It can be incredibly frustrating when your landlord doesn’t seem to care about your faulty boiler.
In my experience, there are a lot of landlords who can be very slow to deal with tenants’ issues, and basically leave them to sort out their own problems. I’ve helped many of these tenants over the years, so I feel your pain.
The good news is that landlord legislation is changing, and from April 2016, the new regulations state that tenants will be entitled to ask their landlords to carry out measures recommended on their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and the landlord will have a legal obligation to do so.
And from April 2018, it will be illegal to let a property which has an EPC rating below E (so goodbye old, faulty boiler!). This means that if you have an old, inefficient boiler, it will be your landlord’s obligation to upgrade it for you.
But in the meantime, what can you do? Below, I’ve put together some helpful tips and advice that I hope will be of some use when dealing with this issue.
Keep up communication
Just because your landlord isn’t bothering to reply, doesn’t mean you don’t keep trying, and it’s vital that you make every effort to contact them throughout this process.
Remember, they have a legal obligation to repair your faulty boiler, so call, email, and document how many times you’ve contacted them and left messages.
Diagnose the problem
It may usually be your landlord’s job to diagnose the problem and call in a professional heating engineer, but if yours has gone AWOL, you can try and do the next step yourself. It includes checking a few simple things before calling a heating engineer.
To make things easier, I’ve put together ‘No Heating or Hot Water? The Problem-Solving Landlord’s Checklist’ which will talk you through everything you need to know. Problem still there? Time to call in the professionals.
Get a fixed price quote
Some landlords tend to think it’s easier for tenants to sort things out themselves and then deduct the cost of repair off their rent. Inform your landlord that you are going to call a Gas Safe registered engineer to look at your boiler.
Remember to always shop around for a company that does NOT charge a call-out fee, and that will happily take a look at your boiler before providing you with a fixed price quote. They may not give you the full details of the work that needs done; this is normal.
Once you get a quote you are relatively happy with, call or email your landlord again to tell them the costs involved, and that you are going to proceed with the work. Make it clear that you will be expecting him to reimburse you for this.
TIP: It’s also a good idea to make it clear to the heating engineer that you are the tenant, as many companies will expect payment on completion by the person who called them in. They may invoice the landlord if this was previously arranged. Some may want to check with the landlord first.
Conclusion
If you’ve been left in the frustrating situation of dealing with a faulty boiler when your landlord isn’t interested, I know it can be tough. Luckily regulations are changing, but in the meantime, here’s what you should do:
- Keep up communication
- Diagnose the problem
- Get a fixed price quote
Remember to inform your chosen heating engineer before work commences that you are the tenant – they may wish to check with the landlord before fixing your boiler.
