To ask for some form of compensation

[FleurDeLips]

I live in a housing association property which is actually quite expensive to rent a month and pay service charges (meant to be affordable housing, but a mortgage would still cost me less). I’m a good tenant look after the property, always pay rent, claim no benefits and yes I appreciate I am luckier than some.

A month ago something went wrong in the HA managed heating system and I was left without any running water (hot or cold) apart from the cold mains supply in the kitchen. We could not flush the toilet without using a bucket filled from the kitchen tap and haven’t had access to any hot water apart from if I boil the kettle up. We did try to fill the bath with kettle water but it took so long it wasn’t worth it for 2 inches of water. We did also kind of slosh ourselves in the bath with kettle/cold water using jugs and bowls. Washing their hair in freezing cold water in the kitchen sink gave my kids headaches and made them cry.

They told me I could not get my own plumber in as this would invalidate all the electrical and heating systems in the house and then they would never do any maintenance to the system again and no one had authority to touch it.

I have had to take 9 days off work to let in various workmen over the past month. I have also had to drive around to other peoples houses or the local gym nearly every few days to access warm water/showers for myself and my DC. I don’t live near my family or friends or the gym so can’t walk to these places.

The main part of the repair has now taken place so I have access to hot water again. I still have to take more time off for the last part of the repair.

I’ve raised a complaint about the way this was handled with misinformation and delays. I was told by one workman that some people are without water for 2 years, as if that makes it any better or acceptable?

Is it worth pursuing anything from this? It’s fixed now but I can see that I may be entitled to under the right to repair scheme. They did in fact attend my property promptly when I reported it but they wouldn’t authorise the repair as it was a big job and instead kept trying to send workmen to investigate and replace parts.

YANBU however it depends on the circumstances, why were you without running water/hot water?

Did you have a burst mains and they needed the water board to attend or external contractors? Required parts for the repair?

Water main burst would be out of the hands of the HA and they would not be able to repair your heating system until the mains had been repaired etc…

I don’t understand why you were crying from washing your hair in cold water, why could you not have used some pans and heated the water up from using the cooker? You could also have used a cloth to wash, you need need to be submerged under water to wash.

Im not saying YABU however common sense prevails and I think you’re dramatising a little.

*Don’t need to be submerged

To be honest this could just as easily have happened if you owned the property. You’ll generally start at a position of doing the least expensive repair and work upwards. Ordering parts and scheduling appointments all takes time. Very frustrating but life.

We were without heating or hot water for two weeks in February. Own house.

What sort of compensation are you looking for.

Why were you washing hair in just cold water?

We own our home and when the combi boiler packed in we were without hot water for over a week, but used the kettle to boil water and bowls and jug over sink to wash body and hair in WARM water!

You can try but doubt you would get anywhere.
Why wash kids hair in cold water when showering elsewhere? Try dry shampoo too if it happens again.
Sounds like you are passing out a legitimate,but fairly minor issue in order to claim cash.

Padding

Have they turned up on time, or was it the 'between 8 and 1' time window (which is not an appointment)?

You can ask, I doubt you will get any money though.

Thanks lots of questions. We all have long hair. So we found that trying to wash long hair ineffectively in a bowl/sink of warm water as the soap would not rinse off properly and then we all had hard hair. I couldn’t easily store and keep warm lots of warm water although we did try, boiling the kettle multiple times and putting it into jugs I had to buy that I don’t otherwise need. Sometimes we could not get to the other places for showers so did throwing water on ourselves standing in the bath and washing hair quickly in the sink. This was extremely time consuming.

Nothing was wrong in the street with mains supply it was the water cylinder and a pipe in my house. They knew this from the first day but refused to change the tank for a new one so they tried to repair bits of it for a month or just came and stood and looked at it on 9 occasions. They have now replaced it.

If this was my own house I could have paid someone to come change the cylinder once we knew it was not working, but I was not able to as I had to wait for the other 8 engineers to come and look and fiddle with it first. If I was paying for a service and it wasn’t good enough I could have looked elsewhere. This service is included in my rent, it’s not my cost to bear.

It’s hard to convey how miserable and stressful this past 4 weeks have been. Not only have I had to take all these days off my full time job, often for no reason at all, at my own expense I have used up my annual leave, lots of additional driving and fuel that I didn’t need to do (to shower) my
employer is very unhappy with me and I am out of pocket. I can’t gain back 9 days of holiday so I can’t use it later in the year now.

I don’t think not being able to wash or flush your toilet in a rented home for 4 weeks is a minor issue

It is tho.

the long hair is just an excuse, I regularly wash my hair over the sink and my hair is down to the sink.

From what you’ve said they tried a replacement part, that didn’t work and they’ve ended up having to replace the part in full, that is standard procedure and will be in your tenancy agreement to repair to maintain… then replace of the repair can’t be maintained then it will be a renewal.

