House fire, landlord has no insurance, who pays?

Moonbeam

Offy wrote: »

Latest development: The landlord poped round tonight to give me notice, he has decided to sell the house and get an evaluator to look at the repairs to determine if the tradesmen charged a fair price before he reimburses me! Thankfully I have to see my solicitor tomorrow and I know that's he's going to want to take him to court. I think I should also charge him for the tax credits I should be due, after all why should I loose out because he's not paying tax? Im more in shock now than the night of the fire.

You can apply for the tax credits with out his pps info etc and it is your entitlement so I would apply for it.
The insurance issue maybe that the house was insured but not insured to be rented out.

DO'Carlo/Wex

Moonbeam wrote: »

You can apply for the tax credits with out his pps info etc and it is your entitlement so I would apply for it.
The insurance issue maybe that the house was insured but not insured to be rented out.

+1 on this/What he said!
I applied for Tax Credits after being let go & having left my accomodation.
No PPS No. Needed. I just gave Landlords' Name & Address which was same as that of my Rented Accomodation.
It's YOUR' money, nobody elses'. It's YOUR' right to claim for it.
As a Certain Running Shoe Manufacturers' Ad says "Just Do It (Swoosh!)!"
1 Thing about those Tax Credits is that they're ondly backdatable 5 Years or something.
Why is this or why would it be?
I didn't know about them or realise I was entitled til this year when I had time to study my rights & entitlements.

Offy

My landlord insisted on receipts for all materials and work done, fair enough. I had to get on to the tradesmen and that took a couple of weeks but I got it last night.
I spoke with my landlord last night and he was meant to meet me today for the exchange. He never turned up so I rang him and asked what was going on. He told me he cant afford to repay me so I told him Im taking him to court. Now he say he can afford to repay half the money now and half when I move out at the end of the month. For this he wants me to hand over the receipts. Ive told him he can have copies now and the originals when he repays me all the money he owes me.
Am I been unreasonable? What would you do if you were in this situation?

Cadiz

I think you're being reasonable about the receipts. (He should have arranged to have the work done and paid for it himself in the first place anyway). But I also think you need more solid advice than boards on how to handle this to ensure you get your money..

How come he couldn't afford to pay you at all and now, suddenly he can afford to pay you half now and half once the threat of legal action is raised? All the prevaricating sounds shady imho.

Should you maybe tell him no, you want all monies, all paid up in full before you leave? Otherwise do you not risk having to chase him for the other half when you've less leverage as you've left his property?

Did you speak to Threshold/PRTB/solicitor about this latest twist?

Offy

I spoke to Threshold and once the electrician is willing to testify he cant will the case. Faulty wiring is his problem as he hired the handyman to do it. The headache is it will take months to go through court and I dont want to wait months. I'll have to pay another deposit at the end of the month and a months rent and removal costs so I'll like the money he owes me to cover that.
If I dont get the money of him now thats just a small headache and its off to court with the case. At the end of the day he broke the law and not me. tbh Id sooner he didnt get a criminal record but if he can afford two weekends in Europe since the fire he can afford to repay me too!
I just dont know if he's filling me full of it or he's actually been genuine and if he is skint at the moment for whatever reasons I dont want to be a ****.

am i bovvered

Offy wrote: »

I dont want to be a ****.

Offy, I am a landlord, you have been more than reasonable, your landlord tried to pull a fast one on you, got caught and he his lucky you are giving him a chance to get out with just the costs he should have been liable for in the first place.
Landlords like him are the reason the profession has such a bad name, but, I wish all tennents had your attitude.
Don't give this guy any more chances either he pays up or go the legal route.
Good Luck

MAB83

Offy fight him all the way, that's just ridiculous. He's a gangster. Make sure you get every cent back off him. Hang in there.

derv60

Offy i dont think you are being unreasonable either and that sounds like a fair arrangement you have come to.let him refund you and move on.if you get the first payment quickly im sure he will pay up in full.anyway good luck with it.

the_syco

derv60 wrote: »

let him refund you and move on.if you get the first payment quickly im sure he will pay up in full.

I disagree. I'm thinking he'll pay part of the money he owes Offy, and then pull a legger.

Offy, the landlord clearly doesn't give a flying f**k about you. As for the money, get a court date, and see how fast the toad comes up with the full amount: I'm thinking it'll be pretty fast.

Offy

One of the lads I went to school with many years ago used to say "Just when you though things couldnt possibly get any worse they get drastically worse!"
The ceiling in the front room starting leaking AGAIN. The ceiling board has been dipping down for about a month now. The house looks great till you move in and find dodgy electrics, dodgy plumbing, dodgy doors that curl in the corners and a dodgy landlord that bought the house that Jack built!

Offy

Last night the ceiling in the front room started leaking again so I put the bucket back under it. This morning I notified the landlord and minutes later I got a phone call in work from one of my children telling me the room was flooding! I've turned off the water at the mains. The central heating is run of natural gas, can I use the heating with the water turned off?
The part payment he was to give me today has now been deferred till tomorrow, give some people an inch........................Thats about five dates he has given and he's not stood by one of them. The phrase 'slum landlord' comes to mind. I bet he will have another excuse/date once tomorrow comes.

Bob Z

Op I think you are being too nice tbh you just need a bit of support and you will be firmer

Cadiz

Inclined to agree with other posters here Offy. Time to tough up. You've given this guy the benefit of the doubt a few times and he's let you down.

Offy

I received 50% of the money owed with a solicitors letter promising me the remaining 50% at the end of the month so Im well pleased!

jamesplarkin

I'm not going to pass judgement on the landlord as to be fair, there are 2 sides to every story and I only have your side of the story.

But I will ask this question...what the hell were you using a chip pan for???

