Updating post from Reddit.
Hi all,
I’m renting a flat in London and recently discovered a crack in the ceramic glass surface of the Siemens electric hob. I’m not sure how it happened — could have been an accident or stress damage, but there’s no obvious impact point.
I reached out to Siemens directly and got the following quote:
• Labour: £119 • Ceramic glass replacement: £220 • Sealing strip: £34Total: ~£373
Now I’m wondering: Should I first contact my landlord/property management and ask if they want to arrange the repair, or should I send them this quote and ask for approval to go ahead myself and cover it?
My concern is:
• If I leave it to them, I might get slapped with a way higher charge (I’ve seen horror stories). • If I repair it myself without permission, they might still deduct from the deposit or say I didn’t use the right part/service.Has anyone been through this? What’s the best way to handle this kind of thing to protect my deposit and avoid inflated charges?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Like many others have said if this is an old unit the LL is not entitled to betterment at your expense. Though if you broke it they may attempt to recover some of the costs from you.
I have had two occasions where these jobs have become damaged over the years and in each case I have just replaced them for the tenants at my expense. These things do break / get broken so replacing them occasionally is just the cost of doing business.
I would suggest you reach out to the agent and ask them how to proceed.
How old is the hob? How many years old?
Not quite sure I signed the tenancy agreement last september
It's important. If the hob is a few years old you are not liable for betterment, only some of the cost.
Eg. if it cost £500 new but depreciated over 5 years you'll be liable only for a part.
Thank you so much for the input. I will try to find out how old my induction is.
I would start by asking advice on how the damage likely happened. I'm sure there are subreddits that could advise on the likely culprit. With a picture people here would likely have a go. If it's stress then you don't have to pay anything.
Like the other guy said, if this is an old cooker then a like for like replacement could also be close to nothing. I wouldn't be looking at paying expensive contractors at this point. Also that is the max you would have to pay given everything else fails, your landlord can't elect someone more expensive to do the work especially when the quote is from the manufacturer.
I had people on another subreddit take a look, and unfortunately, it looks like an actual crack rather than heat-related damage. It doesn’t seem to be an old hob either — it looks like a fairly recent Siemens model.(however, not sure how long this hob was installed in this flat though. Will chase this with the management soon)
My main concern now is that the landlord might try to get a much higher quote or even push to replace the entire hob, which would make it way more expensive than necessary.
That's unfortunate, I guess you will be liable for the damage.
Your landlord can't do that. They have a duty to minimise your costs and you've already done the research and got a top line quote.
If it is an unduction hob, you may be able to source replacement glass and fit it yourself. Fairly easy diy job.
Ceramic hobs do crack. It happens - even to 'newish' ones e.g due to a damaged heating element or improper installation.
It can of course also happen from dropping something on the hob or placing something very cold on it while it's hot. If you did neither (as you have stated), then that was likely not the cause of the crack.
If it wasn't your fault, I do not recommend replacing yourself or even suggesting this (even if the landlord agrees to refund you for it).This is because, if you do so and the new hob needs repairs in future, the landlord may argue that it was your incorrect installation or poor quality appliance that caused the issue - and the landlord would have a point.
I recommend reporting it as a maintenance/repair issue and let the landlord repair or replace as needed.
Keep as much evidence as you can of the crack, the quote from Siemens etc. This is in case the landlord decides to deduct an amount from your deposit for this at the end of the tenancy. These will help to support your dispute with the deposit scheme in future, if it comes to that.
I would contact the landlord directly, tell them you have a quote from Siemens, you will be covering it and ask if it’s ok to proceed. I would be thrilled if my tenant did this. It won’t be the landlord adding on costs it would be the letting agent, they do this to landlords all the time.