This blog clinic post from Bill is probably a bit after the event but is worth looking at anyway:
We are due to move out of a rented property as we are buying a new home as such we started to pack things away in boxes etc.
We had a picture on the mantel piece above the fire place in our current rented property which I was taking off when with very little pressure/force the top piece of the fire place started to fall from its placing.
I immediately dropped the picture and tried to catch it from falling however it’s weight was too great for me and I fell to the floor with it injuring my arm slightly whilst trying to insure it did not injure my dog and wife who were both sitting close by.
I kept the right hand side of the piece up with my arms yet the left hand side hit the floor and chipped badly.
Together me and my wife re-positioned the piece only to find the fittings were very, very loose but we do not want to take it back down from the fireplace.
We took pictures of the damage and fittings before re-positioning the piece.
I immediately contacted the landlord who I was only recently given contact details for to inform him of what happened and that we are worried it is very unsafe.
The landlord sounded angry but made no threats but continuously referred to the piece costing £1000. He agreed to come and view what has happened.
I am unhappy that I may be charged for something that was so unstable and completely out of my control given we had no idea of its instability until it came crashing down to the floor.
I feel intimidated/worried that the landlord will be here and possibly in an angry state when he comes to view the damage given the anger in his voice over the phone.
Please could you provide me with any help possible in terms of what I should do.
We have never had a landlord dispute or claim of this kind in the past and are worried we will be treat unfairly and need to know our legal rights.
Almost certainly the landlord has by now visited (I am afraid we cannot get the blog clinic posts up that quick – there is always a delay of a day or two at best). However my view is that if the mantel fell down that easily it must have been loose anyway and you should not be held liable for this.
I would suspect that the mantel of a fireplace will be part of the structure of the property (although this may be a moot point) and if so it will fall under the landlords statutory repairing covenants. It does not sound as if its condition can be put down to you. Indeed you may well have a claim against the landlord for personal injury, if your arm was injured by it falling.
If a claim is made for the mantel repair I would suggest that it be rejected and referred to adjudication if the landlord is not prepared to drop it.
So far as the visit is concerned (if it has not already taken place) probably best to say as little as possible other than that it was not your fault and that you cannot be held liable. I am glad to hear that you have taken photographs. Make sure that they are clear and show exactly what the problem is.
Surely this would be covered under the landlords insurance for accidental damage?
The fact that the tenant called the landlord to tell him about this shows that he is trying to do the right thing. I understand that this landlord was cross because of the damage but he should remain calm and wait until he has looked at the problem before making a judgement about who is responsible. In this situation I would have been far more concerned that a defect in one of my properties might have caused injury to one of my tenants. Damage to property is easily corrected, injury to a person may mean loss of earnings and an impact on that persons life.
I would be interested to know how this was resolved?
Thanks for your comment Mary, yes you are quite right, the landlord should first look to his insurance to cover damage. I forgot to mention that.
Being a nerdy lawyer, I am quite interested in the question of whether the mantel is part of the ‘structure and exterior’ of the property or not (s11 L&T85). I suppose it depends on its actual construction. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?
A good lawyer yes but nerdy never Tessa.
I once had to claim for a underground pipe burst. The loss adjuster tried to say that the kitchen units that had been damaged were not part of the building. My argument was that anything that is permanently fixed and would be automatically sold as part of the building was in fact part of the “fixture and fittings” is in fact part of the building. They paid.In my opinion this would also apply to fire places?
This landlord should have checked with his insurer before visiting the property, he would then have known if he was likely to be facing costs.The cost of fixing the problem is likely to be far less than the cost of a successful claim for personal injury from this tenant.
Tessa let me through in another thought. Under section 11 the landlord is not liable till notified of the disrepair.
What may be more useful here will be the defective premises act as if this heavy item was not sufficiently fixed to the wall the builder could have a liability as well as the landlord and this does not need to have notification from the tenant to say there is a fault.
Good point. Depending on how old the premises are I suppose and whether the builder can be traced.