anybody know anything about lettings?

[mrsflibble]

if a landlord's agent isn't contactable and one has an emergency maintenance issue, is one withing ones rights to call a plumber and then charge one's letting agent for the callout?!

i have water leaking through my bathroom ceiling. it's stained a large area and has brought down a bibble of plaster 6" in diameter.

[Milims]

Is it still leaking? Can you turn the water off? Strange that there is no emergency number for you to contact.

[mrsflibble]

i rang the emergency contact number and I got a bt message stating it had been disconnected.

I rang the answering serivce of our agent and left an urgent message but nobody has got back to me.

turning off the water isn't an option until james gets home because 1 i dont know where the stopcock is and 2. i cant get in the loft to investigate anyway.

[Milims]

Your stop cock in usually under your sink in the kitchen or utility. Mad as this may sound, go your your electricity meter and follow the green and yellow wire that comes from it - this should lead you to where the water enters the property and you should find the stopcock along the way.

[mrsflibble]

thanks!!

[KathyLauren]

Turning off the water will stop the leak, but it means you have no water. That's a problem.

I can't advice you on landlord-tenant law, especially since I don't live in the same country as you, but in any reasonable jurisdiction, you could call a plumber and send the bill on to the landlord. A plumbing emergency is an emergency. If you can document that you tried to call the agent (note the date and time), and if you don't have the plumber do more than necessary, you should be fine. You are saving the landlord money, because the leak is already damaging the plaster. The sooner you have it fixed, the less it will cost him.

[Brij]

The nearest that I am aware of for certain is when a landlord has refused requests to fix an essential problem, like plumbing/electrics. In that circumstance you are under obligation to get 3 quotes and use the plumber/electrician/plasterer/acrobat that provides the lowest quote.

If you have time to do all that, I think that's what I'd do.

Good luck!