Fire In Rented House

[silentnine]

it all boils down to at the begining they wanted there overpriced team in to do things.. and suprise suprise .. they now want to send them in again

And let's face it, when you leave, they won't be returning the deposit either!

I hope you told them to take the loss from the deposit!

we have 2 things left to buy ..a new backfoor ..which they insist must be the same , no suprise as its only availalbe from them for 3.5k and a cooker hood which the cheapest i found so far is 4k.

i think it will be hangbags at dawn soon ..

there rental agreement after inpsection says in the event of fire we or the agreement is void .. so i think we are going up that route . i doubt they will return the deposit so i may be wiser to tell them to decuct the door & hood from that so at least i get some return

it is in fact in better condition now after our painting thant when we moved in ! but not in there eyes it seems

[aussiebebe]

I'm sorry to read about this fire, glad no-one was hurt. I received excellent advice back in 2008 by asking in the TV Insurance forum about whether renters can buy policies. All companies sell them and tenants should definitely cover themselves; policies are cheap and although nothing has happened to my rented home, the policies have given me peace of mind.

From time to time, stories of fires and then tenants responsibilities emerge in the Thai press and by buying a policy myself I've learnt all about how rental agreements are worded, how landlords rarely have insurance, and about who gets the blame. In my opinion the need for tenants to purchase insurance policies should be pinned somewhere visible on this site as lots of foreigners read here.

[maccaroni man]

imo thailand is a non fault coutry, if you <deleted>> the pooch you pay, bad luck. the landlord was not in the kitchen when the fire started, seriously ........imho the renter should pay cash or do all the repairs and painting.

[sarahsbloke]

Everyone scoffed at my just move house theory (also suggested by one of the estate agents)

Bet you wish you had listened now.

[silentnine]

Everyone scoffed at my just move house theory (also suggested by one of the estate agents)

Bet you wish you had listened now.

no no no .. i'm still sure had i not doen any repairs and had left there house in state of black soot and burnt out kitchen i would of without a doubt in the wrong ..

simple question .. if my post had read i've been in the cells for 4 days .. fined 200k and being deported as i had run off after burnign my landlords house down how much sympathy would i of got !

ifi leave this house ileave it with the knowledge i did the right thing. it owuld of been nice had thye had insurance . it ould of been nice had they offered to contribute out of a feelign of guilt that it was there cooker.

it would of been fantastic had they come and helped my wife & I for the last few days while we have looked like negores from dusk till dawn ..

it would of been ,........ well you get the point ... \

lessons learnt for me ..

1/ rent from a farang landlord or an agent then you can argue or discuss problems in your own language

2/ either get or enure the owner has adequet insurance ... in this case i assumed wrongly that only a owner with half a brain would not have any. or is it is 1/4

3/ kiss good by to rent deposit as it will problalby never come back as wherever u are your bound to need a reapint after 1 or 2 years lol

4/ read , then read again the contract

[sarahsbloke]

Or alternatively rent from someone who is unlikely (or not in a position) to rip you off.

Deposit on my rented house is 1 months rent (5000bht), to be used as the last months rent when I leave.

PS

Keep your rent receipts, when you leave send them to the local tax office, I believe the tax on rental income is 15% and your landlord won't have paid it. Always a good way to punish a dishonest landlord.

Edited May 16, 2011 by sarahsbloke

[silentnine]

well .. have chatted to a few lawyers in passing who i know .. and a few real estate agents as well.

no one says the same thing .

its a 50/50 split on who is repsonsible for fire damage like this on a rented house.

although AA insurance who also replied on this thread said the renter ...

no hard and fast rules it seems ..

regardless tho .. somehing should be pinned on this site to advise ALL renters to check there position

[cheeryble]

Or alternatively rent from someone who is unlikely (or not in a position) to rip you off.

Deposit on my rented house is 1 months rent (5000bht), to be used as the last months rent when I leave.

PS

Keep your rent receipts, when you leave send them to the local tax office, I believe the tax on rental income is 15% and your landlord won't have paid it. Always a good way to punish a dishonest landlord.

Charming.

