By Olivia Reid. Last updated 24th May 2021. If you’re wondering how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair, this guide can help.
how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair
Faulty electrics resulting in housing disrepair claims are quite common in the UK and if you sustained any sort of injury or your belongings were damaged as a direct result of faulty electrics, you could file for compensation from a negligent landlord.
Landlords have a duty to ensure that electrical installations and wiring are deemed safe in their rental properties and if they fail in the duty to carry out necessary maintenance and repairs which results in you sustaining an injury and/or your personal possessions were damaged or ruined beyond repair, you have every right to take the matter further by contacting your local environmental authority to seek their help.
Select A Section
- What Type Of Problems Count As Housing Disrepair?
- Electrical Safety In Your Rented Property
- What Evidence Do I Need To Claim For Injuries Caused By Faulty Wiring?
- Electric Shock Injuries Caused By Faulty Electrics
- Calculating Settlements For Faulty Electrics – Housing Disrepair Claims
- No Win No Fee Claims Against A Landlord For Faulty Electrics
- Useful Links And Further Information
What Type Of Problems Count As Housing Disrepair?
Before we look at how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair, let’s look at what housing disrepair actually is.
Under UK law, all landlords must maintain their properties to an acceptable standard and they must carry out necessary repairs when they are reported to them. Any rental property that is allowed to fall into disrepair puts tenants at risk no only of developing certain health issues, but it can lead to their personal belongings being damaged or ruined too.
There are many ways a rental property can fall into disrepair through poor maintenance and failure on the part of landlords to carry out repairs when needed.
Typical housing disrepair is detailed below:
- Rotten window and door frames
- Rotten floorboards
- Leaky roofs/water tanks
- Dampness
- Mould
- Faulty electrics
- Badly maintained boilers
- Badly maintained fitted fires
- Poorly maintained pipework
- Badly maintained guttering
If you feel that your landlord has failed in their duty to correctly maintain your rented home to an acceptable standard and your health/well-being has suffered as a direct result, you could be entitled to file for compensation. To find out how to claim compensation from your landlord because of their negligence, please get in touch today.
Electrical Safety In Your Rented Property
if you’re wondering how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair, you’ll need to know about your responsibility as a tenant regarding electrical safety. Every year, many people die as a result of faulty electrical equipment and electrics in the home with around 50% of domestic fires being started due to faulty electrics. Staying safe in a rented home is of paramount importance.
It’s a landlords responsibility to ensure that all electrical installations, wiring and electrical equipment provided in a rented home is safe to use by regularly inspecting and maintaining it. With rented properties the maintenance should be carried out every 5 years or at the end of tenancies.
As a tenant, you also have certain responsibilities when it comes to fire safety in the home and must always inform your landlord of any electrical issues as soon as they become apparent. You must also maintain your own electrical equipment that was introduced into the home. With this said, you can ask your landlord to provide you with the following:
- A report that confirms all electrical installations and wiring has been inspected and deemed safe which is known as Electrical Installation Condition Report. These reports are carried out every 5 years or they can be done at the end of a tenancy
- Certification that all wiring work meets the necessary standards – UK national standards BS 7671
Should you have reported an electrical problem to your landlord and they failed in their duty to put things right, you have every right to get in touch with your local environmental officer and request they inspect your rented home with an end goal being to force a landlord to meet their legal obligations.
To find out more about how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair, please get in touch today.
What Evidence Do I Need To Claim For Injuries Caused By Faulty Wiring?
A lot of tenants ask us “what can I do if my landlord won’t fix things”? Should your health and well-being suffer as a direct result of housing disrepair due to faulty electrics and your landlord has failed to inspect the property and carry out necessary repairs, you have every right to contact your local environmental health officer and request that they inspect your rented home.
To strengthen your claim against a negligent landlord, you should do the following:
- Keep all photos of any electric faults and damaged property
- Keep all receipts of items you had to replace due electrical damage
- Keep all damaged items as they are needed as proof
- Keep all your medical reports if you sustained any injuries as a direct result of faulty electrics in your home
- Get a report from your local environmental health officer detailing condition of your home
To discuss how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair, please call us today and we will walk you through the process of filing this type of personal injury claim.
