Renting -> Glass sink cracked where do I stand?

Rex-Kramer said:
The landlord is going to say you dropped something in it and keep some of your deposit imo. Not really too much you can do about it.
Click to expand...

yes there is. Landlord has to pay for it to be fixed one way or another as he is responsible for sinks according to Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (quoted in this thread).

If landlord wants to make a claim of negligence/abuse and reclaim some deposit money, he can go right ahead and try to take it from the deposit. At which time the op will dispute the charge with deposit protection scheme, and the LL is screwed because there is no evidence of abuse.

Also in op's agreement is this
Neither the Landlord or the Landlord's Agent will accept responsibility for charges incurred by the
Tenant in repairing such items as are listed above except in the case of an emergency or where the
Landlord is in breach of his obligations under this clause.
Click to expand...

Which means if the LL wont pay, OP can repair it himself and claim via courts from either the LL or the LL's agent since the LL is in breach of his obligations.
 
Last edited:
The landlord is responsible for keeping the sinks in working order, but not damage to them. If the sink was signed off as having no damage when the tenant took the property, then when it is handed back with damage that is a result of actions by the tenant.

However the damage occured, accident or not, it occured when the property was rented. Its not fair wear and tear and its beyond the remit of the LL responsibility to look after sinks, i.e the drainage etc.
 
balance of probability - is it likely to have broken from hot water? Deposit company would probably say no, it isn't, so damage is done by the tenant.

Personally I'd try and settle it 50/50 with the LL rather than drag it out, bit of goodwill on both sides and will keep things amicable for next time.
 
Rex-Kramer said:
The landlord is responsible for keeping the sinks in working order, but not damage to them. If the sink was signed off as having no damage when the tenant took the property, then when it is handed back with damage that is a result of actions by the tenant.

However the damage occured, accident or not, it occured when the property was rented. Its not fair wear and tear and its beyond the remit of the LL responsibility to look after sinks, i.e the drainage etc.
Click to expand...

Are you the landlord? Sounds like it... :p

Things like this, especially cracked glass or porcelain can happen over time. A manufacturing defect isn't always evident immediately and the continuous use of say hot water when the glass is cold could easily account for the crack. In this case, according to you, the tenant should be held accountable (how dare he use hot water in his own bathroom? I MEAN REALLY!) because it was "signed off" at the start of tenancy. Brilliant. ;)

Edit: I can't believe the number of people in this thread who are just prepared to "lie down and take it". If you know it wasn't your fault, why? Even 50/50 to keep things amicable is a crock. I know not everyone is as honest as myself but if I broke it by accident by humping a fogbeast or similar as has been suggested earlier in this thread then I have no qualms paying for it but if it "just happened" which CAN and DOES happen, then no, that's the landlords responsibility as outlined in my tenancy agreement and I will not rescind on that.
 
Last edited:
If I was in your situation and the crack was caused by a change in temperature I'd certainly do everything I could to avoid paying as I wouldn't consider it my fault. I can imagine that a fancy glass basin could be rather expensive to replace?

Perhaps speak with your lettings agent (if you have one) and see what they say :)
 
ubern00b said:
Are you the landlord? Sounds like it... :p

Things like this, especially cracked glass or porcelain can happen over time. A manufacturing defect isn't always evident immediately and the continuous use of say hot water when the glass is cold could easily account for the crack. In this case, according to you, the tenant should be held accountable (how dare he use hot water in his own bathroom? I MEAN REALLY!) because it was "signed off" at the start of tenancy. Brilliant. ;)

Edit: I can't believe the number of people in this thread who are just prepared to "lie down and take it". If you know it wasn't your fault, why? Even 50/50 to keep things amicable is a crock. I know not everyone is as honest as myself but if I broke it by accident by humping a fogbeast or similar as has been suggested earlier in this thread then I have no qualms paying for it but if it "just happened" which CAN and DOES happen, then no, that's the landlords responsibility as outlined in my tenancy agreement and I will not rescind on that.
Click to expand...

All well and good in principle. Personally speaking I have been through disputes with landlords and got them to pay up because I felt I was in the right. I don't have a problem with standing up for your rights (such as the bed bug problem which they eventually paid £400+ to sort out for me). However in this case it's a lot more of a grey area and it would ultimately go to the deposit holding company through an arbitrary process. IMHO they would be more likely to side with the LL, so in this case I'd say it's better to try and resolve it amicably and 50/50 would be a fair compromise.
 
Landlord is coming to visit on Wednesday as she is looking into her brother (Plumber) to carry out of the work, she is still trying to push for me to pay it which is not happening. I will update with the situation next week.

I think its going to be either the case she carries out the work then tries to claim it from my deposit which will fail or she then refuses to carry out the work and I do and claim compensation via the courts or w/e.

Nasty surprise #4 got me this morning.. Looks like when they strongly assured me the house hasn't had a wormworm problem for many years they were bull****ing me.

v6i0br.jpg
 
Thanks for the update. :)

You sound confident and I think you're right to be. Get stuck into the landlord and take no prisoners. Get yourself a little notebook (like you'd see being used in a film by a news reporter) and write down in advance the things that need sorted and little bullet points of what you need to throw in her face... and when she arrives write down things, get her to be clear about what she's going to do etc. It'll totally throw her confidence and it'll help you get clear answers. Before she leaves make sure you clarify with her what's going to happen.

Demand a reduction in rent from her, this has been going on for over a month now. I wouldn't expect you'll get one, but her position is you pay for the replacement sink and your position is you don't and she pays a partial refund in rent then the middle ground is her replacing the sink without you paying.
 
To really hurry her up, tell her you will shortly be having young child guests (neice, nephew etc ...) staying with for a few days and you are very worried they may be injured if the sink should crack any further.

"Won't somebody think of the children ?!?" can occassionally be put to good use ;O)
 
The landlord has thrown the proverbial toys out of the pram and cancelled the inspection next week by saying I am being very obstructive despite me affording them every opportunity to inspect (I offered when they wanted) and explain the damage.

They have now said categorically that they will not fix it and I should do the repair and pay for costs. As I previously pointed out to them that essentially means I will be doing the repairs and claiming costs from them via the courts. She finished with saying further communications should only be given in writing, I always thought SMS were treated as "in writing" but they only guide to this I can see from a legal POV is where that was upheld in court in south Africa, any ideas?
 
Last edited:
Tell you what i would do. Don't pay them the last 2 months rent, tell them your moving out then just move if you can find somewhere else quick enough. Forget about the bond.

Stuff like this disgusts me as it's the landlords duty of care to make sure there isn't problems like this and fixes them as soon as they can.

It sounds like they are trying to avoid the problems.
 
The contact specifically states I cannot withhold the rent and gives examples such as this so it would only really serve to dig me into a hole.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom