You could make a successful personal injury claim if you’re able to prove that third party negligence led to you suffering an illness or injury. Housing disrepair claims relate to landlord negligence.
Housing disrepair claims guide
You don’t have to have suffered an injury to make a housing disrepair claim, but you will need to have endured (for example) inconvenience or damage of possessions.
This article will explain how to claim compensation for housing disrepair, the evidence you need in order to do this and the benefits of using housing solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis.
What Is A Housing Disrepair Claim?
Successful housing disrepair claims are made after tenants renting a property prove that the landlord has been negligent in their responsibilities to maintain and manage it. This negligence needs to have resulted in you suffering. The landlord’s duty of care is established in legislation, such as the Defective Premises Act 1972 and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
To give a better idea of your landlord’s duty of care, they could be responsible for repairing:
- The structure and exterior of your home, such as external pipes, drains and gutters.
- Basins, baths, toilets, sinks and other relevant installations
- Installations for heating water and spaces (such as gas pipes as well as boilers, radiators, gas fires and fitted heaters)
Nothing written in your tenancy agreement can remove their duty of care. They have this legal obligation due to them owning the property. Disrepair compensation cases are created because some landlords fail to fulfil their responsibilities.
There is, however, one important factor to bear in mind with housing disrepair claims: you need to make sure you’re communicating with the landlord if there is a problem. If the landlord gives the responsibility of managing the property to a letting agent, then you need to contact them.
How To Prove Housing Disrepair Claims
Housing disrepair compensation is awarded if you’re able to show negligence but you won’t be able to prove negligence if you don’t tell them when there’s a problem and give them sufficient time to fix it. Examples of issues you may be able to make successful disrepair claims for include:
- A boiler malfunction which has been reported but not fixed in a reasonable timescale
- The front door being damaged and not repaired, which could put your safety at risk
- The roof not being fixed after reporting it to the letting agent/landlord.
You may be able to claim for any of these instances if you suffer because of them. Housing disrepair claims revolve around having sufficient evidence to prove negligence. To do this, you could need the following:
- A copy of your tenancy agreement
- Copies of the correspondence between you and your landlord. Emails help illustrate the series of events that could lead to you receiving housing disrepair claims compensation.
- Photographic evidence.
- Copies of medical reports and a record of the times you went to health-related appointments.
- Expert evidence can also be very useful. This could include surveyor reports.
Housing disrepair claims solicitors will only take your case if they feel you have sufficient evidence. This is why it’s important that, if you want to claim for disrepair that led to an injury, damage to your property, or inconvenience, you should keep an organised and detailed record of evidence you could use. The success of housing disrepair claims can rest on the validity and range of evidence provided.
No Win No Fee Agreements And Housing Disrepair Claims
You may be wondering, “what are the benefits of using No Win No Fee housing disrepair solicitors?” The benefits include:
- Not having to pay any legal fees either upfront or during the claims process.
- Instead, a small, legally capped portion of your compensation will be taken as payment only after compensation comes through.
- Not having to pay any legal fees if your claim is unsuccessful.
As such, you can be assured that, by using the services of lawyers or solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis, your housing disrepair claims costs can remain as low as possible. Your lawyer will be honest and upfront with you regarding the costs of claiming before you sign the agreement. Therefore, they’ll be no hidden costs.
How Can Bonus Lawyers Help Me?
Housing disrepair claims can be a difficult and stressful experience to deal with. However, our advisors can help with their free legal advice. Our advisors can answer any questions or queries, so, if you want to know your eligibility to claim, give us a call. They can also provide you with a reliable compensation estimate and put you through to one of our lawyers.
Our lawyers specialise in housing disrepair claims in the UK. They work on a No Win No Fee basis, will inform you of the evidence you need to give yourself the best chance of receiving compensation and can help build your case. They’re diligent, hard-working and their expertise could give you the best chance of receiving thousands of pounds in compensation.
Why not call us today to see if you could receive compensation?
If you’d like to learn more about making a claim, we have some other guides you may find useful: