Hello All, Last weekend, our boiler broke down, late on the Sunday night. I called the maintenence man who deals with these issues for the letting agency first thing on Monday morning. He came over on Monday night and found that the transformer on the circuit board had burned out and killed the boiler. He said it would be a full boiler replacement and he will sort it with the letting agency as soon as possible. In the maintenence man's defence, he is really good, it is the agency who are slow at everything. So, we've spent all week without heating or hot water. My wife sent a text to the letting agency to negotiate a rent reduction, as we haven't had use of these utilities. Here is the text conversation: LA = Letting Agency Wife: Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, I would like to negotiate a reduction in the rent for this month due to not having heating or hot water. LA: Sorry, we can't accept that. We will hold you responsible for damaging the boiler and we will remove the cost of the boiler from your deposit. Any deductions made by yourselves are down to you taking too long to inform us of the problem, which has caused a delay in getting a new boiler. Wife: Excuse me, we did not damage the boiler, the transformer on the circuit board burned out. We have done your job for you by contacting the maintenence man first thing the following morning. We are in a house with no hot water or heating in mid-October. I'm sorry, but it should not take this long to sort out. Please send me our landlord's details. LA: Why? Wife: Because I do not feel that you are doing your job and we would like to contact the landlord. Please send me his details. LA: We have been doing our job. To say that you are deducting rent because the process is taking too long is very wrong. Wife: Please send us our landlord's details. LA (seconds later): I have made him aware of your complaint. Goodbye. Now, for one thing I do not believe for a second that he made the landlord aware of our complaint. Another is I cannot believe he actually put in a text that he will say that we broke the boiler. The third is they seem to think that a boiler breaking late on a Sunday night and then informing the maintenence man at 8am the following morning is "taking too long." We do know somebody who knows the landlord and we have asking him to give us the details, as the letting agency is refusing, we are justing waiting for him to message us with his details. My question is, what can my wife and I do? We are concerned that the LA will now make up a pack of lies to tell the landlord. However, we do have evidence against them where they admit that they will say things if we withhold the rent. I do believe we are within our rights to negotiate a small reduction in the rent under these circumstances. Thoughts?