Landlord making a claim

[rockstarchick]

So I moved out my last home as the landlady was moving back until it
I was only there 6 months
Anyway I accidentally dropped my hair dryer and made a burn on the carpet. When the inspection came I disclosed what I did and obviously said I would repair
I moved out 5th the inspection was done 6th and heard nothing so I called Friday 14th to be told I need to wait until she's had her quotes
I called Monday as I said it's been 12 days and I would like to know how long it's going to be
It's now Wednesday and nothing
The letting agency said i can call the dps but surely they should still e trying to sort ?
Any advice as this has never happened to me before
Thanks in advance

You can contact shelter for legal advice on this but I'm sure they have a time scale in which they can either make a claim or release deposit.

If you contact dps they should also be able to tell you the time frame

Thanks called the dps
Very helpful
They said 10 days ideally so I can open a case if I don't hear back soon
Going to speak to the letting agency again and say I want to hear back today

Got the quote, £220
😞😞😞😞

Remember your LL can’t put in a “new for old claim”. For example if an average carpet would last 5 years before being replaced and the damaged carpet was 3 years old when you moved out then then you would only be liable for 2/5 of the cost of a new carpet.

Do you know how old and what condition was in when you moved in? If the LL trying to claim the full cost of a new carpet?

No idea
I've asked to see the quote and they are so slow so until I see it I won't know
I've also told her I will be disputing it
Spoken to the dispute people and they are very good
They said I can ask for the remaining £880 to be transferred in the mean time whilst I dispute the £220 x

do that - the undisputed portion should come straight back.

landlady gets to claim value of total carpet divided by area damaged. If carpet more than eight years old, deemed worthless. So unless you've wrecked a big area of a brand new carpet she will get tuppence. (this is why rentals don't have flashy carpets).

And that's even if she can prove condition with a signed inventory from when you moved in.

So this is the damage !

She 'says' they are 2 yrs old and the quote was £275 so she's letting me off £50 by asking for £220
Will submit my dispute and least i get my £880 in mean time x

as I said, it doesnt work like that. as she will find out from the deposit scheme.

If they are 2 years old I would offer 3/5 of the bill based on a carpet in a rental having a 5 year life span. That’s £168.

If she doesn’t agree get the deposit scheme to decide.

claim value of total carpet divided by area damaged

It doesn’t work like that. If a carpet is damaged, it needs replacing, no matter how much of it is damaged.

2 yo? It looks a lot older or very dirty. Did the charge include the cleaning of the carpet? What did the inventory say?

Exactly what I thought, i have been told to ask for receipts as I don't believe they were 2 years old.
The inventory says they were 'average condition, uneven surfaces and discolouring in places'

The carpets in my opinion weren't in the best condition and were very dirty
You can see from the side how dirty they were

If anyone is asking why I chose to move in there I had not much choice at the time
I had split from my ex and needed somewhere ASAP
It wasn't ideal but was a roof over our heads

The place was filthy and my mum and I scrubbed it clean. It was so much cleaner by the time we had finished with it

Which I know makes no difference as I know I made the damage and I'm willing to repair it not replace it when the repair people said they could do a repair

I haven't seen the quote yet so hopefully Will today
X

There is a calculation used to work out how much you should pay.
I took this from DPS website so amounts are theirs but it gives you an idea of how they would work it out if you go to dispute.

a) Cost of similar replacement carpet/item - £500.00
b) Actual age of existing carpet/item - 2 years
c) Average useful lifespan of that type of carpet/item - 10 years
d) Residual lifespan of carpet/item calculated as c) less b) - 8 years
e) Depreciation of value rate calculated as a) divided by c) - £50 per year
f) Reasonable apportionment cost to tenant calculated as d) times e) - £400.00

And why should I pay for a whole carpet when if it can be repaired at half the price ?
Who knows that at £275 she has chosen the best under lay and good quality carpet so I'm paying 2/5 of that when it wasn't the best quality to begin with? That's what I'm disputing?

At the last inspection my LL noted a new stain on one of the carpets and said the cost would have to come out of my deposit when we leave.

I lifted up the corner and told her to note that it says 1997 in big pen underneath and I don’t think she’s going to get much return on a 21 year old carpet ffs

Wow 1997? That's old!

I just want things fair and I don't think my LL is being fair

I need to see the quote to see what this is for - as I say I think it's not reasonable to get a whole new carpet because of one bit of damage can can be repaired

yes, of course you cant replace part of the carpet but the tenant does not have to pay for the whole lot, only the value lost.If the carpet is more than a few years old it has no value even if the whole thing is set on fire.

please do not use the guardian as your source for rental law.

Thanks special subject
So what would you do now ? If you were me? X

raise a dispute with the protection scheme. It is for the landlord to prove damages owed.

Yeah I will do that
Just wondering what I withdrew be expected to pay
On that calculation I may as well pay the £220 😞

NO, don't do that! a carpet from 1997 is worth nothing, even an eight year old one is worth nothing. I don't know how big the damage is but a hairdryer is small.

I had a tenant burn a perfect iron mark in the middle of a five year old carpet. Nothing comes out of the deposit.

your landlord needs to learn how things work in the rental business.

That's not my post re the 1997 that was a reply
This carpet is only 2 yrs old so not the same scenario for me
I just meant if I go by that calculation that someone said was on the dps website then I may as well pay !
I won't and I'll dispute it but waiting to see what the letting agency say regarding my last conversation with them

sorry, my mistake.

however even if the carpet is only two years old the proportions still apply.

the letting agency are irrelevant, take it to a dispute.

True, they said something about a counter offer and I've asked them for my £880 so will need to chase them for that

Yeah I'll definitely do the dispute option