Boiler went on fire, negligence??

Zara23

Ok so I would like to get advice of my rights here so any expert please weigh in!

I moved into a property on mid Dec and am renting from a letting agency. I was told that the boiler was being serviced the day I moved in and I did see someone put there that day but a pipe also needed refitting and I just left him to it.

I went to my family home for Xmas and returned on the 31st of Dec. Due to Xmas costs, I could only afford to put 2 drums of oil into the tank and was planning on getting another 200 litres on the 6th when I got paid next. I figured the drums would do til then. I had my uncle out who would have bled his share of boilers nut he couldn't get it started.

I had to go without heat until the letting agency reopened on the 2nd. Contacted them this day and they said they were sending out the handyman to sort it. I was at work but they contacted me saying it was working and just needed to be bled properly. However, when I got home that day it still wasn't working. Contacted them again and they told me there was not enough oil in it.
Put 2 more drums in and handyman came out again but couldn't get it going. Had a friend out at the same time as I was at work and they were able to eventually get it going. I don't know anything about boilers so can't tell you what they did! I also pit an additional 150 euro worth of oil in this day.
Anyways, it was working again for 2 days until the 6th when it stopped again. I contacted the letting agency bit no one could come out that day. I rang a plumber who reccommended pressing the re start button. Through his direction, I got it started again.

On Saturday just passed (the 11th) I had the heat timed to come on in the morning from 10.30-12.00. At 10.45 I happened to go out the back door to put out the rubbish and there was a large enough fire coming from the boiler, specifically the wire basket at the side. I immediately went and turned the oil off and the switch inside the boiler. The wall of the house is now completely black and the neighbours fence is burned and blackened.

I called the letting agency who told me to call the 'handyman. The handyman said he could not make it out until Monday. I had enough at this stage and called a plumber. He agreed to come out and have a look at it.

The plumber said that the boiler was completely black and had not been serviced in years. He affirmed that this was the problem all along. He said there was so much soot in the boiler it caught on fire and just could not burn any more. I don't want that useless handyman coming out again so I hired the plumber to do a full service on Monday.
Am I right that I can take this charge out of the rent?

The agency clearly lied about having it serviced and due to their negligence the house house could have caught on fire. The were given numerous opportinities to recognize and solve this problem before it got to this stage. I reported this many times as well as my belief that there was something else wrong. On top of endangering our lives (what of that happened while we were in bed?) We were left without heat for the 3rd time in 9 days.

What legal standing do I have here? I can imagine the agency won't take to kindly to me paying the plumber with the rent. I've written an email with the timeline of events and told them I will send them the invoice and full report from the plumber.

Thanks in advance, sorry its so long!

The_Morrigan

OP, legal advice cannot be sought nor given on boards.

/Mod

As for the deduction from rent, you can't do that. You can however send the bill to them with the outline of events and the report from the plumber. Ensure you keep a copy of all correspondence.

Fol20

The_Morrigan wrote: »

OP, legal advice cannot be sought nor given on boards.

/Mod

As for the deduction from rent, you can't do that. You can however send the bill to them with the outline of events and the report from the plumber. Ensure you keep a copy of all correspondence.

I dont know if he could do that as well. I know the agency are slow and awkward however they may refuse to pay for another plumber to do the work when they have their own guy that would do this type of job( he would probably charge less that the plumber the op used).

Zara23

The_Morrigan wrote: »

OP, legal advice cannot be sought nor given on boards.

/Mod

As for the deduction from rent, you can't do that. You can however send the bill to them with the outline of events and the report from the plumber. Ensure you keep a copy of all correspondence.

I'm not sure I understand? I was asking for advice on my rights as a tenant. Is this not allowed? I often see posters posting quotes from citizens advice, threshold etc.

The_Morrigan

Fol20 wrote: »

I dont know if he could do that as well. I know the agency are slow and awkward however they may refuse to pay for another plumber to do the work when they have their own guy that would do this type of job( he would probably charge less that the plumber the op used).

The boiler was on fire a registered professional was required asap. The agency handyman was not available, and may not even be qualified to carry out the job. They shouldn't argue with the need for a properly qualified person to deal with an emergency or potentially dangerous appliance immediately.

Zara23

Fol20 wrote: »

I dont know if he could do that as well. I know the agency are slow and awkward however they may refuse to pay for another plumber to do the work when they have their own guy that would do this type of job( he would probably charge less that the plumber the op used).

They weren't just slow, they refused to deal with the problem to the extent the property could have caught on fire.

Its clear by this stage that their handyman is incompetent as well as the fact they lied about having it serviced a few weeks ago.

The_Morrigan

Zara23 wrote: »

I'm not sure I understand? I was asking for advice on my rights as a tenant. Is this not allowed? I often see posters posting quotes from citizens advice, threshold etc.

Tenants rights are fine..negligence is not.