UK Landlord Forum / Life

My tenant called me last week to say that the heating wasn't working (though curiously the hot water was). She had had to go to friends as she had a young baby. I apologised and called the boiler insurer straight away for someone to call her to check anything obvious. She wasn't at the property but she said she'd already checked the things they asked her about. After visiting the property, she reported that they had fixed something with the thermostat but she didn't know what. I was curious so phoned the insurer and found out that the temperature just needed to be put up! I'm a bit frustrated that I paid a £95 call out charge just for that! I want to maintain good relations with my tenant but is it reasonable if future frivolous call outs are charged back to the tenant?

I have had a couple of tenants like this in the past. I wrote explaining politely that for good-will I would not be charging them for this call-out,but that in future I would tell the tradesman to bill them directly if no fault was found.Some tenants will lie through their teeth rather than put themselves out.Keep records of any communications.   

I'd do exactly what Heavykarma suggests.

Part of this solidifies the worth of a thorough Check-In procedure, I feel.

Of course you can get the odd oddball Tenant too... but if a Check-In has covered the operation of the boiler / heating in some detail, including - possibly - access to the Manual, then 'noise' of this nature should be reduced, you'd hope (at least over time).

That said. it's perfectly possible for a boiler to continue serving hot water but provide no radiator heating... with a dodgy diverter for example... so the fact you think this in itself is "curious" does possibly indicate your own lack of experience / knowledge with this. There could also be hot water held in a tank (even internal if combi.) so the hot water could easily be 'residual'... and not new hot water if the whole thing is temporarily kaput. Anyway, I'm guessing - of course I am. The point is - if the boiler isn't 'working' in winter - you do get it fixed. If you conclude the Tenant isn't working correctly... you prepare them for next time.

I think, in this case, you should give the Tenant the benefit of the doubt - I see nothing positive coming from forcing the issue with "the Insurer said this, you lied to me (which wouldn't be true as they did do something with the thermostat)"... and you do not indicate in your post that there is a pattern established here... maybe you have just been given fair warning that this particular Tenant might need their hand holding a bit more... so, if there's a next time, you can run through some of the basics yourself, rather than immediately calling the Cover out (as I read you did here - so maybe you panicked a little too?). Do not underestimate the impact of panic... winter, no heating, baby, lack of knowledge = panic.

Additionally, for years and years now - as a Landlord - I have always had a couple of hefty De'Longhi Dragon 4 electrical heaters that can be loaned to Tenants in times when "stuff happens". You have taken the route of having boiler cover. You elected to pay to get service without quibble and avoid the stress of expending effort in searching for someone at whatever hour. This is to be applauded. £95 is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Ten x £95... sure.

Just raise the rent at the first opportunity and forget about it.

Quote from: Hippogriff on January 31, 2023, 03:04:42 PM
Additionally, for years and years now - as a Landlord - I have always had a couple of hefty De'Longhi Dragon 4 electrical heaters that can be loaned to Tenants in times when "stuff happens". You have taken the route of having boiler cover. You elected to pay to get service without quibble and avoid the stress of expending effort in searching for someone at whatever hour. This is to be applauded. £95 is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Ten x £95... sure.

Just raise the rent at the first opportunity and forget about it.

And don't forget to put it on your expenses.

When I was a property manager I used to try to walk tenants through basic diagnosis first then put into an email that the contractor has a call-out fee that the tenant would be liable for if no fault was found.

But preventative measures are always best.  A proper check-in explaining how everything works does nullify a lot of things like this happening.