Electric Shock Injuries Caused By Faulty Electrics
Faulty electrics and housing disrepair claims are more common than most people think. Faulty wiring puts you in danger of being seriously injured and could even prove fatal especially if high voltage is involved. With this said, the severity of an electric shock does depend on the current, how it travels through your body as well as how quickly you receive necessary treatment. You overall health and well-being also plays a part in how an electric shock would affect you.
The sort of injuries you could sustain as a result of receiving an electrical shock are detailed below:
- Burns – slight to very severe
- Confusion
- Difficulty breathing
- Arrhythmias – heart rhythm issues
- Internal damage
- Cardiac arrest
- Muscle pain and contractions
- Seizures
- Loss of consciousness
It is worth noting that in some instances even the slightest electrical shock could prove fatal.
If you sustained an electrical shock due to faulty wiring in a rented home which has left you with burns and has affected you psychologically, you may want to speak to a personal injury lawyer to find out if you could make a faulty electrics landlord compensation claim against a negligent landlord. Talk to us today to find out how we can help you with your personal injury claim.
For more information on how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair, please read on.
Calculating Settlements For Faulty Electrics – Housing Disrepair Claims
If your faulty wiring or faulty electrics injury claim succeeds, you will receive general damages. This compensates you for your injuries and the way they affect your life, including the pain and suffering they cause you.
When solicitors and other legal professionals value claims, they may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document that states guideline settlement amounts for different injuries. Below, you can find some examples of the amounts listed in the 16th edition of the JCG that could be relevant to an electric shock claim.
Please only use this table as a guide.
| Type of Injury | Compensation Amount | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Very severe scarring from burns | £29,780 to £97,330 | Young claimants who suffer a severe psychological reaction |
| Less severe scarring | £17,960 to £48,420 | Substantial disfigurement and psychological reaction |
| Significant scarring | £9,110 to £30,090 | Scarring reduced by plastic surgery |
| Less significant scarring | £3,950 to £13,740 | No scarring visible |
| Trivial scarring | £1,710 to £3,530 | Minor impacts. |
| Severe burns and lung damage resulting in death | £12,540 to £23,810 | Death occurring between 2 weeks and 3 months of injury |
| Severe burns and lung damage resulting in death | £10,510 to £10,670 | Pain and unconsciousness followed by death within 2 weeks |
You could also be entitled to special damages if your claim is successful. This compensates you for the financial losses caused by your injuries. For example, under this heading, you could claim back:
- Travel costs.
- Prescription costs.
- Childcare expenses
However, you will need to provide evidence of these financial losses, such as bank statements and invoices. To find out if you can make a housing disrepair compensation claim or a personal injury claim against your landlord contact our team today.
No Win No Fee Claims Against A Landlord For Faulty Electrics
If you’re wondering how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair, you may also be wondering about the cost of a solicitor.
If you suffered any sort of health issue or your personal belongings were ruined due to faulty wiring in your rented home, seeking legal representation can prove expensive which would put you off trying to seek compensation for your loss. At Legal Expert, we would work with you on a No Win No Fee basis allowing you to get the right kind of legal advice and representation when you need it.
Working with us and having signed a Conditional Fee Agreement takes all the worry of finding enough money to take a negligent landlord to court because they failed to keep you safe in your home. We begin working on your case straight away without having to ask for an upfront fee. All we ask is a small success fee if we win your case for you.
You won’t have to pay any ongoing fees either, the only payment we would take is when a court rules in your favour or the defendant settles out of court and we take this agreed fee directly from the money you are awarded. Should your case be unsuccessful, you would not have to pay anything towards the legal representation we provided which is why so many clients now choose to work with Legal Expert on a No Win No Fee basis.
Contact Us
At Legal Expert, our claims lines remain open 9am to 9pm Monday through till Friday, call us on 0800 073 8804 or request a call back by filling out a form for an expert housing disrepair solicitor to get back to you.
Useful Links And Further Information
To find out more about housing disrepair claims please visit the link to below to our helpful guide:
- Learn more about making housing disrepair compensation claims with our guide.
To find out more about your landlord’s responsibilities towards you, please follow the link below:
Thanks for reading our guide on how to claim compensation for faulty electrics as a result of housing disrepair.
