Utilities in new rented flat

cherry76

Daughter is moving into her new rented flat on Saturday. She asked about utilities,EA told her, the providers will be informed of her new tenancy and they will contact her. In her contract, it states, she cannot do any change without any written agreement. Does that mean during her contract she has to stay with the gas & electricity providers even if they are not competitive. Also she has noticed there is no phone in the flat, she does not want to ask too many questions, silly girl really. She has to show her passport and a credit card statement as I.D. They will not accept any debit statement and she does not have any utilities bill in her name. Does anybody know whether a 6 months credit statement is recent enough? Thanks

McKneff

she can move the utilities elsewhere, but she needs written agreement with the landlord or EA. Often if changing your utilities it is a 12 month contract so it may be difficult, she may want to move after 6 months.

No phone in the flat, I presume that you mean there is no line to the flat. again she needs to enquire to the EA I presume that there will be a line to the building somewhere.
Most people have mobiles so it it wont be an unsurmoutable problem. i know BT charge around £120 to put a line in an ordinary house. that and the monthly line rental adds up to a lot of calls on a PAYG

meester

Just change the utilities. If need be you can change them back later.

olly300

anniehanlon wrote: »

she can move the utilities elsewhere, but she needs written agreement with the landlord or EA. Often if changing your utilities it is a 12 month contract so it may be difficult, she may want to move after 6 months.

Not true presuming you are in England and Wales.

You are allowed to change the gas or electricity company without the landlord's or EA's permission.

You don't even legally have to tell the landlord or EA who you have changed to, however you are advised to do so when you move out.

Stating the tenant can't change could be an unfair clause in law if it was taken to court, as the tenant not the landlord pays for the utilities.

You are not allowed to change to a water meter if you want one unless your tenancy contract is for 12 months or more.

anniehanlon wrote: »

No phone in the flat, I presume that you mean there is no line to the flat. again she needs to enquire to the EA I presume that there will be a line to the building somewhere.

Nothing to do with the EA or landlord if you are in England and Wales.

If you want a phone line then it's up to the tenant to sort one out and pay for it.

Unfortunately BT and Virgin lock you into a 12 month contract which means you have to pay if you want to leave early.


Credit card statements and bank statements are considered sufficient ID by solicitors, banks and others who operate under the Money Laundering Regulation so they should be sufficient for an EA.

cherry76

Thanks, she said in the email EA stated credit card and she has got the impression they will not accept debit card statement. Also the contract says she cannot change the utilities without written confirmation from the EA. She is keen to get this flat and she does not want to challenge EA. Having to pay over £248 for credit checks etc, I think is very expensive, she even has to pay for the inventory, I would have thought the land lord should paid for that. I do not want to interfere too much but again I do not want EA to take her for a ride.Thanks for all your advice.

Premier_2

olly300 wrote: »

...You are allowed to change the gas or electricity company without the landlord's or EA's permission.

You don't even legally have to tell the landlord or EA who you have changed to, however you are advised to do so when you move out.

Stating the tenant can't change could be an unfair clause in law if it was taken to court, as the tenant not the landlord pays for the utilities...

Well anything is possible I suppose, but you won't gain the support of the OFT in any dispute over such clause being unfair.

This is what the OFT has to say on the matter:

The tenant should have the choice of supplier although he may be required to keep the landlord informed of any change and to return the account to the original supplier at the end of the tenancy.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/unfair_contract_terms/oft356.pdf page 64

I would suggest the OP's daughter complies with the terms of the tenancy agreements and just seeks the permission.

I would also ask the EA again who the electricity & gas suppliers are who "will be informed of her new tenancy", so that the daughter can contact them herself immediately she moves in and provide intial meter readings without waiting for a "to the occupier" letter to arrive (which could be a anytime). If the property has pre-payment meters, it is especially important as she'll need to get her own payment key (else she might end up paying the previous occupants debts!).


With regards to the telephone, the EA or LL should be able to advise whether there is an existing BT line installed. If there is, then BT will usually connect for free; if not, the ca. £120 installation charge is payable.
Only the person who accepts reponsibility for the supply (e.g. the tenant) can actually initiate the contract with BT.

tbs624

Did you daughter notice any ‘phone socket within the flat?

She can ring 0800 800 150 (Mon to Sat8am - 8pm) herself now and ask BT to check their records for the property and to confirm whether a new line would be required. Some people do manage to negotiate the cost down from the standard BT charge.

On the issue of gas and electricity suppliers - some LAs seem to be making money out of switching all properties on their books to one supplier “for ease of administration”.

As the Tenant who pays for the supplies, not being free to choose your own supplier clearly places you at a huge disadvantage, which cannot be warranted. IMO Olly’s interpretation is correct - the LL only needs to be notified.

There is absolutely no reason why your daughter should not be told in advance who the supplier is - the contract for those supplies is nothing to do with the LA if she is paying the bill.

This suggests to me that the LA is concerned that your daughter, or any other potential tenant, would be of a mind to look elsewhere for accommodation if they were able to get a reasonably good estimate of the costs of being stuck with that supplier.

They only need to know that she takes proper meter readings and pays up on time when she leaves.

See, folks “the EPC in October will reduce all Tenant bills and give tenants a choice” argument looks weaker by the minute when you consider that LAs/LLs can use this sort of “locking-in” to a specific provider. The only requirement should be to simply notify the LA/LL, not to need to "ask their permission".

All Tenants should write to their MP and the Housing Minister to complain about this practice, whilst there is a current review of the private sector rentals market.

To my mind it is no different from when travel companies used to be able to insist that you took out their insurance policies as a part of the deal.

On the ID issue - for comparison, for a Criminal Records Bureau Check you are generally asked to produce 3 items from

Group 1: Passport, UK Driving Licence, HM Forces ID Card, UK Birth Certif, EU Photo ID Card, UK Firearms Licence.
or 2 from there and one from the following, or 5 of the following if no Group 1 docs:

Group 2: Marriage cert, birth cert, P45/P60 Statement (issued within previous 12months) Bank or Building Society statement (within past 3 months) Utility Bill (can include mobile phone contract) TV licence, credit card statement, store card statement, insurance certif., document from UK central/local govt/govt agency/ local auth giving entitlement ( ie benefits agency, HMRC, Employment Service) financial statement - isa/ endowment / pension, vehicle reg document, mail order catalogue statement, Court claim form., exam certificate, national Ins Card, UK NHC Card, etc

Although many LAs see themselves as marvellous all powerful beings, and can decide to ask you for whichever ID items they choose, your daughter could maybe look at these and offer an alternative, just pointing out that if its good enough for a CRB check it ought to cover the LA’s requirements.

Maybe you should suggest to your daughter that she uses a LL who self-manages next time, via the local LL Association: she’s then unlikely to be charged for anything other than the actual cost of a standard credit check and have more room for negotiation.