UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all,

What are your thought on this?

I contacted NRLA's (National Residential Landlord Association) online enquiry line and asked them whether: the Landlord has to bare the cost of false contractor call outs when fault lies with tenant. And NRLA said landlords have to pay and can't pass cost into tenant.

This piece of advice seems to contradict a letting agents advice that Landlords could pass on the cost to tenant if they are at fault.

So who is right?

For context, my tenant contacted me to say the washer dryer isn't drying properly and I have to fix it. The details provided sounded like they're overloading the machine and so clothes are still coming out slightly damp. I've given them advice on how to use it and they have a msnual. But if it comes to me needing to get my contractor out to look at the machine and they find nothing's broken, and it's then down to tenant user error, I feel landlords shouldn't have to bare this cost. It seems illogical and unfair!

If it turns out landlords can pass this type of cost on, how would I get the tenant to pay when they're on a periodic contract and set to be at the property long term? There is no end date in sight to get this cost out of the deposit, meaning I could bare this cost for a very long time.

There are two issues.

As a general point, Landlords can claim compensation for a loss that arises from their contract with the tenant that was not envisaged at the time of signing the contract, or for performing a service that isn't part of the agreement or a landlord's general obligations. So I suspect that the NRLA are getting confused.

Specifically, though, if you've agreed to fix the washer dryer if it doesn't work (which isn't something that you automatically have to do as a Landlord), you probably have to swallow one false call out per tenancy. If the tenant really believes that the unit isn't working, the only way to be sure is to use a tradesman to check it. That's not unreasonable. You can't simply decide they're wrong and charge them if your assumption isn't correct.
You could, however, agree that you'll call someone out, but if it turns out that, as you suspect its an issue caused by their miss-use they'll be recharged the call out fee.

But, unless the tenant has a habit of doing this, it's not black and white. After all, the machine might be not working properly.

The more important issue is always to know what you're going to be responsible for and what you're not. In my market tenants expect fridges and washing machines so I supply, maintain and replace them (often the latter, it's often cheaper than trying to get them repaired). But many landlords don't, or agree that they're supplied because they're there from a previous tenancy, are there because it's helpful to the tenant and they're not going to be replaced or repaired if they break down.

There are other issues... costs are what you bear, your soul is what you bare.

But, additionally, the context provided does not imply a long established history of "false callouts" but, rather, an example that appears to have gotten you riled-up and (weirdly) assuming this is, somehow, definitely going to be a pattern for you going forward. But where's the justification for that? It might exist, you might have had 20 call-outs with no work to do... but that's not stated here, it reads like a one-time thing. In that case, educate your Tenant amiably (which you have done) and just swallow the one-time cost as something that happened... everyone learned something.

If it becomes a real recurring problem, then do come back of course... but there's a world of difference between being prepared for the worst and catastrophising about it.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220725-catastrophising-how-toxic-thinking-can-lead-down-dark-path

Catastrophising.

@Betty Are you now managing this property yourself? You were discussing doing this at the end of last year.

Could you not:

1. Check with the tenant to see whether your advice and reading the manual have resolved the problem.

2. Then, if still necessary, visit the property yourself to assess whether the washer dryer is working properly?