housing association problem......
Discussion
Hey all i wondered if any one can help / looking for a 3rd party point of view.
where do i start a month ago my mother and the other 6 houses in her close ( in a tony village ) where told they will be getting new front doors fitted ad the current ones are rather old and falling apart ( this would be after all 6 houses have had new pvc windows fitted ) the windows have now been replaced.
well last week my mother was on a holiday for a few days while i was left with the duties of looking after the dog , on arriving at her house on a rather warm day i found the front door would not open ( turns out the lock had jammed ) so after spending 3 hours trying to get in now impossible with the new windows ,
i had no other choice then to smash a large pain of glass to get in as the dog was getting rather agitated.
once in i then found who her housing association was and call them who explained they would send out a emergancy team to board up and SEMI secure the premises and finished by saying not to worry about the front door as it seems we where due a replacement any way.
not sure if it helps but when the guy ( a locksmith ) arrived he said its what he would have done on arriving any way and carried on with boarding the window up .
now today my mother recives a call to say all the doors in her close are now not being changed and she would have to pay 1k+ to have the door replaced and it must be done asap due to the damage !!
where do i stand as the way i see it :
(1) they stated the doors would be changed due to the age and condition and the fact the wood doors look awful with the white pvc windows! ( they are now saying they have another 5 years in them yet even though there awful and have a massive gap that howls and makes it very cold in the winter )
(2) a locksmith even stated he would have done the same when he had arrived not that i could find out who to call till i made entry also meaning i would have left the dog in doors in the hot weather all day !
( they are saying if i had called them to start with they would have smashed the window but replaced the door , but as i smashed the window i should pay )
any help or advice would be very welcome as dont see how i should pay for a new door as it was there lock that failed and as told by the locksmith he would have done the same when he arrived!
where do i start a month ago my mother and the other 6 houses in her close ( in a tony village ) where told they will be getting new front doors fitted ad the current ones are rather old and falling apart ( this would be after all 6 houses have had new pvc windows fitted ) the windows have now been replaced.
well last week my mother was on a holiday for a few days while i was left with the duties of looking after the dog , on arriving at her house on a rather warm day i found the front door would not open ( turns out the lock had jammed ) so after spending 3 hours trying to get in now impossible with the new windows ,
i had no other choice then to smash a large pain of glass to get in as the dog was getting rather agitated.
once in i then found who her housing association was and call them who explained they would send out a emergancy team to board up and SEMI secure the premises and finished by saying not to worry about the front door as it seems we where due a replacement any way.
not sure if it helps but when the guy ( a locksmith ) arrived he said its what he would have done on arriving any way and carried on with boarding the window up .
now today my mother recives a call to say all the doors in her close are now not being changed and she would have to pay 1k+ to have the door replaced and it must be done asap due to the damage !!
where do i stand as the way i see it :
(1) they stated the doors would be changed due to the age and condition and the fact the wood doors look awful with the white pvc windows! ( they are now saying they have another 5 years in them yet even though there awful and have a massive gap that howls and makes it very cold in the winter )
(2) a locksmith even stated he would have done the same when he had arrived not that i could find out who to call till i made entry also meaning i would have left the dog in doors in the hot weather all day !
( they are saying if i had called them to start with they would have smashed the window but replaced the door , but as i smashed the window i should pay )
any help or advice would be very welcome as dont see how i should pay for a new door as it was there lock that failed and as told by the locksmith he would have done the same when he arrived!
A bag o'sand seems about 300% OTT for a front door to an HA (Housing Association) property - and that's being pessimistic 
.
An HA doing a volte face on a planned maintenance scheme is a pretty big gonad to drop though...
From working in an LA (Local Authority) Housing Repairs environment, I'd expect the HA's fee for an 'immediate' (within 2 hours, such as securing a property after a break in) visit to be in the region of, say, £80 - or £100 out of hours... We were always happy for tenants to make their own repairs (a new door, for example) and adopt the repair after inspection and ongoing dialogue to make sure the door fitted our requirements (security, finish etc).
The front door on the HA property I rented from 2003 to 2007 was some sort of composite material (and about £200 from Wickes with fittings) - add labour and what does it cost??!?!
A bag o'sand for a new front door is an insult! There is some sort of ombudsman but I can't recall it... The HA will have a complaints procedure (on which they are monitored) though; I'd suggest this as a first port of call !
Good luck
.
. An HA doing a volte face on a planned maintenance scheme is a pretty big gonad to drop though...
From working in an LA (Local Authority) Housing Repairs environment, I'd expect the HA's fee for an 'immediate' (within 2 hours, such as securing a property after a break in) visit to be in the region of, say, £80 - or £100 out of hours... We were always happy for tenants to make their own repairs (a new door, for example) and adopt the repair after inspection and ongoing dialogue to make sure the door fitted our requirements (security, finish etc).
The front door on the HA property I rented from 2003 to 2007 was some sort of composite material (and about £200 from Wickes with fittings) - add labour and what does it cost??!?!
A bag o'sand for a new front door is an insult! There is some sort of ombudsman but I can't recall it... The HA will have a complaints procedure (on which they are monitored) though; I'd suggest this as a first port of call
!Good luck
.Sir Bagalot said:
So you damaged a door and want someone else to take responsibility for it?
In my book, whether it was getting replaced or not, you damaged it you repair it.
Simples
That's not quite what's being said, they aren't able to fix the door (i.e. replace pane of glass) but have to replace the whole door but at silly cost. It a bit like if you wrote off someone's Ford Focus and wanted you to pay in full for the replacement, that replacement being the cost of a Porsche 911 rather than a Ford Focus as that's what was going to be his next car.In my book, whether it was getting replaced or not, you damaged it you repair it.
Simples
Hi thanks for the help i do understand i damaged the door etc but then to be told by the guy that came out to board up that he would have smashed it when he arrived to gain entry any way , by then the poor mut would have shat all over the house and may have been well dehidrated , by the time the bloke arived i had been there 8 hours !
so what im getting at is i have to pay it as the wrotten frame wooden door that needs replacing gets replaced for a pvc unit as thats what they had planned due to the frame falling apart round the door that they can not fix or replace the pannel , all because i smashed the window instead of there bloke smashing it !
also if i did let my mother/me pay for the door whats the betting 2 weeks later they decide they will pay and have the other 6 houses front doors replaced.
so what im getting at is i have to pay it as the wrotten frame wooden door that needs replacing gets replaced for a pvc unit as thats what they had planned due to the frame falling apart round the door that they can not fix or replace the pannel , all because i smashed the window instead of there bloke smashing it !
also if i did let my mother/me pay for the door whats the betting 2 weeks later they decide they will pay and have the other 6 houses front doors replaced.
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