When your landlord fails to maintain your property and you suffer injuries, a question you are no doubt asking is, “how much compensation for housing disrepair could I be entitled to?”
That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to making a housing disrepair claim, covering key areas including: the legal obligations of landlords to maintain properties, how compensation is calculated in these claims, what constitutes housing disrepair and how our dedicated panel of expert solicitors could help you claim.
In addition to making a claim for any injuries you suffered as a result of disrepair, you can make another claim for the disrepair itself. This second claim could recover the costs of your property damage, while the personal injury claim seeks to compensate for your injuries and the financial losses caused as a result.
Also included in this guide is a short overview of the No Win No Fee contract our expert panel can offer eligible claimants and how you can benefit when claiming under such terms.
To get your free assessment or to ask any questions about starting a claim, talk to our advisors today using any of the following contact information:
- Call the team on 0800 408 7826.
- You can also contact us by completing this form.
- Or, click the live chat button in the bottom left of your screen.
Select A Section
- How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Housing Disrepair?
- What Is Classed As Housing Disrepair
- Can I Make A Housing Disrepair Claim?
- Tenant Rights: What Landlords Are Legally Obligated To Fix
- The Housing Disrepair Compensation Claim Process
- How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Help
- More Information
How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Housing Disrepair?
How much compensation you can claim for housing disrepair will depend greatly on what harm has been caused to you or your family, as well as the damage to your possessions and the knock-on impacts to your daily life. For a serious case of lung disease as a result of housing disrepair, you could receive between £122,850 and £165,860. This figure was taken from the Judicial College Guidelines, but is only suggestive.
You can use our compensation calculator for a rough estimate of the value of your potential personal injury claim. However, our panel of dedicated solicitors can provide a much more detailed assessment.
There are two heads of claim you need to know about when making suing your landlord for housing disrepair, these are:
- General damages: compensation for the physical and psychological harm.
- Special damages: compensation for financial losses. We’ll look at this head of claim in more detail further down.
Calculations for potential general damages figures can be made using your medical documents and the guidelines from the Judicial College. Referred to as the JCG, this publication sets out compensation guidelines for various injuries, and solicitors can use these to determine the possible compensation figures they’ll seek for their clients.
Compensation Table
We have used a selection of the JCG figures, aside from the top entry, in our table here. Please be advised that we have included this information for guidance purposes only.
Type of Injury Severity Guideline Compensation Amount Notes
Multiple Very Serious Injuries with Special Damages Very Serious Up to £1,000,000 Multiple very serious injuries with significant financial losses including lost pay, medical bills and care costs.
Brain damage Moderately Severe (b) £267,340 to £344,150 Very serious disablement, whether cognitive or physical, requiring a substantial dependence on others.
Moderate (c)(i) £183,190 to £267,340 Moderate to severe deficit in intellect, personality shift and impact on the senses. Zero employment prospect.
Lung Disease Serious (a) £122,850 to £165,860 In a young person where there a probability of progressive worsening.
Lung Cancer (b) £85,460 to £118,790 Cancer causing pain and functional impairment.
Back Injuries Severe (a)(ii) £90,510 to £107,910 Cases with special features such as nerve root damage and associated issues such bladder impairment and loss of sensation.
Severe (a)(iii) £47,320 to £85,100 Disc lesions, fractures, or soft tissue injuries causing chronic conditions that remain despite treatment.
Asthma Severe and Permanent Disabling Asthma (a) £52,550 to £80,240 Prolonged and regular coughing, disturbance of sleep and severe impairment of activity.
Chronic Asthma (b) £32,090 to £52,490 Breathing difficulties requiring inhaler use and a restriction of employment prospects.
Wrist Injuries Less Severe Injuries (c) £15,370 to £29,900 Some permanent disability, such as persisting pain and stiffness.
Factors That Influence Compensation Amounts
There are a number of different factors that can influence compensation amounts in housing disrepair claims. Such factors include:
- The seriousness of the property damage.
- The severity of any injury or illness caused.
- Whether temporary accommodation is needed.
- The extent of your financial losses. This is covered in the next section.
You can find out how these factors impact your particular claim by talking to our advisors today.
Special Damages
As we mentioned earlier, special damages compensate for the financial harm caused by the housing disrepair. As well as accounting for past losses, this head of claim also covers any future costs, and attempts to cover the impact on your day to day life. For these reasons, special damages payouts are often much higher than anything awarded under general damages.
Examples of such costs include:
- A loss of earnings due to injury or ill health.
- You can also claim for a loss of future earnings if the impacts are long-term.
- Repairs or replacements of any personal property damaged as a result of the disrepair.
- Medical expenses including private treatment, prescriptions or therapy sessions.
- Transport costs if you are unable to drive.
- Care costs if you are unable to carry out daily tasks on your own.
When claiming special damages, you’ll need to submit some supporting evidence. Make sure you retain copies of documents such as invoices for care, travel tickets, bills, receipts and your payslips as proof of the costs you have incurred.
You can get a more personalised idea of what your potential claim could be worth by talking to our advisors. Get in touch today using the details given below.
What Is Classed As Housing Disrepair
In order to make a claim for faults with your property, you need to first know what is classed housing disrepair. A housing disrepair is a fault with the property structure, internal fittings or utility supplies that your landlord is aware of but has not taken steps to repair.
There are specific laws governing when claims can be made and as you’ll see below, you do not need to have suffered property damage or personal injury to sue your landlord for not keeping their property in a state of good repair. However, if you suffered both personal injury and property damage due to the disrepair, you can claim for each of these.
