Unpaid Gas Bill from before tenancy.

lindos90 · 9 October 2017 at 6:45PM

My son has just moved into student digs, his contract is inclusive of utilities (although the small print says it is actually up to a limited allowance of £10 per tenant per week)

When he moved in (just over a week ago) there was an outstanding bill from British Gas, for approximately £160 with additional admin costs due to non payment. He handed it to the Lettings agent, who said they would sort it out immediately.

Today he arrives home to a hand delivered letter from a debt collecting agency with a demand for over £2000 outstanding! They are going to seek a warrant to enter the property and attach a prepayment 'pay as you go' to the gas meter, or if that is not possible to do, they are going to cut the gas off!

1) The letting agreement states that utilities are 'inclusive' of the rent they pay. We also assume the tariff set on the pay as you go meter will be huge in order to help pay off the outstanding debt, as well as pay for ongoing gas use, so the students should'nt be having to put their own money in this should they?

3) How long does it usually take for debt collecting agencies to get a warrant?

4) As tenants, where do they stand if the debt collectors come back with a warrant?

Obviously he contacted the lettings agent immediately and told them, they said they would 'look into it and get it sorted' (again).

Now I can't see an outstanding debt getting to £2000 without the lettings agent knowing about it at some point, so this can't be news to them.

The letter and bill were addressed to the lettings agent, not to the Landlord. I am not sure quite how it works, but I'm making the assumption that the lettings agent totally manages the property, so is it more likely that they have not paid the bills, rather than the landlord?

Any advice gratefully received. Just not really sure how to help him and his flatmates.

HampshireH · 9 October 2017 at 8:07PM

I cannot answer all those questions but would go to the letting agent and watch them make that call.

Have you seen the letter? What are the dates? Do the readings add up?

Sounds like a very problematic L.A. based on your previous posts on the rent forum. So glad we advised your boy to take his own readings on arrival as looks like he may need them on leaving.

I expect if the L.A. has been taking money from former tenants on the same agreement as your son then they will soon be chasing those former students to recover the debt.

CAB may be a good place to go.

lindos90 · 9 October 2017 at 8:21PM

Thanks HampshireH, Yes I posted on the rental forum, but then realised this was more of a utility issue

Tomorrow he has lectures from 9 till 6pm tomorrow so will not be able to travel to the office to stand over them while they call the debt agency. We are visiting in 2 weeks, and if its not sorted by then, I will certainly be going to the office to put some pressure on and making a complaint.

I will suggest he contacts CAB or perhaps student services, see if they can advise as well.

My fear is, if the gas has not been paid, I now have doubts whether electricity and water is unpaid too.

He sent me a photo of the letter, it just shows an 'unpaid balance' of over £2000 and saying they are getting a court warrant to force entry to attach a prepayment meter or cut them off. There are no dates or meter readings. Its from the person who visited from the debt collecting agency. (With an additional fee of £36 for their visit today because no body was in) Its not from British Gas, they have handed the debt over.

Pmwo21 · 9 October 2017 at 9:11PM

Your first step I would suggest is get directly in contact with British Gas, they won’t be able to tell you any account information obviously, but showing them a copy of the Tennancy agreement; specifically the utilities section where it states bills are included, may be enough for them to seek other methods of getting their money back if it is an old debt, if it’s an ongoing debt they will likely request any up to date contact details for the letting agent or landlord.

To answer a couple of your specific questions, it can take a while for the warrant process to go through, but a letter will be sent with the court date and time so you have the ability to attend and explain the situation to the magistrate. Be sure to be in contact with British Gas and the letting agent in writing or email so if it does get to this stage you can show the magistrate you’ve done everything in your power.

If the warrant is granted, there’s not a lot that can be done, it would be classed as a third party dispute unfortunately and the warrant team would be instructed to fit the meter leaving it to your son to settle the dispute with the agents.

lindos90 · 9 October 2017 at 9:33PM

Thanks Pmwo21.

