To insist Gas cerficate be provided today failing which estate agent should find us alternate accommodation?

[Nothavingfunrightnow]

The gas safety certificate has expired on my rented accommodation. Estate agent emailed me today to say that I should "desist from using gas supply" to the property. This means no hot water and no cooking.

Estate agent says that the safety check can only be done tomorrow. I said it has to be done today or they need to sort alternate accommodation for me and my child.

AIBU?

How can I insist that it gets sorted today? Landlord is abroad in another time zone and will not be contactable at this very minute.

Fuck. i don't know what to do.

You can't ask them to rehouse you. But if you can find an alternative engineer to carry out the check today can you ask if they would agree to this?
Or give you a rent refund for one day as you are without full facilities?

If you only have to wait a day, will it become unsafe overnight? Like expiry dates on food, it doesn't go bad at midnight on the day it goes out of date?

Were you worried about the gas system before ?

They are covering themselves. The gas will be just as safe to use as it was yesterday. You have to have one done yearly as a landlord a bit like you have to have a car MOT but it's basically only to say that in x date & time the gas was deemed safe to use.

Someone has cocked up not realising the expiry date but you can't Magic gas engineers up at this time of year.

calm down for starters. Is there any reason to suspect that your continued use of the gas today is any more dangerous than your use of it yesterday or the day before? I'd crack on as normal.
HOwever, if you have cause for concern, you should send the managing agent (if that's who the estate agents are) a written record acknowledging that the landlord is in breach of his legal obligations to provide a valid gas certificate however you are entirely prepared to permit them entry to carry out the gas safety test today, which is your obligation as tenant. If they / the landlord are unable to arrange it (although they have of course been aware of the date of expiry for a year now), then they can arrange you suitable hotel accommodation at their expense until such time as they're able to comply with their obligations. YOu can of course note that the penalties for failure to comply with their obligations include likely invalidity of the landlord's insurance.
This is more their problem than yours, bat it back at tehm.

I work for a gas safe registered company & ive never had my boiler serviced (remiss of me I know))

The agent has been massively negligent in getting this done. They basically forgot by the sounds of it. You can demand they get a gas engineer out today. They will not want to do this because it will cost them, as they can't surely tell the landlord they forgot to get it scheduled. I don't think they can legally rent you a hoouse with no gas safety certificate.

If I were you I'd be saying to them to get a gas engineer today or you'll be writing to the landlord and explaining that his agent has been seriously negligent and is refusing to get a new certificate in place.

YABU, it's one night. Turn the gas off at the mains if you are worried.

I bet you wouldn't be paying for a hotel if you owned the house and the boiler service was a day late.

Yabu, they are just covering themselves! One day will make no difference. Very few residential households have had safety checks at all, it is only tenants properties that have this extra safety check

I would use the gas as you normally would 😊

YABU. The gas system doesn't spontaneously self-destruct on expiry of the certificate.

It may not have been the agent's fault, either, the engineer could be unwell or have been delayed on a previous job.

I would be asking for a rent rebate for the period where you have been told not to use the facilities (but I'd use them anyway)

I think you need to calm down love! It's one day. Not exactly winter is it?

I have a 2yr old and thanks to OVO, had to go two weeks with no electric but we managed!

Definitely request a rent reduction of one day, just so it flags up an issue to the Landlord (as this is the Agent at fault, not the Landlord and you cannot contact the Landlord yourself).

I'm sure you'll survive until the morning!

Thank you, everyone!

I have no reason at all to assume that there is a problem with the gas supply or any of the appliances and I appreciate that the Estate Agents are only covering themselves.

Perhaps I was remiss in adding that the Estate Agents have said I should "desist" from using the gas supply. If I have been asked to stop using the gas, but I continue to do so, does that make me liable??

Yes, I appreciate it may invalidate the landlord's insurance, but i am concerned about my liability, too.

I am not expecting the gas supply or appliances to self destruct. I am more concerned about my using the gas when I have been told not to by the l.....

Woo hoo!!

Gas engineer just rang: they are on their way .

Thanks, MN

Meh, the agents just covering themselves. I certainly wouldn't want to move out for this. It's just an annual safety check and will be done tomorrow.

So you are no more unsafe today than you were yesterday, it's very unlikely to make a difference - equally the advice not to use is irrelevant, it is not a defence to have it installed but not used, if it's installed it has to be checked.

The landlord has failed in is legal duty, he can be fined lots - you should phone the HSE's gas safety advice line:
www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/contacts.htm to see what they say.

And absolutely inform the landlord that he is in breach of the law (especially if it's the letting agents fault, they're getting paid to not make it his fault) he needs to know how incompetent they are.

That's good the engineer was able to come today after all, but in response to your question, YABU

It's only a day. You could skip a shower, or go swimming. You could have a takeaway, or a salad, or ready meal in the microwave.