A 5 year old would tell you that they are lethal dangerious???

Common sence would have told you to get a deep fat fryer instead. They only cost about €30 in argos and have a safety thermostat built in which ensures they do not over heat and catch fire.

Whats that about?

Zamboni

Offy wrote: »

I received 50% of the money owed with a solicitors letter promising me the remaining 50% at the end of the month so Im well pleased!

Hey Offy did you get the other 50% in the end?

Offy

I got the remaining 50% on Tuesday Zamboni
jamesplarkin you are right there are two sides to every story and as silly as the use of a chip pan might be it is not illegal, renting a house without registering it is illegal and renting a house without insurring it is also illegal. It is also illegal to charge rent when the property is under repair. Tenants have rights to protect them from slum landlords that are not willing to provide safe accommodation and maintain the accommodation.
Some landlords seem to thing that the tenant should pay for everything associated with the rental property, this simply is not the case.

Zamboni

Fair play.

Good to hear of a happy ending these days.

jamesplarkin

Offy,

It may be illegal (and stupid) not to have the house registered or insured but this didn't start the fire.

It’s not illegal to operate a chip pan but it’s incredibly stupid to do so. It’s not illegal to jump off a cliff also but I wouldn’t do that either! Why? Because common sense would tell me not to do it.

I find it hard to believe that wiring a oven would cause a fire, especially as the wiring was already in place and just a simple swop was required. Wiring an oven is as simple as wiring a plug, in fact its the same thing but the gauge of the wires are bigger. Electrical fires are extremely rare while chip pan fires are as common as muck.

I’m an Engineer in the Electronics Industry so I know the extreme temperatures required to ignite the insulation on electrical wire. That’s why I'm saying that it’s highly unlikely for ignition to occur this way. I also know that chip pan oil ignites at between the 250 - 260 degrees only. The fact that a chip pan has no thermostat is why it is so easy for these temperatures to be reached and therefore why chip pans are so lethal. The electrician you hired is not a neutral observer; you did hire and pay him after all!

You call the landlord a slum; you burnt his kitchen down for God sake!

ztoical

jamesplarkin wrote: »

Offy,

It may be illegal (and stupid) not to have the house registered or insured but this didn't start the fire.

It’s not illegal to operate a chip pan but it’s incredibly stupid to do so. It’s not illegal to jump off a cliff also but I wouldn’t do that either! Why? Because common sense would tell me not to do it.

I find it hard to believe that wiring a oven would cause a fire, especially as the wiring was already in place and just a simple swop was required. Wiring an oven is as simple as wiring a plug, in fact its the same thing but the gauge of the wires are bigger. Electrical fires are extremely rare while chip pan fires are as common as muck.

I’m an Engineer in the Electronics Industry so I know the extreme temperatures required to ignite the insulation on electrical wire. That’s why I'm saying that it’s highly unlikely for ignition to occur this way. I also know that chip pan oil ignites at between the 250 - 260 degrees only. The fact that a chip pan has no thermostat is why it is so easy for these temperatures to be reached and therefore why chip pans are so lethal. The electrician you hired is not a neutral observer; you did hire and pay him after all!

You call the landlord a slum; you burnt his kitchen down for God sake!

hold on sec I find it very odd you've found your way on to boards and of all the threads to make your first comments you dig up this one to make comment on the chip pan? Yes we've all seen the adds on telly about chip pans...it's stupid yes but as already pointed out it's not illegal and frankly I'd trust a chip pan about as much as I'd trust a cheap 30 euro fryer from argos. you haven't seen the OP's kitchen, you don't have the full facts but your ready to get on your high horse? The OP started the thread to ask for advice, the OP's situtation has been resolved and I hope the mods lock the thread to stop further off topic rants.

Offy

jamesplarkin wrote: »

Offy,

It may be illegal (and stupid) not to have the house registered or insured but this didn't start the fire.

It’s not illegal to operate a chip pan but it’s incredibly stupid to do so. It’s not illegal to jump off a cliff also but I wouldn’t do that either! Why? Because common sense would tell me not to do it.

I find it hard to believe that wiring a oven would cause a fire, especially as the wiring was already in place and just a simple swop was required. Wiring an oven is as simple as wiring a plug, in fact its the same thing but the gauge of the wires are bigger. Electrical fires are extremely rare while chip pan fires are as common as muck.

I’m an Engineer in the Electronics Industry so I know the extreme temperatures required to ignite the insulation on electrical wire. That’s why I'm saying that it’s highly unlikely for ignition to occur this way. I also know that chip pan oil ignites at between the 250 - 260 degrees only. The fact that a chip pan has no thermostat is why it is so easy for these temperatures to be reached and therefore why chip pans are so lethal. The electrician you hired is not a neutral observer; you did hire and pay him after all!

You call the landlord a slum; you burnt his kitchen down for God sake!

Im also an engineer. I design switchgear so Im very awear of the dangers of faulty wiring and the temperatures involved in electricy arcing. It took the handyman five hours to wire the oven - does that sound like he knew what he was doing? I think not. A qualified electrician found a fault with the wiring. Period.

90% of electrical fires are started because of faulty wiring. The handyman could not get all four rings working until I pointed out the link that was on the ground should have been in the terminal block and not on the ground. He was swapping wires around in every position he could think of trying to get all four rings working.

The landlord hired an electrician to lie about chip pans been illegal and also to lie claiming that all houses have to have an RCD on the lights circuit, claiming the electrician I hired did not know what he was doing. RCD are required to be installed on light circuits from 2009 onwards and I know that because I work for a chap the writes BS standards for RCD's. If he hired an electrician from the start instead of a handyman the fire would never have started. Period.

The_Conductor

On that note, thread locked.