I am having a bit of a dilemma really, as my son is an adult now and in some ways needs to learn about life as an adult, which includes financial things. Having said that, this problem is not of his making and it feels unfair that its been dumped on him (whether by the LA or the LL) at the beginning of the year, when he should really be focusing on studying.

I think I might call British Gas, indeed they need give me no information, but hopefully they can put something on file about the situation. The flat has, to my knowledge been let out to students for a number of years though, and they address the letter to in the name of the lettings agent, so they should know, but no harm in reminding them.

Pmwo21 · 9 October 2017 at 9:54PM

It’s a difficult situation to be in, as you say it’s not his fault, just stuck in the middle. The more information Bg have the better, sometimes it’s simple hold ups such as billing addresses or contact names being out of date.

Marktheshark · 9 October 2017 at 9:58PM

Is the letter addressed to him and if so how did they get his name ?

45002 · 9 October 2017 at 10:00PM

lindos90 wrote:

My son has just moved into student digs, his contract is inclusive of utilities (although the small print says it is actually up to a limited allowance of £10 per tenant per week)

When he moved in (just over a week ago) there was an outstanding bill from British Gas, for approximately £160 with additional admin costs due to non payment. He handed it to the Lettings agent, who said they would sort it out immediately.

Today he arrives home to a hand delivered letter from a debt collecting agency with a demand for over £2000 outstanding! They are going to seek a warrant to enter the property and attach a prepayment 'pay as you go' to the gas meter, or if that is not possible to do, they are going to cut the gas off!

1) The letting agreement states that utilities are 'inclusive' of the rent they pay. We also assume the tariff set on the pay as you go meter will be huge in order to help pay off the outstanding debt, as well as pay for ongoing gas use, so the students should'nt be having to put their own money in this should they?

3) How long does it usually take for debt collecting agencies to get a warrant?

4) As tenants, where do they stand if the debt collectors come back with a warrant?

Obviously he contacted the lettings agent immediately and told them, they said they would 'look into it and get it sorted' (again).

Now I can't see an outstanding debt getting to £2000 without the lettings agent knowing about it at some point, so this can't be news to them.

The letter and bill were addressed to the lettings agent, not to the Landlord. I am not sure quite how it works, but I'm making the assumption that the lettings agent totally manages the property, so is it more likely that they have not paid the bills, rather than the landlord?

Any advice gratefully received. Just not really sure how to help him and his flatmates.

For reference

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?482045-Unpaid-gas-bill-from-previous-tenancy.

lindos90 · 9 October 2017 at 10:10PM

Marktheshark wrote: »

Is the letter addressed to him and if so how did they get his name ?

No the letter from today has the name of the letting agency and the address of his flat. It was not even in an envelope, it was just pushed through the letter box as a single sheet of paper.

The 'bill' that was at the flat when they moved in, is addressed the same and was (afaik) already opened when he arrived.

Pmwo21 · 9 October 2017 at 11:08PM

Mention to British Gas that it was posted with no envelope, for data protection it should always be enveloped.
If the bills are going to the property it shows they don’t have a correct billing address

lindos90 · 9 October 2017 at 11:19PM

Pmwo21 wrote: »

Mention to British Gas that it was posted with no envelope, for data protection it should always be enveloped.
If the bills are going to the property it shows they don’t have a correct billing address

Yes it is quite odd, its not a new student let, so bills must always have been coming to the flat and (I would hope) have been passed onto the LA to pay. Bit of an odd setup. I would have thought the bills would have been for the property but sent to the lettings agency with a reference so they know which property the bills are for.

I take your point about the envelope, but its probably a red herring to complain about that too, it didn't contain my sons details anyway.

I have a bit of a list of things to do tomorrow, and hope that it gets sorted without the debt agency coming back. I do appreciate everyones help x x

Unpaid Gas Bill from before tenancy.

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