Legal Disrepair Claims
If repairs take too long or cause problems like damage or health risks, you can make a disrepair claim.
Before you make a claim
If you're worried about the state of your home, please contact our Housing Repairs team first who will be happy to help. Many problems can be fixed quickly without needing to make a formal claim. You can:
- Use our online form here.
- Call:?01395 517458 during office hours (Mon–Fri, 8:30–17:00) or 0330 6782382 outside these hours
If you're unhappy with our service, you can make a formal complaint. We must reply within set time limits to both stage 1 and 2 of our complaint's procedure but if you're still not happy, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman. Visit our complaints page for more details.
Making a legal disrepair claim
You should send a letter of claim, usually through your legal representative, to the council. Send your claim by email to:?legal@eastdevon.gov.uk. We can only accept claims sent to this email.
Your claim should include:
- Your full name and contact details
- Your address
- Details of the problems
- Any photos or documents
- Your lawyer’s contact details (if you have one)
If you do decide to make a disrepair claim you need to follow the rules in the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims. These are steps you must take before going to court.
Site inspections and expert reports
We want to fix problems fairly and quickly. To help with this, we prefer using a?Single Joint Expert, who is a building specialist chosen by both you and us. They will inspect your home and write a fair report.
Using the Single Joint Expert helps to:
- Give a clear and fair view of the problem
- Avoid delays and disagreements
- Solve issues faster
If repairs are needed, we’ll create a?list of work that needs to be carried out (called a Schedule of Works)?and arrange a meeting with our contractor to agree on a start date that works for you.