, but again this can be provided on a temp measure by other means.

I have there letter at home. Let me see if I can see their exact reason and update here.

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I still think that if they try to enforce payment you make it clear to them that you will give the tenants notice and evict. It would cost them more to rehouse so you have a fair to good chance of them backing down. But I could be wrong but you have nothing to lose. I think it was outrageous what they did as you had put procedures in place before you when away.

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This sort of thing never happens to me, why?

Is it because I don't let to people who receive housing benefit ?

If so, Its just another reason not to let to people on benefits......my list is growing.

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  • 1 month later...

Ok so my employee received another phone call from the council. It seems their hot water is now not working. Again we were given the fix it within 24hrs or we will fix it in a very pushy tone.

Surely Hot water is not so important that they need it within 24hrs. Would anyone be able to advise me how long I legally have on this? This T is now 6 months behind on his rent. The same T that I have posted in a another Thread about who went to court and claimed he couldn't speak English so got another 2 months in the house rent free till the next court date.

Ideally I am back from work in the first week of July. Would this be too long to leave the problem. Its just hot water and the T has a electric shower.

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It's clear here that your being worked. The lies and designed corruption are possibly your biggest danger as we know where sympathy will be directed. In court action by the council will be seen as correct unless you can show otherwise.

In general if a T authorises repair, and that's the way I would view what's happened, he then becomes responsible for the result. Even if he has given you fair opportunity and this we haven't read out.The boiler has been repaired and is then faulty again, and then again. Unless there are claims that you are affecting the T's right to live peacefully even a jobsworth would have suspicion of the T here.

It seems we don't have all the facts as for the council to act this way would usually have some reason behind it.

The legislation in our fast approaching police state does do strange things to us but for the council to become involved and act so swiftly, specially as they are so concerned with cut backs, is very strange.I see you have spoken to the council but have you explained your position ?If they understand there is a hostile repossession in progress they may take a different view.I would be asking why the £500 (nice round figure) repair hasn't repaired.

If the £500 can be justified it's right that you pay as feasibly you would have had to anyway. Considering the repair has failed justification seems unlikely unless there are other factors here.

Is there more you should be telling us ?

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It's clear here that your being worked.

Is there more you should be telling us ?

What do you mean? You mean he could be trying to do this on purpose?

The Council has just been on the phone again and has asked for this to be done today or they will send someone out. I am trying to get in touch with the council worker myself so I can explain that the person who fixed it the second time (after the council fixed it I had to get it fixed again) is on holiday this week and I will get it fixed early next week.

No I am not hiding anything, the plain story is that I am trying to evict this guy and just 10 days ago the section 8 hearing went bad when the T claimed he could not speak any English.

My guy asked the council worker if he can speak English to her and she said yeah he can speak enough to get his message across. Selective speaking! At the hearing he could not understand a word the judge was saying.

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3 faults on a boiler in a short time must raise an eye brow.

Is the boiler past it's useful life and should be written off ?

Are both repairers not yet competent ?

Is misuse / sabotage involved ?

Reasonable questions I would have thought.

The council raise a charge for something that hasn't been successful, questionable.

They authorise a job at the request of the T, why are you responsible for 'that' repair ? The cost if justified yes.

You authorised the next repair, now you have responsibility again.

Until this fault is investigated there is no opportunity to demonstrate misuse for this time. Any attempt to state misuse for the 2nd repair would look iffy now.

Would your T do anything to create sympathy / stay longer / escape his responsibilities ? Do I need to ask ?

Would a Judge recognise the possibility of a L causing such a T hardship in the hope of accelerating repossession ? If you wouldn't be tempted I would as would many LL's who feel abused. Trouble is the Judge wouldn't appreciate such reasoning.

It is difficult to understand why the council are being so pro active.

I have crossed a few jobsworths in the past (in fact only last month). After a reasonable chat they more often see things differently and curl their tail in where the T is just acting up. It isn't difficult, in my experience, to show a willingness to resolve situations in a logical manner.

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It isn't difficult, in my experience, to show a willingness to resolve situations in a logical manner.

