Hello. I have never written on here before so I apologise if I am wrong about anything, and also this is very long and I apologise for that. Myself and 6 other first year students live in a private house (the uni didn’t have enough on campus accommodation). About a week and a half ago, we noticed that the boiler was playing up; one person would shower, and halfway through their shower the hot water ran out (none of us shower for very long). Then there was no hot water in any other shower or any of the taps in the rest of the house. It would take about 4-6 hours for there to be hot water again but it would then run out just as quickly (meaning more than one person couldn’t shower in one morning or evening which is a pain as it is cold and there are 7 of us). Just a side note; the radiators were working fine. At the time, our landlord was away, so couldn’t help. He came back last weekend and he came round on Monday which is when we asked him to help us with the hot water because it was quite an inconvenience. He then emailed us later that day to say that he would need us all to email him individually about the problem before he could do anything, even though I clearly explained the problem to him. We did so; the engineer came this Friday evening (8/11/19). Then tonight we got an email from the landlord saying that the engineer said that the
boiler settings had been tampered with, and that the engineer fixed the problem as he said someone had turned the temperature of the boiler down. The landlord also said he would be sending us the bill for the engineer as tampering with any settings other than the thermostat is against our tenancy agreement (which it is). Here is the issue; none of us had tampered with any of the settings other than the thermostat before it started malfunctioning. We didn’t even know they the boiler had a cover which could be taken off. We deliberately did not tamper with anything as we agreed that this could cause an issue. However, as the landlord was away for a while, we asked one of our parents to help; one of our Mums came and looked at the boiler settings, and turned the temperature UP. Now I understand that this is against the tenancy agreement; however, the boiler was only tampered with AFTER it broke, and the temperature was turned UP (we all witnessed this). We all think we shouldn’t have to pay the bill, however my question is; are we obligated
to pay it? Because we cannot be expected to go effectively without hot water without asking for help.And the temperature was turned up and not down like he said (which did help temporarily but the issue soon returned). And also we did not cause the boiler to malfunction which is what the landlord is saying; and is he also in breach of the tenancy agreement which says he has to fix urgent issues immediately or pay us for the damages? We were not really that bothered that it took him a while because we aren’t horrible people who expect the landlord to never go away, However he is now accusing us of doing something we didn’t do and would have no reason to. Would anyone please advise me on what I can do? I know I cannot prove that we didn’t tamper with the boiler, however likewise he cannot prove that we did. Is there anyone that we could contact? We are 18 and we can’t afford a lawyer but we also don’t want to pay the bill because we did
nothing to the boiler. Thank you for any help and sorry if I sound angry but I just don’t understand how this is our fault.
boiler settings had been tampered with, and that the engineer fixed the problem as he said someone had turned the temperature of the boiler down. The landlord also said he would be sending us the bill for the engineer as tampering with any settings other than the thermostat is against our tenancy agreement (which it is). Here is the issue; none of us had tampered with any of the settings other than the thermostat before it started malfunctioning. We didn’t even know they the boiler had a cover which could be taken off. We deliberately did not tamper with anything as we agreed that this could cause an issue. However, as the landlord was away for a while, we asked one of our parents to help; one of our Mums came and looked at the boiler settings, and turned the temperature UP. Now I understand that this is against the tenancy agreement; however, the boiler was only tampered with AFTER it broke, and the temperature was turned UP (we all witnessed this). We all think we shouldn’t have to pay the bill, however my question is; are we obligated
to pay it? Because we cannot be expected to go effectively without hot water without asking for help.And the temperature was turned up and not down like he said (which did help temporarily but the issue soon returned). And also we did not cause the boiler to malfunction which is what the landlord is saying; and is he also in breach of the tenancy agreement which says he has to fix urgent issues immediately or pay us for the damages? We were not really that bothered that it took him a while because we aren’t horrible people who expect the landlord to never go away, However he is now accusing us of doing something we didn’t do and would have no reason to. Would anyone please advise me on what I can do? I know I cannot prove that we didn’t tamper with the boiler, however likewise he cannot prove that we did. Is there anyone that we could contact? We are 18 and we can’t afford a lawyer but we also don’t want to pay the bill because we did
nothing to the boiler. Thank you for any help and sorry if I sound angry but I just don’t understand how this is our fault.
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