Bill for blocked drain

[cleowasmycat]

So I rent through a letting agency. At the beginning of the week if was apparent there was a blocked drainage issue so I dutifully contacted the letting agent. They sent plumbers over who spent 10 minutes unblocking the drain on the property through to the drain on the pathway.
I have now received a bill for £234 saying I have to pay as it wasn’t a structural issue. £234!!!!
I could have got someone way cheaper but assumed it would be dealt with by the agent!
Am I being unreasonable to dispute this?

Does it say anything in your lease, did they say what caused the blockage.

I would say any bill you are expected to pay you should be informed of before the work is done so if you didn't have any conversation with the plumber/agent to that effect I would certainly challenge it.

I am surprised as they sent the plumber BUT if you have caused the blockage then you may well be liable.
You need the bill from The plumber

I didn’t even think to check tbh!

Check the lease, it should say who is responsible then get back to the agent

Hindsight is wonderful but... a set of plumbing rods and a plunger would have been much cheaper. Check your lease to ensure that you need to pay the invoice.

I can imagine there would be circumstances were a blocked drain would be the tenants responsibility (you'd been flushing inappropriate things down the toilet, for example), however, I think it would be reasonable to expect them to mention that when you called it in; ie.

"No problem, cleowasmycat, we can arrange a plumber but just to let you know, if it's caused by X, Y or Z then the bill will be your responsibility. Are you happy for us to go ahead and arrange?"

What was the cause of the blocked drain? If you putting wet wipes etc down there, then i don’t think the LL will be rushing to reimburse you

Unblocking a drain that's clogged with your waste seems like a tenant's responsibility. IANAL but this seems to fall within the category of acts which would be considered "tenant-like behaviour", i.e., which the law has long expected tenants to take responsibility for.

From Warren v Keen [1954] 1 QB 15 (sorry for the outdated use of male pronouns everywhere): "The tenant must take proper care of the place. He must, if he is going away for the winter, turn off the water and empty the boiler. He must clean the chimneys, when necessary, and also the windows. He must mend the electric light when it fuses ... he must do the little jobs about the place which a reasonable tenant would do."

The only question is whether it was reasonable for the agent to call someone and expect you to pay. The contractual basis for charging you seems a bit weak if they didn't mention the possibility when you spoke to them. They should have warned you that you might have to pay and given you the opportunity to sort it out yourself or shop around for a more competitive quote.

One other thing to mention: if the drain serves multiple properties then clearing it should be the sewerage company's responsibility AIUI.

What day was this on?

were you stilk able to use the toilet?

I have paid this for my tenant previously but made it clear I wouldn't pay again if it was something they were doing that blocked it. It seems a fairly standard fee to me for this kind of work so doubt you would have got it much cheaper. If it is a shared drain I would definitely go back and ask to get the cost shared with other users

We paid about £80 to unblock our drain recently through dynorod (although that was in SW Yorkshire) so I am not sure I'd agree with you on the cost, depending on the situation and location.

Was it an emergency call out OP? Was there sewage going places it shouldn't?