Ok I just spoke with the council worker from my annual holiday (if a willingness to help has anything to do with it) My Gas guy says he will get around to it on Monday as he is busy this week. I advised the same to the council who are saying that they will get the work done on their own by tomorrow afternoon if its not done.

I asked her what legislation she was using for this sudden urgency and she quoted Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 80. That this was a nuisance for the T as it was the 3rd time that it had broken down in 5 months!

Come on is it really that bad? 3rd time in 5 months! The Boiler is under 3 years old and has passed its Gas safety check with flying colors. According to the gas man it was a small problem which shouldn't have cropped up the last time unless the boiler was operating under severe dust. Maybe they just live filthy.

The council worker also stressed that they would be sending me the bill and were considering pressing charges. huh.gif

Shall I be worried.

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3 faults on a boiler in a short time must raise an eye brow.

Is the boiler past it's useful life and should be written off ?

Are both repairers not yet competent ?

Is misuse / sabotage involved ?

Would your T do anything to create sympathy / stay longer / escape his responsibilities ? Do I need to ask

Boiler was repaired both times by Corgi registered Gas men. I was told it was misuse as there was too much dust in the fan. I am not a technical person so have no idea how that would get there or if it was sabotaged.

The T will do anything to get me into trouble. He has been getting abuse from the neighbors and has had his lock damaged two times now by local kids.

I have been staying away from him now for the last 2 months at the fear of him claiming harassment. I feel he could be damaging the boiler himself as he never calls me and just calls the council direct.

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It would worry me.

I guess your only defence is to be able to demonstrate you are acting in a reasonable timely manner toward resolution.

The cause is a mystery, and by the sounds of it is likely to re-occur. Understanding that one might be useful.

If the T is suffering harassment by the locals I would want some evidence, and if there are no Police reports (crime no's) it can't do you any harm as reporting the events is his responsibility. Talk to the Police they are usually forthcoming.

As long is you can't be implicated interventions by others can't be your responsibility. In fact as it is causing you problems you became a victim also.

Trying to understand why he is targeted by the locals might be difficult, but useful. It may be that his actions have invited this which again makes you 'the' victim.

The question remains as to why the council are being so pro active.

If they understand that the problem is recurring dust why do they hold you to account for this ?

All I can suggest is that you play their game, probably cheaper and less stressful in the long run.

You're doing all you can to repossess anyway. One way or another it may well be that these boiler issues will disappear when he does.

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I guess your only defence is to be able to demonstrate you are acting in a reasonable timely manner toward resolution.

The cause is a mystery, and by the sounds of it is likely to re-occur. Understanding that one might be useful.

I called up the council rep and advised her that my Plumber will be there within 3 working days which is not unreasonable considering its summers and they have heating. I advised her that I would be willing to pay for a kettle in case they need to heat water for any other reason. I also advised her that this engineer fixed it the last time and guarenteed the work so why should I waste money on calling a 2nd engineer out who will have to start fresh.

As long is you can't be implicated interventions by others can't be your responsibility. In fact as it is causing you problems you became a victim also.

Trying to understand why he is targeted by the locals might be difficult, but useful. It may be that his actions have invited this which again makes you 'the' victim.

The T blamed me the last time for changing his locks and I asked the council worker to show me proof that I had. There is no way that I would enter a property where someone is living and change the locks, that would be silly in today's age with no win no fee happy Lawyers.

The question remains as to why the council are being so pro active.

If they understand that the problem is recurring dust why do they hold you to account for this ?

This is what I advised her on the phone yesterday. She said that it doesn't matter as its a nuisance to the T that its broken down 3rd time in 6 months.

All I can suggest is that you play their game, probably cheaper and less stressful in the long run.

You're doing all you can to repossess anyway. One way or another it may well be that these boiler issues will disappear when he does.

I have no no doubts they will. I work as a agent for a few other flats and never do I leave a T waiting. I am as good as a Landlord that one can get. Just last week I called out at 11pm to switch on a boiler for a T. I know I didn't need to but if they treat me right then I like to look after them.

Any how this time around I have advised her that I will not be able to get the work done before Monday which is 2 working days after she told me.

If the council takes me to court over this then how bad are the fines?

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