Can I Make A Housing Disrepair Claim?
If you’re asking, “can I make a housing disrepair claim?” the answer is yes, if you meet the eligibility criteria. We have set these criteria out here:
- You notified your landlord of a property defect.
- The landlord failed to complete the repair within a reasonable timeframe.
- You experienced some harm, or damage to your personal property as a result of this.
Tenant Rights: What Landlords Are Legally Obligated To Fix
Landlords are legally obligated to fix structural issues and faults with the utility supplies. A landlord is responsible once they have been informed of the issue, not before.
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 imposes a legal responsibility on landlords to maintain the following:
- Windows, roofing and exterior features including guttering, drains and external pipes.
- The supplies of water, gas and electricity.
- Appliances used for heating and hot water.
- Sanitary installations such as sinks, toilets, baths and showers.
You do not have to have suffered injury or damage to your possessions as a result of this in order to make a housing disrepair claim. All you need to demonstrate is that your landlord was aware of the fault and failed to organise the repair within a reasonable time frame.
The Defective Premises Act 1972 imposes responsibility on landlords not only for damage to your property, but also for any illness or injury caused by the housing disrepair. So if the fault with the property has caused you or your family harm, or has damaged your personal property, you could make a claim. Get your free eligibility assessment today by speaking to our advisors.
The Housing Disrepair Compensation Claim Process
The housing disrepair compensation claim process can be a little intimidating. That’s why we have set out a few important areas under the headings below. Our team are also available at any time to provide further guidance.
The Evidence You Need
The evidence you need for a housing disrepair claim is not too dissimilar to that of any other personal injury. Essentially, you need to show what injuries were sustained, that your landlord caused them by failing to repair the fault and any impacts on your daily life as a result.
We have given a few examples here:
- Medical records showing what injuries you sustained and how serious they were. This can include any examination notes, scans, tests results or post surgical reports.
- You should photograph the fault, as well as any damaged possessions and your injuries.
- Financial documents such as your payslips, receipts for purchases and bank statements to show what monetary losses you have incurred.
A solicitor from our panel could assist you with gathering evidence if you are eligible to make a claim. For your free eligibility check as well as further advice on making a housing disrepair claim, talk to our team today using the details given below.
No-Win, No-Fee Claims: How They Work
No Win No Fee claims work on the very simple premise that if you do not win the claim, you do not pay any solicitor fees. There are a few different types of No Win No Fee agreements, but the one offered by our panel of experts is called a Conditional Fee Agreement or “CFA.”
Signing a CFA with a solicitor will entitle you to some very desirable advantages of other types of agreement, including:
- No fees payable to the solicitor to start work on the claim.
- You will also not incur any solicitor fees during the actual claims process.
- A failed claim means you will not be liable for any solicitor fees.
The solicitor’s fee, called a success fee, is only payable if the claim succeeds and is deducted from your compensation. As the success fee percentage is agreed upon before the claim gets underway and is capped by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, you know from the very beginning that most of the compensation you receive is yours to keep.
How Long Do Claims Take To Settle?
A common question our advisory team gets asked is “how long do claims take to settle?” Each claim is assessed on its individual characteristics and there are a number of factors that can influence how long your particular claim will take.
Examples of such factors include:
- How serious your injuries are: more severe harm takes longer to properly assess, requires longer treatment and the knock-on impacts to your daily life will be higher.
- Cases where there are multiple faults to be documented take longer to investigate.
- There can also be delays with getting evidence.
- If the landlord admits liability straight away, the process will move faster.
- Claims that end up going to court invariably take more time.
We can give you a better idea of how long your particular claim may take once you’ve had your free eligibility assessment. While there are many factors that are outside the control of the solicitors we work with, our panel nevertheless strives to conduct your potential claim to the highest standards of efficiency, professionalism and discretion.
How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Help
Our panel of solicitors can help eligible claimants by providing years of knowledge and expertise. The solicitors we work with operate to the highest standards of professionalism and discretion, giving the individuals they represent the best possible chance of winning their cases.
You do not have to use a solicitor for your claim but it will most definitely be to your advantage. Below we have set out just some of the tasks a solicitor could support you with, or undertake on your behalf:
- Writing the letter of claim at the start of the process to inform the defendant legal action is being made against them.
- Helping you to gather a strong body of evidence.
- Interviewing any witnesses.
- Calculating a fair and accurate compensation figure.
- Negotiating a final settlement amount.
- Ensuring you are kept informed of all developments as the claim goes forward.
To find out how our panel of dedicated solicitors could help you, contact our advisors today. You can reach our team at any time using the contact information given here:
- Call the team on 0800 408 7826.
- You can also contact us by completing this form.
- Or, click the live chat button in the bottom left of your screen.
More Information
You can read some of our other claims guides here:
- Find out how much compensation for a broken forearm you could receive.
- Check if you could be eligible to claim compensation for a back injury with this guide.
- See how much compensation for a broken leg you could be entitled to here.
We have also included these external resources for additional information:
- The NHS has published this guidance on carbon monoxide poisoning and its symptoms.
- You may be entitled Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if your injuries keep you off work.
- Read the government guidance on keeping your building safe.
Thank you for taking the time to read our guide on how much compensation for housing disrepair you could be entitled to. To find out more about starting a claim, and to get a free assessment of your eligibility, talk to our advisors today.