Is T liable because gas meter was stolen?
On 2 February the day when the whole of London was grid locked due to the snowfall, I had been working from home with the heating on. This was working fine until around 9pm when I noticed that the boiler wouldn't light.
A little investigation pointed to a burner failure. Resetting the boiler, checking the system pressure etc didn't work. I emailed the LL telling him that the boiler was not working and that if it was not working in the morning then I’d let him know.
In the morning the boiler was not working and I asked if he could get someone to take a look.
The LL came round later that morning and took a look at the boiler. He then called out a plumber at a charge of £60.
The plumber turned up and found that the gas meter that is situated on the outside wall of the property next door had been removed.
The LL emailed me telling me that the meter had been removed and that I should contact EDF and pay any bills due.
This was a surprise as I had never received a gas bill and thought that it was pretty unlikely that EDF would remove a meter late in the evening when people were unable to get to work.
I called up EDF and they confirmed that they had not removed the meter and that there were no problems with the account. The advised me to report the theft to the police and to contact Transco.
I took the afternoon of work to come back to the flat to wait for the Transco engineer. The engineer turned up and confirmed that the meter had not been removed properly as the end of the supply pipe was uncapped. He said it was unsafe and capped it.
I told the LL that the meter had been stolen but he was adamant that it must have been EDF.
I then arranged for a replacement meter to be fitted from EDF and reported the loss to the police. A couple of days later I took another morning off work and a replacement meter was fitted and everything was fixed.
However the LL charged me £60 for the plumbers call out charge as we asked for someone to fix it and that we didn't check that the gas meter outside (he also didn't check the meter as he wouldn't have called out the plumber).
Looking at the tenancy agreement he is responsible for the supply of services to the property:
3. LANDLORD'S OBLIGATIONS
3.3 To comply with the requirements of section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which imposes obligations on the landlord to repair the structure and exterior (including drains, gutters and external pipes) of the premises; to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the premises for supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of water, gas or electricity); to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the premises...
Who should be responsible for the plumbers call out charge?
A little investigation pointed to a burner failure. Resetting the boiler, checking the system pressure etc didn't work. I emailed the LL telling him that the boiler was not working and that if it was not working in the morning then I’d let him know.
In the morning the boiler was not working and I asked if he could get someone to take a look.
The LL came round later that morning and took a look at the boiler. He then called out a plumber at a charge of £60.
The plumber turned up and found that the gas meter that is situated on the outside wall of the property next door had been removed.
The LL emailed me telling me that the meter had been removed and that I should contact EDF and pay any bills due.
This was a surprise as I had never received a gas bill and thought that it was pretty unlikely that EDF would remove a meter late in the evening when people were unable to get to work.
I called up EDF and they confirmed that they had not removed the meter and that there were no problems with the account. The advised me to report the theft to the police and to contact Transco.
I took the afternoon of work to come back to the flat to wait for the Transco engineer. The engineer turned up and confirmed that the meter had not been removed properly as the end of the supply pipe was uncapped. He said it was unsafe and capped it.
I told the LL that the meter had been stolen but he was adamant that it must have been EDF.
I then arranged for a replacement meter to be fitted from EDF and reported the loss to the police. A couple of days later I took another morning off work and a replacement meter was fitted and everything was fixed.
However the LL charged me £60 for the plumbers call out charge as we asked for someone to fix it and that we didn't check that the gas meter outside (he also didn't check the meter as he wouldn't have called out the plumber).
Looking at the tenancy agreement he is responsible for the supply of services to the property:
3. LANDLORD'S OBLIGATIONS
3.3 To comply with the requirements of section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which imposes obligations on the landlord to repair the structure and exterior (including drains, gutters and external pipes) of the premises; to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the premises for supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of water, gas or electricity); to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the premises...
Who should be responsible for the plumbers call out charge?
Comment