You simply don’t go out and buy a new washing machine because it needs a part, you try and replace the part before buying a new one, it’s the same with any appliance.

Oh come off it you're being ridiculous. No running water AT ALL for an entire month is not a "minor issue." I'm not in the UK so can't speak on the legal situation but where I am in the EU pretty sure the landlord would have to accommodate tenants elsewhere - hotel for the entire month if necessary - as the property would be deemed uninhabitable until water is fixed.

so many typos waist if etc..

Mind I don’t think you are UR, however don’t believe you have reasonable expectations or have the awareness that you could have made this process easier on yourselves, rather than harder.

Nothing was wrong in the street with mains supply it was the water cylinder and a pipe in my house. They knew this from the first day but refused to change the tank for a new one so they tried to repair bits of it for a month or just came and stood and looked at it on 9 occasions. They have now replaced it.

It's pretty normal to try and repair things before paying for the full cost of a replacement.

Did you really have to take time off work every single time? I'd have just left a key with them and had them get on with it.

Being over a barrel stuck with the awful trades contracted by the council was a very annoying part of the deal, when I was a council tenant. They'd come whenever and you'd have no say in it and often very little notice, usually do a shit job, and have to come back multiple times. They had no incentive not to annoy me or to fix the issue quickly, as they'd get paid anyway.I once asked a big wig from the council who my complaint had been escalated to, if he'd have been happy with the service I'd had, if it was his house - his response was that he wouldn't let the council's contractors work on his house!

I believe there are specifications re timescales you can be left without hot water or a working toilet, it should be on your HAs website or in your tenancy info. Check it, and put in writing where they've breached it and what the outcome of that should be (if it's specified in your tenancy agreement) or what you want them to do now (if it's not).

I don't know what the usual protocol is in this situation, but I don't see the harm in asking/making a complaint. For the cost of few minutes it takes to make the complaint, I don't see how you lose, even if they say 'no we're not going to compensate you for x reason'.

Did you ask the HA for assistance while you had no water? Temporary large water heater for example?
It's pretty standard to not get a replacement immediately with a HA, as frustrating as it is they have to jump through hoops to get bigger jobs/replacements signed off. But I do think more could be proactive in offering temporary solutions in situations like this rather than tenants having to ask.

How much compensation do you want? If you've kept records and receipts for extra fuel then that seems reasonable (but unlikely to be agreed to be honest), it's harder to put a figure on using your annual leave as you are not financially worse off.

OP has already stated that she had running water in the kitchen.

Apparently she didn't have a bucket or know anyone who could lend her a bucket. Same as she didn't have any pans apparently.

Definitely padding for a compo claim.

If this was my own house I could have paid someone to come

I'm not sure I really understand the problem. If you are living in so called affordable housing and not satisfied with the services divided, why not move out to your own place.

This would free up the accommodation for someone's use and allow you to make your own arrangements for repair and maintenance.

I'm council & was left with no heating or hot water for 5 days during winter 2010, there was only a gas fire in the living room, ds & I ended up sleeping on the sofas down there for the full 5 nights, the gas meter was going round like it was going to take off.

I think you misjudge how easy it is to get decent trades people, parts and labour if you own your own house. We own. We have been without a flushing toilet for 2 weeks due to a part that wasn't in stock anywhere. Yes we used a bucket. When our Emerson tank leaked through the ceiling we waited another 2 weeks plus had to pay £4k for a new boiler system in the end. That didn't include the ceiling repairs. Life isn't always so easy owning either. I feel
Private rent and social housing tenants don't really understand this.

I had buckets and pans and jugs I already mentioned them, but this is not Victorian Britain and I had an installed otherwise functional hot water system that needed a new tank but no one would commit to replacing it and they didn’t even replace many parts, they mostly just came out to look at it. They replaced one of the same parts twice

I drove a lot of extra miles in my car costing fuel and running up my mileage. I also had to take all these days off work, yes. Not every job you can wfh, and not every job will pay you to sit at home 8-5 waiting for a plumber, what world are people living in when this is acceptable way to treat a paying customer, I am a tenant not a freebie. They have offered me £150 and I might just take that, it will cover my fuel costs for sure.

I’m a tenant I pay rent like anyone else who rents. I don’t have free housing

Check the landlord's repair policy for timescales and see if it has a compensation policy. Often there will be defined compensation for loss of amenity and repair delays.

Go through the formal complaint process, clearly outlining the impact on you and any financial loss. See what it says in response. If you remain dissatisfied, escalate it to the housing ombudsman for a review.

Well as they've offered £150 you should accept that!
Washing hair over a sink using bowl and jug is not the dreadful ordeal you are trying to portray IMO.

My husband used to rent a flat out, when his tenants were left without hot water and flushing toilet he had to provide them with alternative housing until the issue was solved.

When our own water system had issues that meant we couldn’t flush our toilets our home insurance arranged alternative housing until the issue was solved.

The £150 may cover petrol, but was your time of work paid or unpaid?