Who should pay? Tenant or landlord

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Windy here yesterday, not a storm but enough to be noisy and see the trees really moving around.

Tennant opened a fairly high up flat window while cooking.
Window blew open hard, hinges are bent and now it can’t be closed properly.
Window is about 2 metres, opens from the bottom, upvc and otherwise has no issues.

Landlord! Not the tenants fault if perfectly normal weather can damage the window.

Landlord. Unless it was a hurricane I don’t see how you could expect a window to break from non-storm level wind.

I think that the tenant’s insurance should pay.

opening windows during a storm (uk has had 2 storms this weekend) is pretty daft and I don’t see why the landlord should have to pay for their stupidity.

Landlord.

But as a landlord I'd be miffed, as although windows are mine to fix, it was the tenant actions that caused the damage.

It's a building issue, so landlord to pay.

Landlord via their own buildings insurance. Not the tenant.

Was there an active weather warning in force in that area, for windy conditions, at the time the window was opened?

In my opinion, entirely reasonable to open a window while cooking. Damage therefore most likely landlord's responsibility. You may be able to argue a contribution from tenant if conditions were windy enough to warrant a weather warning. Otherwise I'd argue the hinges weren't up to the job.

Which tenants insurance are you expecting to pay out? There's nothing a tenant would have that should cover windows.

Having been both a landlord and tenant I think this is a landlord issue.
It is quite common to have to open a window when cooking.
It sounds as though the hinges just weren't very good quality rather than the tenant was doing something unexpected.

Well I suspect the landlord would have to pay, but the person opening the window needs to consider their stupidity, if it was really windy then keep windows closed if they're the type that swing open in the wind

A window that opens from the bottom wouldn't expect to be damaged by wind. I'd potentially think twice about opening a side hinged window, but there has to have been something wrong for a bottom opening one to be broken by a non- hurricane wind.

This is what landlord's building insurance is for. It's not the tenant's fault, and nor could they insure against such an incident.

Have been both- the landlord.

I agree with @SnowsFalling , it would be my responsibility but I would be a bit miffed as there were plenty of weather warnings at the week end. I would be approaching the Managing Agent regarding the buildings insurance though.

Landlord, and probably covered by the landlord's buildings insurance.

Landlord, but I wouldn't be keeping that tenant for long.

You sound nice

I’ve not been a tenant since I was a student but back then we all had to have insurance that covered our belongings against loss, theft and accidental damage. It also covered accidental damage to the building and when the property was broken into we each had to use our insurance to sort out the damaged doors to our rooms and the back door that had been damaged as they gained entry.

I assumed tenants would have insurance to cover against damage such as that in the op, it’s not fair for landlords to have to cover the costs where the tenant hasn’t used their common sense.

Landlord but I’d also expect the landlord might decide not to renew as common sense say windows wide open and strong winds do not mix well and put a safety catch on the window too.

I’d pay if it was my tenant. I wouldn’t think badly of them either unless they had a significant history of damaging things.

Landlord. 1) it's an issue with the structure of the property and 2) it's not like the winds were that bad - if a relatively light wind can cause that damage, the structure wasn't very sound.

I’m not sure about weather warnings, but I live on the same road as the tenants (I’m a landlord so they asked me, but not their landlord).
I was tbh leaning towards negligence. I’d closed all my windows and the story seems off. Open a crack as described it looks impossible. Maybe if it was open absolutely full the wind could lift it? The window looks not old and decent.
I kind of saw why the landlord has said negligence, but was wondering other’s opinion before I answered. I said I’d think

From the first line of the OP 'not a storm'

It’s pet and parcel of being a landlord. You pay.

*part not pet

They have done a lot of stupid things tbh, that they’ve moaned about. Our kids are friends and it’s not the first time she’s called me in to look.. Not reported a crack in the shower that leaked for ages. Flooded with a tap om, snapped things….Tbh they also have awful condensation and they usuallly hate opening windows, so it’s weird. The flat was decorated and a lot of work before they moved in, it’s not crappy. No idea if they’ve paid before. I don’t dislike her, but I’m glad not my tenant!