To only pay to repair part of the driveway we damaged

[WillSingForCake]

We've recently moved out of a rental property which had a tarmac driveway, big enough to park one car on. In the last month we lived there our car had a major oil leak, which stained an area approximately one metre square. We tried cleaning it off, but found the oil had softened that area of tarmac so bits of it were coming away.

We showed this to our landlord when we left and said we would of course pay to get it repaired, so we got some builders round to give us a quote. It would cost £150 to dig up that area and put down new tarmac.

The landlord isn't happy with this as the repaired bit will look a different colour than the rest (new black tarmac against older gray tarmac) and wants us to pay to resurface the lot, which will cost £475.

AIBU to only pay to repair the bit we damaged? If it was only a little bit more I'd think sod it and pay up, but an extra few hundred? I can see his point, as it will look a bit weird to have one darker patch, but it's only a driveway & his car (he's moved back into the house) will be on it for most of the time. I also wonder if he's not that bothered about the colour difference, and just sees this as a good way to get a new driveway.

I suspect we won't be able to reach an agreement, and it'll go to the Deposit Holding Company (or whatever they're called) to decide, but was interested to see what you all thought?

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

Yabu.

Oil leaking out of a car isn't normal wear and tear because cars aren't supposed to leak oil when doing what they are designed to do. They leak oil when something is wrong with them.

That is not the LLs fault, and he shouldn't have to have a stain left on his property. If you left an iron mark in the carpet because your ironing board broke and it fell, you wouldn't consider that normal wear and tear. It's exactly the same thing.

Pay for the repair to the thing that you damaged.

[Sassybeast]

Was the leak one sudden, large leak of oil ? Presumably if so, you had your car repaired immediately so there were no further leaks and this was purely an unfortunate accident so could negotiate part payment.

Or did the oil leak continuously and slowly over the period of a month before you took action ? If thats the case, YABU and should pay the whole thing.

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

Yes, I agreed about that already .. sorry, I wasn't sure if you were asking me but obviously not.

[WillSingForCake]

Sassy it was a large sudden leak, but although we acted quickly getting the car fixed, we didn't get the oil off straightaway, so by the time we took action it had time to sink in. So partly our own stupidity there.

We're going to offer to get the areas repaired, and then have the whole lot resealed (someone on the previous page linked to a tarmac paint/sealant), which I think is a reasonable compromise.

[nokidshere]

We had a portion of our tarmac drive replaced by some workmen a few years ago - within a year you could not see any colour difference other than a faint outline of the joins. Having the whole drive repaired is ridiculous when it will fade and look as old as the rest of it eventually - whaat a complete waste of money!

I'd be telling him to keep the deposit and sue me for the rest - bet he doesn't get it done!!!!

[HissyByName]

Listen to MummyBarrow... she knows her stuff, I used to work with her! What she doesn't know about houses/LL/tenants is NOT worth knowing.

GOOGLE her... that will be all the proof you need!



the bit of the business I used to be in was Inventories.

Your comment The driveway condition wasn't on the inventory is significant, if the drive is not even mentioned then the LL can't prove it was good clean condition. So even if you had dug it up and planted moss and wild flowers there is not a thing he could do wrt your deposit.

If the driveway is mentioned, but no condition stated, sometimes that can be (small print somewhere) assumed to be in good clean condition. Check for that small print, if it's not there, you are in the clear.

NOW, you know you damaged the drive, HE knows you damaged the drive, but ONLY a portion of it. THAT is the only cost you would EVER legally be held accountable to. If the LL chooses to re-tarmac the entire drive as a result of a proportionately small area, that is HIS decision. You could offer a contribution towards his retarmacing the drive and that would be MORE than you would ever be legally held to do.

Offer what you think is far, MummyBarrow's £100 is fair, and tell him that that is the full extent of your offer and if he wants any more, indeed TDS or court is the only option (he WILL lose, no question of it)

Please don't faff about getting people in, the repair is not your responsibility, you know that the LL will never be happy with the repair, it will have to be re-done and you will be told you are responsible, it will haunt you for WEEKS at the minimum.

Get the repair company details, give them to him, and offer him £100. NO MORE.

You will have to do to TDS to get your deposit, as I'm sure he'd raise a dispute, but don't worry, if your inventory is as I suspect, you have NOTHING to worry about, and you wouldn't get ANY deduction for the driveway taken from your deposit.

Let me know if you have any more info on your inventory.

[HissyByName]

The way that TDS works out compensation on a damaged carpet is as follows

There is the cost of carpet at new.

The life expectancy of carpet is about 10 years so divide cost at new £x by 10 to give depreciation amount per year

age of carpet, say 7 years - deduct 7 years from the original new cost - gives you the value of the carpet today.

measure the damage, measure the carpet - work out the percentage timesed by the value and THAT is what you pay.

Even if the carpet was BRAND new, you would only pay for the percentage of the damage, NEVER the whole thing.

[HissyByName]

Oh and COCA COLA takes the oil stains off tarmac/driveways apparently...

[WillSingForCake]

Brilliant, thanks so much, am so glad I posted on here, lots of fantastic advice. I'm going to ring the DPS in the morning & see what they advise before I offer any money to the landlord.

[InfinityWelcomesCarefulDrivers]

Surely it'll fade and weather over time. New bricks stand put in a house for a while, but you don't rebuild te entire house when you buid an extension

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

small - yes, as I said: I have already agreed with that.

I just don't agree with you that spills on a carpet are always damage and not wear and tear.

[MrsSchadenfreude]

We rent out a flat in central London, that we expect to move back into one day. It was all painted and recarpeted, new sofas, curtains, when we rented it out. We would expect to replace all of this stuff when we move back in, so would not charge for spillages/dirty walls etc - this would all come under wear and tear. I think the only thing we would really charge the tenants for would be physical structural damage - holes in walls or smashed windows.

And I've had to replace the washing machine door twice (at my expense) because the tenant couldn't be arsed to wait for the door release thing to kick in and pulled the handle off the door. Because I am liable for repairs to fixtures and fittings.

[HissyByName]

You'd possibly do well to speak to CAB too, they're awesome.

Get the inventory out and see what it says. THAT is what you will be measured on