Pls help, vindictive tenant. Boiler pressure drop problem

[imurray]

I was hoping you'd be able to help me shed some light on a problem. We've lived in our house for 8 years, in that time the pressure has dropped maybe 5 times and the boiler needed topping up and restarting. Unfortunately the boiler is in the loft, but i'm not fussed about climbing up there. (Sorry I can't seem to hit enter to make another paragraph so this will be one long message). I was made redundant in Nov 2011, tried to find work until Feb 2012, when I couldn't myself and my wife decided to go travelling. We rented out our house and had a guy of about 65 move in. Well my god trouble started, every week the boiler went off, and the guy refused to climb into the loft (which is fair enough) I had parts replaced but still didn't fix the problem. The pressure always seemed to drop at the weekend so a £100 call out. This carried on for ages, after spending over £1000 I got fed up and arranged for a friend to go round to adjust the pressure, well it just miraculously stopped 2 months before he moved out, the moment it wasn't going to cost me money. We've been back in the house for 4 months now and not once has this occurred through really cold weather. I believe this man is vindictive, he called out for everything and made things up. I did notice that the thermostat on the wall was turned up to max when he moved out. Can you purposely make the pressure drop. He was writing a book so was at home 24 x7, could having the stat turned up fully for great periods of time cause the problem? He is now threatening legal action if I don't pay him a huge sum of money because of this issue. Any help appreciated!!

 

[Masood]

Hi, welcome to the forum, and sorry to hear about the problems you have had. Yes, it is possible to purposely make the pressure drop but proving it will be nigh-on impossible.

However, based on your description I don't think that he has a leg to stand on with regard to legal action. When he called you, you responded (or got someone in), you weren't withholding heating from him, he seems to have made no complaint or legal proceeding whilst the issues were ongoing, and now he has left.

Unless he has suffered serious health issues due to cold or damp as a result of no heating, and it has taken this long for the symptoms to manifest (and be attributable to the lodging), you're not in any danger IMO.

Caveat - I'm not a lawyer, only heard one side of the story, yadda yadda.

 

[SimonG]

Tell him to jog on. Sounds like you acted in good faith and within your obligations as a landlord (I'm only a plumber so may need to ask that question to somebody with a more legal background). The only way to make the pressure drop, without going into the loft would be to open up a rad bleed valve or crack a nut somewhere on the system. That is if there is no fault with the boiler.

 

[imurray]

Hi, welcome to the forum, and sorry to hear about the problems you have had. Yes, it is possible to purposely make the pressure drop but proving it will be nigh-on impossible.

However, based on your description I don't think that he has a leg to stand on with regard to legal action. When he called you, you responded (or got someone in), you weren't withholding heating from him, he seems to have made no complaint or legal proceeding whilst the issues were ongoing, and now he has left.

Unless he has suffered serious health issues due to cold or damp as a result of no heating, and it has taken this long for the symptoms to manifest (and be attributable to the lodging), you're not in any danger IMO.

Caveat - I'm not a lawyer, only heard one side of the story, yadda yadda.

Thanks for your reply, I had a fully managed service by the estate agent (10% + VAT) and they were under instruction to, within reason to carry out all repairs without prior authorisation, this included all the times I had to pay out to get someone to come round to top up the boiler. We said this as we were out of the country in a very different time zone and understood there could be delays

 

[PlumbBobBob]

i'm with masood on this. it's very easy to drop pressure on a sealed system, you don't even have to go into the loft to do it. your ex tenant is trying it on imho. get in touch with the plumber/s who were called out and get a report from them over the issues.

 

[imurray]

Tell him to jog on. Sounds like you acted in good faith and within your obligations as a landlord (I'm only a plumber so may need to ask that question to somebody with a more legal background). The only way to make the pressure drop, without going into the loft would be to open up a rad bleed valve or crack a nut somewhere on the system. That is if there is no fault with the boiler.

I don't understand why he had so much trouble and we had none, it just doesn't make sense to me. He also had Heating and Gas bills of £400 per month, mine with the same provider on same tariff through extremely cold weather with both myself and wife at home looking for work was £100 (3 bed bungalow)

 

[Masood]

Thanks for your reply, I had a fully managed service by the estate agent (10% + VAT) and they were under instruction to, within reason to carry out all repairs without prior authorisation, this included all the times I had to pay out to get someone to come round to top up the boiler. We said this as we were out of the country in a very different time zone and understood there could be delays

If you have this in writing, then you're 100% in the clear. You acted in good faith, the only people possibly at fault would be the agency. However, I don't think he has a hope in hell!

 

[SimonG]

Sounds like the bloke has far too much time on his hands.

 

[imurray]

He caused £2000 worth of damage, these days your deposit is left in an escrow with a company called TDS, I presented some videos of the damage, but unfortunately only the file was time stamped. The Estate agents check in check out was flawed and also their pictures weren't time stamped. The tenant submitted a 347 page document, full of passages about himself and his company and basically full of lies. I lost because of the check in/ check out and got £87 back. It was up to me to prove he damaged not for him to prove he didn't. I haven't got time to fight that size document either. He is retired, he used to be a really rich guy who lost everything so is bitter. He actually failed his credit check so had to pay 1 year up front, this should have rung alarm bells. I shall never rent again! Thanks for the advice, i'm going to phone the plumber at lunchtime

 

[SimonG]

Good luck and I hope you get it sorted.

 

[Millsy 82]

If he caused £2000 worth of damage and the reason you never kept the deposit is the agents then claim off the agents they have not provided you with the service you paid for!

If it had of been me and the bloke refused to get up into the loft to fill I would of fitted an extra filling loop and pressure gauge in an accessible place. This then means they wouldn't have to get into the loft.

 

[imurray]

I would of fitted an extra filling loop .

No idea what this is, would have been good if one of the companies filling the tank would have suggested it. To be honest, I just want to move forward and get on with my life, i'm not interested in suing anyone. There are bigger battles to fight

 

[imurray]

The cost will be a lot less than £2000 when I do it myself obviously I got quotes from contractors. The actual amount was £1700, I was exaggerating a bit

 

[glenno1]

Have you seen these £400 bills,he would have to produce them in court

 

[imurray]

Have you seen these £400 bills,he would have to produce them in court

When I phoned up the energy provider they wanted huge DD from me and were astounded at the previous costs on the account