Help regarding liability for costs

[unintentionallandlord]

Hi there,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on whether we are liable for some costs or not.

We rent out a flat and have a fully managed service provided by a letting agent. The flat underneath ours had a leak, they assumed it was coming from our flat above so contacted our tenant. Our tenant contacted our letting agent, who called out a plumber to check our flat and the flat below. The plumber advised that it was nothing to do with our flat and the leak was coming from a vent in the flat below.

Since our letting agent called the plumber, they have been landed with the invoice and are now trying to get us to pay it. We are currently disputing this and advising them to send it on to the landlord of the flat below (who incidentally doesn't appear to be in the landlord's register).

Will we just have to suck it up and pay? We will be going self managed after this carry on.

[jpkeates]

The tenant seems to have done the right thing.
Unless the plumber was massively expensive, I'm not sure what else the agent could have done, really.

I think the key thing to consider with the agent is to look at what would you have done differently if the agent had called and asked you what you wanted to do.
I'd have just asked them to get a plumber, so the outcome would have been no different (for me).

I'd be asking the downstairs flat to pay, though, because they are actually the cause of the cost.
I can't imagine they're going to be keen to pay, though.

[unintentionallandlord]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it was a tricky situation and hindsight is a wonderful thing. We will certainly try to get the downstairs flat's landlord to pay, though our agent isn't being very helpful in that regard.

It's not massively expensive and is probably annoying us more than it should, as it is the straw that broke the camel's back with regards to our letting agent's recent failings.

[jpkeates]

It's not massively expensive and is probably annoying us more than it should, as it is the straw that broke the camel's back with regards to our letting agent's recent failings.

I guess this individual issue isn't the key!

[ash72]

The chain of events as you have stated, was that the downstairs flat informed the T who then inform the letting agent, the bill should go to the downstairs flat, whether or not the T told them that they were the ones who said there was a leak, or the T just stated there was a leak.

If it's not too much I might be inclined to absorb it.

[DPT57]

The people who made an incorrect assumption were the people in the flat downstairs and they should pay. If they won't then its probably down to you. I wouldnt bother suing them over it.

[nukecad]

The agents act as your proxy, it was the agent who called out the plumber and created the bill.
(Presumably acting on your behalf in accordance with the terms of your contract with them).

So you are liable to pay the bill for that call out in the first instance.

You can then try to recover that cost from the agent if they acted outside of the terms of your contract with them.

The downstairs flat didn't call out the plumber and so they can't be held responsible for the cost of that callout.

[gnvqsos]

This is the risk you take when delegating powers to an agent. Would not use an agent as I am quite capable of phoning a plumber ,if unable to resolve myself.