Electricity bill...Landlord making money out of us???

Prinky

We are 100% sure that a landlord can NOT resell the electricity. He makes money out of us and he is stealing the government as well as this money is some kind of "black market"! Yesterday I spoke to some neighbours that I saw for the first time and asked them how much they pay for the electricity (They do not speak very well english and for sure do not know the law) and they are paying £0.20/unit too. (instead of the £0.1258/Unit that the landlord pays to the electricity supplier!! Thief!!)
Imagine the profit that the landlord is making out of us, there are 10 studios in the house!!
I am very upset about it.
On Monday I will call the "Citizen advices" to see what are my options. I will also speak to my neighbours and explain to them that our landlord is reselling the electricity and therefore steal us. If we are many people to go to his office to ask to see the bill (that he of course has not been able to show us until now...), he may do some things! Thank you for all your messages, we will keep you inform.

becky23w

STOP PAYING THIS WAY IMMEDIATELY until you have checked your tenancy agreement. If someone who rents a property disputes the responsibilty of their bill a tenancy agreement is asked to be sent to the energy company and whoevers name is on the tenacy agreement for a period of time, this is proof that they are responsible for the energy used. If you have been paying the landlord directly and this is not mentioned in the agreement then he could build up a debt that you could become responsible for. As far as the energy company would be concerned it would be a third party dispute and it would be up to you to prove the payments you made. THIS IS NOT AN IDEAL SITUATION SO CHECK YOUR AGREEMENT

Premier_2

I don't think there is any dispute here about who is responsible for paying the electricity supplier.
Both the LL and T seem to agree it is the LL's responsibility and nothing suggests that the LL is not paying the supplier.
It has also been suggested by the OP that the studios are sub-metered by the LL's own meters meaning that the OP could not pay the supplier directly, as the supply feeds 10 studios.

The issue here is with how much the LL is charging T for that same electricity. As Ken68 has already posted, Prinky needs to ensure that the price the LL is believed to be paying per unit represents the total cost. I too suspect it does not include the standing charge nor possibly the VAT. It may also not include discounts allowable to the LL e.g. for paying by DD.

becky23w

how do you know the landlord is paying the bills and not just keeping the money you give him for himself??????

Ken68

Take care Prinky, try and get someone else to tackle the landlord, someone who is going to leave anyway or a third party.

Prinky

Some news...The landlord's secretary called us few days ago to tell us that "They made a mistake" and that the electricity unit was not £0.20 but £0.15. So we will pay £0.15/Unit from next month but we know they are still up to something.
I think they were fed up of our phone calls and just wanted to "please" us (= make us quiet) by putting the price down.
We are still unhappy with it as we know that the landlord pays £0.1258 a unit, so he is still making money out of us. (we still have not seen any bills! (
We also know that our neighbours are still paying £0.20/unit and this is very unfair.
(They are foreigners, do not speak english well and do not know their rights)

I made a lot of calls, to the "Citizens advices", who confirms that the landlords could NOT resell the electricity, but they could not help me more. They gave me another number, I ended up calling about 5 different offices, at the end I was told to contact a lawyer.

I am not sure what to do now. Maybe we should write to the landlord (to have a writing proof, instead of just phoning), maybe we should start to speak to all our neighbours (10 studios in total in the house) and go as much as we can to see the landlord?
Some people told us to give up, that £0.15/unit is not that bad and that we may be in trouble with the landlord (he may not renew our contract) if we ask too many things. But I find this situation so outrageous!

Any advices welcome, thanks all!

Ken68

You want to let it rest now Prinky.
15pence aint too bad. You done well.
Don't forget a C hristmas card to your landlord. :-)

Fire_Fox

Prinky wrote: »

Some news...The landlord's secretary called us few days ago to tell us that "They made a mistake" and that the electricity unit was not £0.20 but £0.15. So we will pay £0.15/Unit from next month but we know they are still up to something.
I think they were fed up of our phone calls and just wanted to "please" us (= make us quiet) by putting the price down.
We are still unhappy with it as we know that the landlord pays £0.1258 a unit, so he is still making money out of us. (we still have not seen any bills! (
We also know that our neighbours are still paying £0.20/unit and this is very unfair.
(They are foreigners, do not speak english well and do not know their rights)

I made a lot of calls, to the "Citizens advices", who confirms that the landlords could NOT resell the electricity, but they could not help me more. They gave me another number, I ended up calling about 5 different offices, at the end I was told to contact a lawyer.

I am not sure what to do now. Maybe we should write to the landlord (to have a writing proof, instead of just phoning), maybe we should start to speak to all our neighbours (10 studios in total in the house) and go as much as we can to see the landlord?
Some people told us to give up, that £0.15/unit is not that bad and that we may be in trouble with the landlord (he may not renew our contract) if we ask too many things. But I find this situation so outrageous!

Any advices welcome, thanks all!

You MUST calm down. You will get the landlord's back up and, at the end of the day, he holds all the cards.

Write a polite letter, and get someone to check your English before you send it. Your language is very good, but sometimes in translation things may appear to be less polite than you wanted. Be aware that the landlord may have increased the price as an administration fee, i.e. for his or his staff time in paying the bill and extracting the money from tenants. If this is the case he is probably within his rights to do so, as long as this is made clear and the charge is separately identified.

Instead of telling your landlord he is wrong, ask him questions and explain the problem from your perspective. Firstly say that you are very worried about the high electricity bills, and that you have been very careful with your electricity usage as you are on a tight budget. Make it very clear that you have every intention of paying your fair share of the bills as you understand the landlord cannot afford to make a loss.

Next ask how the bills are calculated/ divided up and if there is any way to make them cheaper, for example by using a different supplier. Make it clear than you would be happy to do the research to save him some time. Also ask if there is one meter in place for all of the studios or if each flat has their own meter. Ask if it would be possible to have access to your meter on a monthly basis so that you can budget effectively and monitor your own usage.

Do say that you have spoken to your neighbours and that they are finding things difficult financially too (as long as your neighbours are happy to be mentioned). This way your landlord knows you have the option of getting together, and he has the opportunity to put things right without a confrontation.

Then thank him for his time and help (you don't have to actually mean it!!). Don't just stop paying, as you will be breaching your part of the contract. But you can pay him this months bill minus what they have admitted you were overcharged last month.