While I sympathise with Silentnine so far it seems reasonable to me he should be paying costs as he provided no proof to anyone that it wasn't his fault.....which if he had been on the ball he could have.

His only gripe now is as to how fussy the landlords are. Well maybe it's not very smart for them to be fussy but hey, they are. And possibly, just possibly, with reason.

Edited May 18, 2011 by cheeryble

[silentnine]

Or alternatively rent from someone who is unlikely (or not in a position) to rip you off.

Deposit on my rented house is 1 months rent (5000bht), to be used as the last months rent when I leave.

PS

Keep your rent receipts, when you leave send them to the local tax office, I believe the tax on rental income is 15% and your landlord won't have paid it. Always a good way to punish a dishonest landlord.

Charming.

While I sympathise with Silentnine so far it seems reasonable to me he should be paying costs as he provided no proof to anyone that it wasn't his fault.....which if he had been on the ball he could have.

His only gripe now is as to how fussy the landlords are. Well maybe it's not very smart for them to be fussy but hey, they are. And possibly, just possibly, with reason.

or had i been on the ball i'd of done it thai style and let it burn lol

reminds me of waht someone told me once about if you get hit by a car on bike.. move quick as its easier if they kill you or they will have to pay hospital fees and all sorts

it is concerning though that tenants hold the buck on this.. potential for jet ski scams with owners burning houses they can;t sell down and gettign the tenant to pay... oops .. don;t want to put ideas into anyones heads lol.

i accepted i had to pay anyway... dam_n expensive it was tho..

now we're arguing with the landlord as i'm saying we want insurance and there saying its not worth the trouble !! i've made it very clear if there are further problems i am nto paying but they do not seem to care ... so i think we may take a loss on the deposit and move

[trogers]

... so i think we may take a loss on the deposit and move

At last, a discerning tenant. Although all my 5 condo units are covered by fire and earthquake policies, I am looking to buy and install 5 pounds fire extinguishers in 2 units due to the use of gas stoves in them. Thanks to the OP for sharing his experience.

Edited May 21, 2011 by trogers

[silentnine]

Ah back to this thread.

Still not found a new house to move into as we will lose our deposit if we leave.. but the saga continues

tonight.

Sitting in front of the pc . Lights starts flashing on and off in the house (thank god for my UPS)

Then no electric.. Look outside and its only us ...

Check the trip switch ... that's ok.

I'm not an electrician but i know a little.. and made an assumption it could only be the outside box/meter

Obvious signs of corrosion on the wires going in creating a short .. give the wire a knock with plastic coat hanger and it starts sparking..

Phone the landlady .. she's sending someone round .. but is stating we should pay him ... lol ..

Well once bitten twice shy ... no way on earth.. .. Taking the P this is i think ..

Her electric man is here and has looked.. meter connection buggered. so for tonight he has bypassed the meter .. all i need now is the electric company to come and say i'm stealing her there electric tonight ..

he's coming back in the morning as he also say the is no earth on the house (explains the small shocks off the water in the laundry machine ever since we moved in) .. And he says do not use any water in the house tonight .. Stinky farangs tonight i think

[IMA_FARANG]

Crucial point.

What does your rental contract (if any) say?

If it says you are responsible for any damage...you're out of luck.

If it says you are responsible only for actions that YOU caused by your carelessness...then the landlord is out of luck.

No contract...and the landlord doesn't have anything to stand on.

Something in between those two extremes...it's probably negotiable.

But if you push the matter the landlord may simply give you notice or increase your rent. And there's usually nothing you can do about that.

So basically it's in your best interest to handle it as diplomaticaly as possible...unless you want to leave and find another place to rent.

[harrry]

Just move, no forwarding address.

If you don't have personal items insurance, your tough luck on the damaged items.

If the landlord doesn't have property insurance, his tough luck on the damaged property.

It's just that easy.

If a person or a business want to insure their property it really is their choice.

PS

Glad to hear you weren't injured!

Rather risky....someone who left and returned after an electrical fire was arrested and stayed in jail a long time. I cannot remember the exact topic.

[silentnine]

my last post was not related to the original fire .. that was all sorted out at my expense.

this was related to a new fault on the electrics in the house, and the discovery that there is an earth fault also