Tragedy highlights importance of radiator safety
A recent tragedy in a Cornwall-area buy-to-let property highlights the importance of radiator and electrical safety in all rental properties. According to media reports, an 82 year old landlord has had to pay a £5,000 penalty, after she was found culpable in the death of a 33 year old female tenant, due to a problem with an electrical radiator in the rental unit. Thirza Whittall reportedly died of electrocution late last year, in the small town of Portscatho, only days after taking up residence in the rental property. The landlord had rented out what had once been her weekend holiday cottage on a short-hold tenancy agreement to Whittal, her husband and her two children.
Emma Northey, the district prosecutor argued when the case went before the courts that it was the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that all electrical radiators were safe and in good working order, as the residential property was rented out fully furnished. As such, the landlord is responsible for the safety of all appliances and furniture that came with the home.
Since the home did not have a central heating system, the landlord offered an electric radiator—which ran on oil—to be used in the washroom. According to court documents, the problem was that the radio was approximately three decades old and should have been replaced long ago. The fuses that had been added to the radiator were also the wrong amps. The tenant was electrocuted when she entered the bath and reached for the taps, which conducted electricity from the faulty radiator that had been attached to it.