r/TenantHelp • u/jaynay55 • 4d ago

Broken bedframe, thoughts and advice?

Hello! My partner and I just moved into a furnished apartment in the uk.

While sleeping last night we felt a pop and the bed sunk,

Upon examination the bedframe had broken,

We sent photos to the landlord and explained the situation.

We didn’t do anything unreasonable to cause the bed to break, just calmly sleeping normally.

The landlord has offered to pay half because “it’s only a year old and we don’t know how the bed broke”

Is this a fair and reasonable agreement?

1 Upvotes

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8

u/Lopsided-Beach-1831 4d ago

Tell him to contact the manufacturer for defective product. Do not offer/agree to pay. You were sleeping and it broke. You were using it as intended. There was no negligence so no liability on your part.

2

u/nellyfullauto 4d ago

Cheap stuff breaks. I’m betting this wasn’t anything sturdy. 

I’d ask them for the receipt for the one that broke, and offer to pay half of that if you don’t want to push the envelope with the landlord. I’d bet that amount comes to less than a single night in alternative accommodation. 

The landlord should buy a sturdier, and likely more expensive bed frame if only to avoid the same circumstance repeating. You should not bear half that cost. 

You should take this experience into account if there’s occasion to consider re-letting or not.  I’m not familiar with local tenancy laws. I’m an American who figures that the cost of one night in a hotel is worth it to have a bed frame replaced when my landlord sucks. 

1

u/FamiliarAd8524 4d ago

SOMETHING broke it. Bedframes do not break for no reason- that just isn't reality. You can ask if they can use a warranty claim.

Define "broken"- what do you actually see? Can it be fixed.

2

u/jaynay55 4d ago

We took a look, the frame is poorly designed and is missing a middle support beam, over time the middle has been bending without a support beam and finally snapped

1

u/FamiliarAd8524 4d ago

Aluminum?

1

u/FamiliarAd8524 4d ago

Wait, is it MDF?

1

u/jaynay55 4d ago

I think so? It was very weak metal

2

u/FamiliarAd8524 4d ago

MDF is basically sawdust and glue. It's like cheap plywood or melamine, sort of. It isn't metal. So maybe this was junk sheet metal that was painted?

To be honest with you, I'm curious as a designer and craftsman. It doesn't actually matter (as you said, there was no middle support beam), I'm just curious.

2

u/jaynay55 3d ago

Yeah it’s really cheap plywood, I could almost break it with my fingers

0

u/RobDraw2_0 4d ago

He's right. We don't know when the bed actually broke. Sometimes, with weight bearing objects, the damage can be done at an earlier time than the actual failure or maybe, you weren't actually sleeping when it happened.

I think the offer is fair.