Legal Advice Rental Property: Get Free Help

Questioner

My father rents a house and now the carpeting has been damaged by a broken sewer pipe. This was reported to the relevant housing association, who then told us to claim on my father's home contents insurance. After we had the damage repaired, we submitted the bill to my father's insurance, which reimbursed 10% of the costs because the carpeting was older than 10 years. We then wrote to the housing association and explained the situation. The housing association's response was that they would not make a financial commitment because my father's insurance paid for part of the damage. This means that even though the housing association is responsible for the damage, they are leaving my father with a debt of over 500 euros. Thank you in advance for your answer.

Lawyer

Due to the age of the carpet, the (current) value at the time the damage occurred was only 10%. Because your father is getting 'new for old', and it is not the intention that he will be in a better position after the damage than before, the 'new for old' deduction is applied. Think of an old car with a residual value of 500 euros, which is written off due to someone else's mistake. You cannot get a new car for 500 euros; nevertheless, it would not be reasonable to compensate a higher amount of damage than the value of the old car. In fact, your father was compensated for all his damages, even though a large part of the invoice from the carpet supplier was not reimbursed. The housing association could perhaps transfer a symbolic amount as a gesture of goodwill, but if it is correct that the 'new for old' deduction amounts to 90%, there is actually no good reason for this.