Here is a question to the blog clinic from Madge (not her real name) who is a tenant
I am a tenant in a house sharing with 3 others. There are two bathrooms in the house, I rent the room on the top floor and ‘share’ the bathroom with a male housemate.
At the beginning of the month, the toilet blocked and disgusting water seeped up the plughole in the bath. A plumber came out and removed the mess, he then showed me something called a sani flow which was hidden behind a panel in the wall. I had never heard of this thing until then and had no idea it was there. He explained that it pumped away ‘waste’ from the toilet, shower and sink.
He told me that it had been blocked with ‘female hygiene products’ and the motor had burned out. He then lectured me about what I should and shouldn’t be flushing down the loo.
The next day all of us received an email from the agent telling us that ‘sanitary towels’ had been found in the ‘drains’ and we would have to pay the plumber’s charge plus the cost of a replacement sani flow.
No sanitary towels had been flushed down the toilet, the ‘female hygiene products’ were in fact tampons which I have flushed down the toilet since I was 12 and no one has ever said anything about it before.
The sani flow has still not been replaced – there is a Do Not Use sign on the door. The agent has sent us a quote for a new sani flow, it cost us over £500.
My question is – do I have to pay for all these costs if:
a) I was never told there was a sani flow in the bathroom
b) Flushing tampons down the toilet is not an uncommon practice.
c) The agents report alleges that sanitary towels were the cause, but this was incorrect
d) The report was completed by a MALE plumber whose use of a toilet is much less complicated than a woman!Or should we just go to the council and report the landlord?
Answer
I think I agree with you on the whole. It all boils down to what is reasonable conduct.
First – if the toilet is especially sensitive to ‘female hygiene products’ then you should have been told this and warned not to flush them. I also think you should have been provided with a separate bin to put them in.
I agree that it is common for tampons to be flushed down the toilet, whereas it is generally understood that the considerably larger sanitary towels are likely to cause problems.
Which means that if tampons were going to cause problems, you should have been specifically warned of this.
My advice to landlords on this point is to warn new tenants in writing and maybe attach a copy of the written warning to the tenancy agreement. And put up a notice in the toilet. Prevention is always best..
As you had not been warned, then it was probably reasonable for you to flush the tampons, meaning (in my opinion) it is up to the landlord to cover the cost of repair. (Although as you now know about the problem, you should not flush them in future).
Whatever the cause, the landlord should arrange for the repairs to be done promptly as a toilet is an essential requirement in the home. So if it looks as if it is not going to be replaced, then yes, speak to the Council about it.
I think there is a strong argument for refusing to pay, or if you have already paid, for deducting the cost from your rent.
However if you do this, and if the landlord then deducts the cost from your deposit – bear in mind that this is not something that (if the dispute goes to adjudication) the adjudicator can deal with and he will probably find for the landlord.
So in that case you would need to ask for the dispute to be dealt with via the courts, as the Judge is empowered to deal with disrepair disputes and can also award compensation to tenants, if he considers it justified.
However court claims are more complex and take a long time so you may not want to do this.
If you check on your water company website you will find that tampons are on the list of items not to be flushed down the toilet, they are not bio-degradable. The advice from the water companies is pee, poo and paper, also known as the three Ps… nothing else should be flushed down a toilet. There have been many many campaigns on this topic by all the major water companies…The “Bag it and Bin it” campaign by Southern Water is one example.
https://www.southernwater.co.uk/Media/Default/PDFs/bagit_binit.pdf
As the water companies list items that should not be flushed down a toilet, including tampons, surely the above issue does become a tenant expense, ignorance shouldn’t be an excuse. We have never mentioned what should or shouldn’t be flushed down a toilet to any of our tenants but maybe we should. It would also be interesting to hear from other landlords as to whether they warn their tenants regarding this issue.
As answers above, I also feel that ignorance is not a complete enough excuse. It seems commonly enough known that these products can/will cause blockages, and of course therefore the damage is caused at the expense of the tenant. There are no hard and fast rules, but personally I do believe that tenants should be made aware that there is a Sani-flow or any other less than typical equipment in operation, because the costs are considerably different and operation may be more complicated. I also believe that the repairs should be undertaken immediately and the landlord should claim the costs back of you. These are urgent repairs, and I also don’t believe that the other members of the household should be indisposed!
I would suggest that common sense (as always) should prevail. I am staggered that it was not mentioned to you that the system was saniflo as these break if even an cotton ear bud goes down them. But if you get into the argument of it was a tampon not towel, it may be ruled you shouldn’t have put anything down there. Before rushing to the council/law office/legal aid which seems to be everyones first choice….have you tried to speak to the landlord (not agent)? I would be pointing out to the landlord that the agent didnt explain the saniflo as i would expect anyone doing your checkin to explain this. You may find its the agent at fault.
If this were my property, i would probably be offering to split the cost (on the basis you weren’t informed it was a saniflo….if you had have been, then would be down to you). I am sure the landlord wants it rectified and knows that he can’t leave you without a working loo (unless you can use the one on the other floor?). Hope you get it sorted. Communication is the key.
As this is a house share assuming you are on a joint AST, can you prove that NONE of you were told about the sani flow. A sani flow can also be heard operating whenever the WC is flushed, so I find it hard to believe you did not know there was one.
(And this is why I will never fit a sani flow.)
“Flushable wipes” are anther common problem, as the block lots of drains but yet the supermarkets keep telling people they can flush them away. The water companies will charge you if they block the sewer.
Landlords should also specifically warn tenants that the oven is hot, the stairs are a trip hazard, smoking is a health risk and not to sit on the roof in high winds.
And attach it in writing to the tenancy agreement. And put up warning signs.
Alternatively, they could just refuse to take on tenants lacking in basic common sense who don’t take responsibility for their own stupid actions.
Or maybe just rent properties to men.
I always chucked them down the toilet and it would not have occurred to me to do anything else unless I had been specifically told so.
Can we have some comments from the ladies?
Whoever ends up paying for the replacement unit has the right to ask for more than one quotation. The letting agent cannot force either party to use the tradesman they sent, and pay the costs on the basis of one quote. I am assuming the costs refer to the plumber who visited the property to clear the blockage and gave a quote to repair.
Before you charge off to the council and report the LL, do you actually know how informed he or she is about what’s happened.
What is point (d) is all about?
Tessa, I’m a female L/L and was/is well aware that sanitary products should not be flushed down the toilet, something my mum explained back in the heady days of the 80’s :-)
I’m a lady L/L and have never mentioned this to any of my female tenants in the past. I was told by my mum back in the 80’s that you shouldn’t flush any sanitary products down the toilet. Going forward though I will mention the do’s and dont’s re what can be flushed.
The case is a fine example of silly inventory issues, that could have easily be prevented.
The main problem is not if we ladies should flush tampons down the drain or if there should be any “special” instructions regarding that.. Every mature woman should be fully aware, that in rare ocassions flushing a tampon could turn out a mess, what appearently has happend. In my personal opinion no matter aware or not, it is the tenant’s fault that wc inventory has ended up with more than £500 in repairs.. It’s called common sense. I am bout to enter my 30’s soon and I would never flush mine… like that. How old is the tenant?