Flat - Phone Line not Activated - help please!

mothermachine

mothermachine

mothermachine

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Joined
8 Oct 2004
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2,283
Hi folks,

Simple issue here - I'm moving into a new flat soon that has a BT line installed and loads of phone points throughout the property. I put an offer in on the flat (renting) based on the property "as-seen" and asked them to double-check that the BT line was working and active but without an account on it before I signed the contract, and they assured me that all was fine. I now find out that it's not active and never has been (new build property) and will cost me £130 to activate. (I've tried my best to persuade BT to waive this... I've been a customer for over 10 years but they don't manage it - OpenReach do...).

Landlord refuses to pay this, so does agency.

I know that landlords are *not* legally obliged to provide a phone line *but* surely since there *is* one in the property it *must* be working and fully-functional, right?

It's no different to me than with a dishwasher - landlord is not legally obliged to provide one, of course, but if they do then surely it must be working?

Or if it's definitely NOT functional, then surely they have to declare this before the contract is signed and moneys exchanged?

I'm sure there's a 100% definitive answer to this:

TL:DR: Who is liable for the activation cost of a phone line (£130) - landlord, agency or tenant?

Cheers!
 
your landlord doesnt have to pay squat. lines are put in as a matter of convenience much like your water pipes and electric etc lol.
activating it is entirely down to whoever wants to use it.

What is said is not the same as what is written . ie. in your contract.
 
Was the assurance that it was active verbal or written. Unfortunately if it's not written, I don't think you have much of a leg to stand on. :(

Just remember for the future, estate agents are filthy lying scum, second only to car insurance companies.
 
mothermachine said:
*but* surely since there *is* one in the property it *must* be working and fully-functional, right?

!
Click to expand...

No, why would it. Washing machine is totally different.
Usually your liable, however if they said it was activated then they should be. However I bet you didn't get it in writing. Always get everything in writing.
 
Echo above, if it was written down / emailed that it was active, then you can argue it.

Otherwise you may need to fork out

To clarify, we had a washing machine on our inventory but it was provided "as-is", turns out it didn't work anyway, so I got it removed off the inventory in writing
 
Can you get Infinity?

BT are running a promo that if you take a phone line + Infinity they will waive the £130 install fee for the line.

Oh and in response to your question, the tennant is liable for the install fee.
 
As mentioned by others if you want a phone line you'll have to pay for it. Same thing happened to us but we only paid £70 as it was a reconnection.
 
Ok thanks guys.

I'm still not positive on this situation with things that aren't working. Surely if something is provided to the tenant then it must be working? Otherwise when you move in you could find that the gas, leccie and water are all dead "because it wasn't in writing that they needed to be working". Surely this is implied?
 
gas, electric and water are all basic requirements and considered essential. A phone line on the other hand is not.

A gas boiler needs to be gas safe, and is considered your landlords property, same with all the electrical wiring and plumbing. Phone lines are bt's property up to the master socket and therefore nothing to do with the landlord.
 
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mothermachine said:
Essential, no, but surely if there IS one there it should be working?
Click to expand...

No, as it's not a thing, it's a service you pay for as a tenant unless otherwise stated in contract.
It's like a house having a virgin media point, or sky dish. That doesn't mean it should work. You're wrong, every single person is telling you, you are wrong. Yet you still question :confused:
 
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Ok thanks guys. Shonky business, this.... really shonky.

Thanks for confirming, folks.

BTW cable is going to work out more expensive and far too long contract. I'm sticking with BEThere and getting their own line rental package. Much better overall.

Thanks again.
 
You have to pay, simple as. The phone line exists, the fact it's not connected is in no way your landlord or agencies fault. It's typically due to the previous tenants terminating with their ISP and the ISP disconnecting the line.

You can haggle BT down/get a refund on the £130 if you go with them for internet. Alternatively look at other ISPs as they often do it cheaper to get the business. I had to get mine reconnected and went with plusnet as they did it for £50 and then halfed my internet bill for 4 months to cover this cost.
 
This was a fresh BT line, never activated. That's what's P***** me off. It's the landlords line, not the tenants'. The tenant should be paying for the consumption of the utility, not for the hardware. It should be no different than a boiler. The tenant doesn't pay to have it connected, they just pay for the rolling use of it.

Anyway it's a poor situation. I could understand if there was no line in their at all, but he put one in and just didn't get the thing connected.... either through laziness or he knew full-well he wanted to push the cost onto the tenant.

I'm more angry at my idiot estate agent... he actually refused to let me stipulate that there be a working and active line in the contract.... that in itself is probably illegal I would have thought?!

I keep thinking:

"here's a purse of moneys. which I'm not going to give you"
 
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