Tenant paid for repair herself at extortionate price?

Tenant paid for repair herself at extortionate price?

9:35 AM, 1st June 2020, About 4 years ago 32

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I have a tenant who had a leak from  the toilet cistern. She found a plumber herself who repaired the leak without telling the agent or myself as the landlord.

The repair cost an extortion£276!

When the agent later questioned their own plumber on the cost of the repair carried out they quoted a maximum of £85.

The tenant now obviously wants reimbursing for the £276 invoice.

Where do I stand as a landlord for covering this unauthorised cost?

Many thanks

Mike


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Comments

Porky

20:23 PM, 5th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Puzzler at 05/06/2020 - 19:34The shortage of working plumbers is not an excuse for exploitation if that indeed is the case. There is only a few places a cistern can leak. One is at the donut seal where it meets the toilet bowl. The other is where the main water connection is to the float valve. The other leak paths are an overflow if the float valve is not shutting off and this flows into to bowl or outside the property via the overflow pipe or a leak in the seal at the bottom of the flush so water continues to trickle into the bowl so these three are not urgent and no damage can occur just wasting water. All of the above are simple and quick to fix and the parts are all dirt cheap so I agree ... the emergency plumber was taking the piss. As a landlord I do all these fixes myself as I know plumbers just rub their hands together when they get simple jobs like this that they will claim need specialists to solve.
I'd take it up with the plumber and get him to justify his charges.

Rod

22:45 PM, 5th June 2020, About 4 years ago

You're getting off lightly. I had an electrician in to do a check for the new reg's coming in. His first words - "that needs doing - this needs doing - that needs replacing". In reality, very little needed doing! It ended up costing £500! A lot of tradesmen are .......... and see LLs as easy meat!

Clint

23:03 PM, 5th June 2020, About 4 years ago

I only today, posted a job for an electrician to inspect and provide report for Landlord (EICR), and stated that I would prefer a quote from someone that only does these tests (for obvious reasons) and reports, and was quoted £95 all in from one electrician where, he stated that he was NICEIC registered and does not quote for work, as he is not one who is touting for work.
I have had similar tests in the past for safety, and in those cases it was not about safety but bringing it all up to current standards, which was around £500 and above. I can see these tests as being an expensive business.

Jessie Jones

0:09 AM, 6th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by JohnCaversham at 03/06/2020 - 08:30
John, I would be wary of holding money with a view to returning it at the end of the tenancy 'if all goes well'. Such money may well be seen by some as a deposit, and as such would be subject to the 5 weeks cap, and must be deposited in one of the schemes.

Porky

1:16 AM, 6th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Rod at 05/06/2020 - 22:45
A bit off subject but as you mentioned it I've not heard anything more about the EICR regulations coming in for single household rental properties. When was this bill passed in Parliament??

Chris @ Possession Friend

8:22 AM, 6th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Porky at 06/06/2020 - 01:16
Applies to New Tenancies from 1st July 2020 ! and existing tenancies from 1st April, 2021

Porky

8:32 AM, 6th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Possession Friend at 06/06/2020 - 08:22
I know that was the intended dates but cannot find the official government directive. Also is this for England only or England and Wales?

Porky

11:50 AM, 6th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Jireh Homes at 06/06/2020 - 11:21
Okay. Thanks. I note tnis was only published 5 days ago and covers ENGLAND only. I'll have to check what is happening in Wales.

Smithy

12:44 PM, 6th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Rod at 05/06/2020 - 22:45
Going back to the plumbing bill. Was it a big plumbing firm who advertise 'emergency plumbing' - and tend to be expensive? Or a local tradesperson? I think you should contact the plumber and approach him/her in a friendly way "Seems a rather expensive invoice for leak from the cistern." It might be the case that the tenant rang at 3am, in tears, insisting the plumber attend. Did the plumber suggest that it could wait until morning? Was there actually water running out (which the tenant should have reported ages ago - but now they have panicked). Could it have been a tricky repair and the plumber was there for ages? Have you or the agent been to have a look at the repair? Is there evidence of water damage?
It seems expensive, but we don't know enough at present.

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