any Landlords around? I've damaged a carpet, what should I do?

[IWillAlwaysBeinaClubWithYouin1973]

In rental for 2 months, it's a 6 month contract. I've ruined a carpet, I don't think I can be saved it was pale grey and I was very sick on it due to a virus - could be classed as a genuine accident I suppose? I've tried everything on it including peroxide and ammonia, carpet cleaning company said they doubt they can get stains out; would cost £300 to try. Its a 10x10 room so really could just get a new carpet for that!

Should I confess to landlord now and see if they want to claim it on their landlord's insurance - is that even a thing? Or should I just wait and they can take cost of new carpet from deposit? Awkward as it is, I know they can claim it from deposit and I think that might be the fairest thing? There is no estate agent as such, they just did the "finding" and the landlord is meant to be managing it themselves but I know they are not the best at knowing what's legal or what's reasonable they are youngish people who've never rented out before. I want to be fair to them, but don't want them to get upset and want to evict me over it! I paid 6 months rent in advance. At the end I think they want to move back in here.

Contact your landlord and also see if you can claim for a new one on your contents insurance.

Mine covers it. But it is renters contents

There will probably be an excess on the landlords insurance and their premiums will go up if they claim.

Thanks to the landlords explaining they would like to know now (and also those acknowledging that in theory I wouldn't have to pay for the entire cost) this was the sort of opinion/info I was hoping to get from the thread. As another poster said upthread, I didn't do it deliberately, but equally I wouldn't deliberately let the landlord be out of pocket.

The bleach you've used on it will have done irreversible damage so it will need to be replaced. Contract the landlord and see what she wants to do. If it's wool, she'll need to make sure it's replaced with the same quality.

I'd say hire a rug doctor. If you can't shift it tell the LL, they will find out and if they just discover it at the end they will look at everything more closely, whilst if you admit it you will build trust.

Many years ago when I was a young thing, my flat mates and I had a wild party in our rented flat. The carpet the next day was in such a state…Guinness, red wine splashes, fag ash. We hired a carpet cleaning machine and did it ourselves - it came up beautifully! I agree with others, try renting a machine first.

Why on earth did you use ammonia for vomit?

I'd run out of Toilet Duck.

Your user name is really apt isn't it ...!!

Your cleaning probably made it worse.
I think you should tell them, if you wait they might be annoyed but you could get brownie points for honesty now.

10 out of 10 for snark but ammonia isn't a carpet cleaner.

oh yes it is. Getting a bit silly now though and I’ve had some good advice so I think we’ll leave it there.

Let them know, work it out.

what a lovely person you must not be.
oh sorry I scratched the side of your car when I opened my door, I'll just keep quiet and hope you didn't notice.

they have damaged someone else's property, just because they did not set out to deliberately vomit on the carpet does not alter the fact it is damage and should be dealt with as such

In a tenancy context then the tenant is liable for costs of rectifying damage, but the landlord is not entitled to "betterment", ie it is never new for old. If the damage cannot be repaired to put the item back to the state it was in, and therefore the item needs to be replaced, the cost charged to the tenant needs to be adjusted downwards to reflect the age of the item.
There is no set scale, but if the LL tries to claim the cost from the tenant's deposit, then the deposit scheme would typically consider a carpet in a tenancy has a 10 - 15 year lifespan,
So if the carpet had been down for 3 years, the deposit scheme would give the LL between 7/10ths to 12/15ths of the purchase price of a new carpet as a deduction from the tenant's deposit.

if the tenant wants to retain a decent relationship with their LL then admitting to the issue now is best, rather than waiting until they end the tenancy and try to reclaim their deposit.
No guarantee the LL will be "reasonable" in their reaction now, but if replacement is the only option then paying the full price is not what would be normal

Our household insurance covers accidental damage to a landlord’s property as standard if you are a tenant even if you don’t have accidental damage cover for your own property (I checked when our DC were renting at university and we added them to our multi-policy). Although, the vomit might be covered, I doubt damage caused by pouring ammonia on the carpet would be covered as that was not an accident.

As PPs have said, the amount you will have to pay depends on the age of the carpet, the expected life expectancy of a carpet of a similar quality and condition of the carpet when you moved in eg you would pay 1/5 of the replacement cost of a 4 year old cheap carpet with a 5 life expectancy but 16/20 of the cost if it is a high quality carpet with a 20 year life expectancy unless the carpet was already in poor condition (worse than would be expected for its age) when you moved in.

The landlord does not have any grounds to evict you because you damaged the carpet so don’t worry about that.

Let the landlord know before the end of the tenancy. It may take time to order and book fitting of a new carpet. If the property can’t be let until the carpet is replaced, they may ask for loss of earnings.