I know this is not a medical matter but I need to get it off my chest and also hope for some advice. I live in a privately rented home and last year the boiler kept breaking down
The landlord sent a Plumber around ( He was not a Plumber) who tried to fix it .He was obviously not a Plumber.
He tried to fix it numerous times and I told the Landlord he was useless. Then I was accused of tampering with it.
Then last November I was informed by the Landlord that a new boiler was to be fitted I was a happy man after the boiler was fitted it was so nice .
Then last month as I am on a pre-payment Electricity meter the credit ran out which I thought was strange as I always try to stay in credit because it's so hard to get to in my condition. The following week it happened again I thought the meter must be faulty.
To cut this short as possible I found out that I am paying for the boiler via the electricity meter on a scheme called the "Green Deal" to the tune of £9.70 a week and the total cost is £5000 over TEN years.
Now I remember signing some paperwork but this was never explained to me. I contacted the Landlord about it and he said the Monet you save on the gas because of the new boiler will offset the higher electricity.
I hotly dispute this and anyway why was I not told beforehand and I received no paperwork whatsoever regarding this. As it is basically a loan I should of been given a copy of the agreement and I am sure you would have a "Cooling off" period.
Now my question is. Is this legal and if not what can I do about it. Sorry for such a long post
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jimboriley52
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As Paton has mentioned, please contact Trading standards and CAB.
This is unfair and certainly very devious of this Landlord, you are renting the property not buying it. He has a duty of care to you. You have followed procedure and reported this many times. He is sending a unqualified person to carry out work. This is against Health and safety. You have to report him. We hear about stories like this all the time and people are frightened to report their landlord incase they get evicted. This is not the case. What he is doing is illegal
Is there anyway you can ask for another house from another landlord? or what about a Council house. I know It would be inconvenient but you must get away from from this awful and dishonest man. This is causing you stress and pain.
Please look at all the paper work you have and appeal if you have to.
You could tell your landlord that you are leaving the property and will be taking the boiler with you, as effectively, it belongs to you! See what his reply is 😉 but on a serious note, no he should not have done this. Ask for all the paperwork relating to this, which you are entitled to, and take it to CAB for advice. Re the previous boiler. Under present legislation landlords should carry out a full boiler and gas check every year and are responsible for maintaining them in a safe condition. Good luck and let us know what happens.
Also the plumber or heating engineer must by law be registered with Gas Safe which used to be Corgi. Make sure he was. Also that seems a lot of money per week and it may be worth comparing with British Gas schemes. Finally and most importantly the duty of care for the gas and boiler falls to the landlord who has to have regular safety checks done and pay for repairs. So this scheme belongs to him and his cost. It certainly does with mea as I live in a housing association but I'm sure friends that rent it's the same in fact I'm 90% sure maybe contact CAB or Gas Safe and ask them.
Good luck Patrick.
You will need to take advice regarding this,
When we were letting we would have had to pay for the new boiler if required, the tenant would have been responsible for the fuel charge.
Under this remit we may have had to increase rent to pay for that replacement as the cost of a new boiler can be very expensive. Personally I cannot see how you would be having to pay for the installation and boiler although you will need to discuss this with your letting agent and CAB. There are other organisations who will be able to help although personally I seem to have forgotten these charities names. Letting property was something that was not a nice situation for us as it was a third generation property.
One thing you need also to take into consideration the contract you signed when moving in and the length of notice that has to be given as letting agreements will change possibly after the initial time period of the Let.
To me it also seems cheeky what the owner has done especially getting you to sign paperwork without telling you what it was.
If you have signed up to pay by charging meter the cost of fuel will most probably be higher than a standing order. It also will be high cost than the former.
BOB
Please ask yourself will you be removing the boiler when you start a new LET.
If you are paying for it, it belongs to you, especially if you leave in the ten year period.
If this is not the case your landlord will need to refund you for years not used, still this is all very wrong. Take legal advice.
Just discussed with Hazel and we had a very needful tenant, the costs added up, although this should not affect the provision of a new boiler.
Please also understand this is a medical Chronic Pain site.We are not landlords so you really need to take advice, please
Bob, Green Deal is different - the liability to pay is the occupant of the house, so if you leave before the ten years is up, the next tenant continues to pay. It is not a personal liability, so you don't have ownership of it.
Before we moved two years ago we had to buy a new boiler, we moved into our holiday home and we never returned home as we had Let the property. So from that time we had let the house out.
Eighteen months later the house was sold and the new owner is getting the benefit of the new boiler. We were paying for the thing right up to the sale of our old home.
Did not understand the way that system worked. Know something new now
World is full of hard knocks, to me this system you are suffering is a bit
My advice would be to go to your local CAB with any paperwork you do have and see what they make of it. And also put your name down for social housing/ housing association presuming you are in UK.
The cost of replacing the boiler is the landlords only he has a duty to keep the property up to a certain standard and safe for habitation you should not pay anything towards the repairs of the property as everyone else has said go and see your CAB and also go to see your local housing officer at the council (it does not matter if it is a private rental and not a council house) they can help a lot as they know the rules and are the ones that grant a licence to any landlord and without one they can prevent any landlord from renting out a property.
Regards Poppy Ann.
Echo what everybody above me have said he /she has a duty of care to the house/ flat you rent from contact the CAB don't let get away with this
Hi. I'm so sorry you have a terrible landlord. I'm in the United States and here at least, what he did is definitely not legal. Hopefully you have your lease so you can read through it to make sure you didn't sign anything that makes the tenant responsible for the cost of replacing the boiler if it breaks.
Still I would urge you to contact an attorney and/or legal aid.
Phone up Citizens Advice Bureau and ask to talk to the disability and housing advisor. They can often do home visits by arrangement if you really can't get into their office, but also may be able to help you over the phone.
Green deal is a funny scheme as the repayments for energy efficiency measures were supposed to only have been the savings you were expected to make on more efficient heating, however for a lot of folk it has meant they actually end up paying more. Private landlords can use Green Deal to get improvements done, with the agreement of their tenants, but it is the electricity bill payer who is responsible for repaying. If you leave the house, the next tenant takes over, so you never actual "own" the improvements. You should have got proper quotes, and discussed the finance plan before you signed, and if that didn't happen, then you have a valid complaint.
Here is some more information about Green Deal for landlords and tenants:
Have a read through the information leaflet on the scheme and if you feel you have a complaint (which I am sure you do) then there is a complaints procedure there to follow. Definitely get the help of CAB with that though. You can also try negotiating a lower repayment amount if your electric bill has gone up a lot.
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