Hi there our water has been off all day to our apartment and the water company have come out and confirmed the building has a working water supply from the outside and therefore it is a building maintenance issue.
The letting agents office has not answered the phone all day after 15 attempts and the 2 numbers I have been given for emergency contacts are both not responding either.
I now intend to book into the local premier Inn for the night to access running water and a toilet.
My question is would this be something I could reasonably claim the costs back from the letting company given I’ve made every effort to contact them?
Assuming they first push back and refuse would this be something a court would likely rule in my favour for should I have to go that route?
Not sure how many others are affected but when I rang the water company they said somebody was already on the way as other residents had put in a report before I had
that sounds a big problem May be that your landlord needs to contact the freeholder unless he is also the freeholder ? You have looked outside to see if any leaks in the road Asked at the next house/block next to yours ?
Nothing visible outside. Water company investigation said it’s a problem internal to the building as the supply from the outside is fully operational.
My main problem is the unresponsive letting agent who will also be closed tomorrow and is still not responding to their 2 different emergency contact numbers.
Mainly just want to know if I’ll be within my rights to claim for a hotel room tonight. All Google searches just seem to return results for no hot water or people left long term without running water from dodgy landlords. Aside from the lack of contact these lot are a genuine otherwise reputable company.
you cannot be without water and a loo. I would say you have a reasonable case. The water company could put a stand pipe in the road if many people are affected in your block
You have to mitigate any costs. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to get a hotel, but you carry a risk of not getting it back when pursuing it.
If it were me, I would pop to supermarket and stock up on a several large bottles of water (or have it delivered) and assess again tomorrow, chucking water down the loo will flush it. But that’s just me, I’d muddle through for a while, I’d only do this for a day or two though.
I had an issue with a toilet not flushing last year, it was all backing up. Tenants were unable to take a bath or shower either. I had emergency drain company out, they did a fix (jetted) but it blocked again a week later.
Got another firm out and said drain pipe had collapsed and required excavation. Nobody could do this for about 3 weeks but after ringing around several firms I managed to get someone who could do the following week.
Until fixed tenants used gym showers and water from bucket to flush loo, they were understanding as I was doing all I could.
I’ve decided to stick it out for tonight and use supermarket water.
Though I can’t show up for work on Monday unshowered all weekend so I’m hoping a 48 hour window for them to get back to me and sort it out will be enough.
If not then it looks like the premier Inn will have to do.
Paying for a gym membership for a day would be a lot cheaper. You should bear in mind that whilst many landlords will be sympathetic and make a contribution to any out of pocket expenses, they dont have to and you wouldnt be able to hold them liable for defects that are beyond their control.