We want all our tenants to live in safe, well-maintained homes. Disrepair occurs when there is damage to your home and we have failed to do anything about it.
Examples include:
· Leaks or damp
· Faulty heating or hot water
· Structural issues
· Broken windows, doors or fittings
Be cautious before signing up with solicitors
In recent years, some tenants across the social housing sector have been approached by legal firms offering to bring a disrepair claim on their behalf. Sometimes through cold calls, social media ads or by knocking on doors.
While some solicitors act responsibly, we have seen cases where our own tenants did not receive the right advice and ended up owing large sums of money when their claim didn’t succeed.
To help protect yourself, please read the following important information.
You should be advised to take out After the Event (ATE) Insurance
Before starting a disrepair claim, a solicitor should advise you to take out After the Event (ATE) Insurance.
ATE insurance can protect you from paying legal costs if your case is unsuccessful.
However, we are aware of situations where ForHousing tenants did not receive this vital advice and therefore did not have ATE insurance in place. Without it, tenants may have to pay significant legal costs if their claim fails.
Also ATE insurance may not cover a tenant who decides not to continue with their claim all the way to trial. ATE insurance typically covers adverse costs only, meanting that whilst the costs of your opponents legal fees are covered, it may not cover your own legal fees.
It’s important to ask your solicitor this question clearly before signing anything.
Your solicitor can stop acting for you — even if you don’t want them to
If you disagree with your solicitor at any point (for example, if you decide you no longer want to continue with the claim), the solicitor may apply to the Court to stop acting for you.
This type of application is granted in 99% of cases.
If your solicitor stops acting:
· You may have to continue the claim on your own,
· Withdraw and face the landlord’s legal costs,
· Proceed and risk further costs if the claim is unsuccessful.
This has happened to some of our tenants. On the last two occasions, tenants were left facing legal costs of £2,200 and £7,500.
Before signing anything, make sure you ask:
· Will I be covered by ATE insurance if I lose?
· Will ATE cover me if I decide not to continue to trial?
· What costs might I have to pay at any stage?
· Can you put this advice in writing?
Talk to us first – we can help
Most issues can be resolved quickly by reporting repairs directly to us. If you are unhappy with how your repair has been handled, please tell us. We will work with you to put things right.
We want you to feel supported and to have all the facts before entering into any legal agreement.
You can find full details about what counts as disrepair and how to report it on our Disrepair page. We’re here to fix problems as quickly and safely as we can.
We have also created several videos to help you understand more about disrepair. You can view them here: Disrepair claims – ForHousing
