UK Landlord Forum / Life

My job requires me to travel quite a bit and when I do I am very often out of contact for 1-2 weeks at a time. So, when I started letting out my property, I decided to use a property management agency so that if there were any problems they could take care of it for me.

Unfortunately, they proved to be completely worthless. Unable to do even the normal day to day stuff let alone deal with an emergency. After two years of constant hassle and screwups by them I finally managed to get rid of them a few months ago and I have begun managing the property myself.

But I still have the original problem of what to do if there is an emergency when I'm away and an urgent repair is needed.

Is it possible for me to make an addition to the rental contract (with the tenant's agreement of course) where I simple say if I'm out of contact the tenant can get the problem fixed and I will reimburse them provided they have the necessary receipts, replacements are like for like, etc?

Urgent repairs are basically leaks and no heating or hot water.  So the vast majority of urgent repairs are for a plumber.  I would suggest you find a plumber you trust and give the tenants his contact details to the tenants to contact when you are away.

Why don't you just find local contractors online (those with good reviews) and contact them in case of emergency. If the issue is urgent I would save their number and send them a WhatsApp message or call rather than send an email to get it done quickly and they can just send you the invoice upon completion of the job. I don't think you should ask the tenants to get it fixed and send you the invoice unless it's from a trustworthy company.

I have just been informed by my Full Management agent, that if either they or we are unavailable, ie the weekend or out of hours or away, they advise the tenant to arrange repairs if classed as a danger to them or the property, and then advise all parties asap afterwards.
1/ I thought the agent was always contactable [Full Management]
2/ At what cost? as the tenant would likely have to go above the agreed limit ,[ and they don't know what that is!.]
For the record;  a shower not working, is not a danger.! Turned out to be nothing wrong with it, damage caused by misuse.

How Naive am I!!.