Am I liable for new TV?

Am I liable for new TV?

9:55 AM, 19th April 2016, About 8 years ago 5

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I have quite a difficult tenant. Last week I received a call that the electrics in the property had gone off. Luckily I have British gas homecare so the tenants contacted them and an engineer attended the property and resolved the problem. TV

He left a note that there was damp in the kitchen area which had to be resolved otherwise the problem would recur. I have hired a damp specialist immediately who will deal with the problem this week
Subsequently the tenant says her television stopped working after the visit from the engineer.

She has tried to claim the TV from British gas but she claims they told her the landlord was liable as the damp had affected some wires and so she is claiming a new TV from me.

Please let me know your thoughts and what options are available to me. There is no proof that her TV stopped working after the engineer’s visit? What if it wasn’t working before? Also, all other electrical gadgets in the property are working fine and so how does she draw the relationship between damp and her TV going off? assuming her assertion is true?

Please help

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Comments

Neil Patterson

10:02 AM, 19th April 2016, About 8 years ago

However unlikely has the tenant not got contents insurance?

Stan Barlow TEE LTD

10:53 AM, 19th April 2016, About 8 years ago

We look after some 1,000 + properties for various Landlords and agencies in the Cornwall & Devon area. We also have for the last 18-years responded and are contracted to various home-call policies.
Our recommendation is that they have the EICR [electrical installation condition report] carried out as required [every 5-years but some properties vary] BUT reinspected at change of tenancy. This enables the Landlord to see if a tenant has been shall we say careless. It then may enable a reimbursement of some sort. In addition it enables the report & certification to be produced in the event of a `claim arising'. May stop some frivolous claim before it gets far.
We also find that Landlords that use agencies have `less hassle'. I have just spoken to a Landlord who has rented out several properties which for years we have serviced. In my opinion knowing how much he has spent improving heating and various other types of upgrades I would classify him as a caring landlord. He instructed that all future works are scheduled via an agency because as he said `although I have to pay their fees it makes life much easier. Food for thought?

TheMaluka

11:21 AM, 19th April 2016, About 8 years ago

It is extremely unlikely that a television would fail as a result of a power outage, ignore the demand. If your tenant takes legal action then remember it is up to her to prove her case, all you have to do is deny liability.

19:46 PM, 19th April 2016, About 8 years ago

hi my brother in-law would like to know if he serves s8 notice for rent arrears does he have to inform his lender

Mandy Thomson

20:31 PM, 20th April 2016, About 8 years ago

I know a landlord whose tenant was claiming that an abandoned bird's nest in the loft was making her "ill" and she was also claiming for a few spiders that were running down the hallway...

Although her solicitors were apparently quite happy to support her in making these claims, the RSPB were not, and neither, I suspect. were her doctors (including her psychiatrist...).

Although the landlord in question attempted to remedy a cure in the form of a section 21, the tenant was having none of it and blackmailed the landlord with a fine for late protection of the deposit!

For the record, the landlord in question isn't me! I've made some fine mistakes as a landlord, but failing to protect a deposit and being sloppy in choosing any old tenant isn't one of them.

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