dispute with landlord over fire

[richproc]

to keep it simple. i had a fire in my rented house ( house share with 5 others.) because i nodded off after preparing a fry up ( i had been having trouble sleeping at the time.) the landlord had not fitted a alarm to the ground floor ( house built after 2002 so should have mains fitted as i understand.)

he told a few half truths to the insurance company to get the buildings insurance through so the large expenses are covered. however there are some excesses ( which i dont mind paying as i feel obliged to pay some as it was me who lit the pan illness aside) but he is also trying to make me pay for a holiday he missed because of dealing with the fire. ( cost of £210) now the back room next to kitchen was a bedroom when we viewed house,put deposit down and moved in. now he is using that room as leverage saying we cant use that room until i agree to pay everything.

what i want to know is a) can he make changes to the house like that and b) should i have to pay that.

[Twenty20]

Is the house a HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy). Do you know if it's classified as this, registered with the Local Council?

Are you renting individually or are the 6 of you on a joint tenancy? Do you rent individual rooms or the entire property? Does the landlord reside in the property or live elsewhere?

A lot of your queries depend on the answers to the above because the rules could be different depending on the type of tenancy.

[richproc]

im not sure about the HMO although ive been told is should be as there are 6 people living here and its 3 stories high. I believe its a joint tenancy and we rent the entire property. the landlord resides elsewhere

[FrankGalvin]

Forget the legal intricacies in this case: I would simply just ask the landlord if he thinks £210 is worth him being charged with fraud by the insurance company and being denied insurance again in future, or being allowed to let his properties within your local authority?

Your landlord has a fiduciary duty to supply his/her insurance company with accurate information. Your landlord has been less than honest. In additon, the excess on the policy is HIS/HER excess - they are the policyholders, not you. Do not pay anything! Not a farthing!

[Twenty20]

If its not an HMO then I dont believe it, legally, requires a smoke alarm (but if one is fitted it must be working). I dont let HMOs so I'm not 100% on this.

If you rented the complete property and the extra bedroom was included then it cannot be excluded now. It must be listed in the inventory - you do have an inventory?

Paying for a missed holiday is out of the question. I would have thought paying the excess would be reasonable or he could deduct it as an expense off your deposit.

Do you have your own insurance? You should have.