You pulled the bed away from the wall and the mattress was green along one side. Or the leak your landlord promised to fix finally came through the ceiling and took the sofa, the rug and a laptop with it. The repairs are one problem. Your things are another, and nobody seems keen to talk about who pays for them.
If the damage came from disrepair your landlord should have fixed, the answer is usually your landlord. This guide covers when they are liable, how the value is worked out, and how to claim.
When is a landlord liable for belongings damaged by disrepair?
Two things need to be true.
First, the damage must trace back to a repair that was legally your landlord's. In England, Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires your landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the home in repair, along with the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating. A leaking roof, a failed gutter, a burst pipe behind the wall, damp coming through the brickwork. These all sit on their side of the line.
Section 9A of the same Act, added by the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, also requires the home to be fit to live in, which catches serious damp and mould even where nothing is visibly broken. In Wales, the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 imposes the same two duties: to keep the home in repair and fit to live in.
Second, your landlord must have failed to act within a reasonable time after they knew about the problem. For disrepair inside your home, that means after you reported it. This condition decides most claims.
If a pipe bursts without warning and floods the living room before anyone could have known, your landlord does not owe you a sofa. If you reported the leak in March and it was still dripping onto that sofa in June, they are on much weaker ground.
Report every problem in writing and keep a copy. The date on that message is when the clock starts, and often the strongest evidence in the whole claim.
How much can you claim for damaged belongings?
Losses with a number attached are called special damages, and ruined belongings are the classic example. The Court of Appeal confirmed in Calabar Properties v Stitcher (1983) that a tenant can recover the value of belongings damaged by disrepair, along with costs like redecoration or a stay elsewhere while works are done.
The measure is what the item was worth when it was ruined, not the price of a new one. Damages put you back where you would have been, and where you would have been is owning a four-year-old sofa.
So take the replacement cost and knock it down for age and wear. A sofa that cost £900 four years ago might be valued at £300 to £450 today. Clothes, bedding, carpets and electronics are treated the same way.
You do not need original receipts for everything. Bank statements, order histories, photos of the items before the damage, and screenshots of what a like-for-like replacement costs now are all accepted. Estimate honestly. A padded list is easy to pick apart, and it drags your credible items down with it.
Should you claim on contents insurance or from the landlord?
Your landlord's insurance covers the building. Your belongings are only covered if you hold contents insurance yourself.
If you do, the policy is often the quicker route, and many pay new-for-old, which is more than a landlord would owe you. The trade-offs are your excess and possibly your no-claims discount. Both are recoverable from a landlord whose breach caused the damage, along with any uninsured losses, and your insurer may pursue the landlord for what it paid out.
Without contents insurance, the claim against your landlord is the route, as part of the wider disrepair claim below. What you cannot do is recover the same loss twice.
How to add damaged belongings to a disrepair claim
A disrepair claim has two parts. General damages compensate you for living with the problem, usually worked out as a slice of your rent for the months it lasted. Special damages sit on top and cover your belongings, the part tenants most often forget or get talked out of.
When a landlord finally offers to do the works, or their insurer offers a quick settlement, check what it covers. Signing "in full and final settlement" without the belongings priced in generally means you cannot come back for them later. Put a figure on everything before you agree to anything.
Under the Limitation Act 1980 you have 6 years from the breach, so moving out does not end the claim. For the general damages side, see how much a disrepair claim is worth and damp and mould compensation amounts. If water getting in is the cause, what your landlord must fix when water leaks into your home covers liability in detail.
What evidence do you need to claim for ruined belongings?
Build the file as you go, starting the day you spot the problem.
- Dated photos and videos of the disrepair itself, the damp patch, the leak, the failed window
- Photos of each damaged item, close up and in place, including labels and model numbers
- Your written reports to the landlord or agent, with dates, and every reply
- Proof of value, such as receipts, bank statements or order confirmations
- The price of a like-for-like replacement today, from a screenshot or listing
- Any inspection reports, from the council's environmental health team or a surveyor
Keep the ruined items until the claim is resolved if you can, in case the landlord or an insurer wants to inspect them. If storage is impossible, photograph everything before it goes.
If disrepair has cost you your belongings as well as your comfort, Remedy can put a number on the whole claim, ruined items included, and draft the letter that starts it. You can check what you are owed for free at remedylegal.ai.
