Tenant owes 3 months rent and £2000 to electric

dj_jenns

British Gas just came to the door today on a pre-disconnection visit as one of the houses I rent has consistently failed to pay the electric companies bills, the same person also has not paid rent for 3 months and I can see no other option but to terminate their tenancy.
My question is, am I liable for them not paying their bills, i.e. will I have to pay the £2000 ?

Many thanks for the replies.

princeofpounds

Issue section 21 and section 8 notices immediately. Tomorrow in fact, because the process can take ages and if they are non-paying they will probably want to drag it through the courts. Do it properly - look on landlordzone for guidance and examples. If you do not do it properly, it will delay possession even longer.

You are not liable for their bills. Make it very clear to the utilities when they move out. New meter readings, recorded delivery letter stating they are gone etc. Utilities are sold to a person, not a property.

theartfullodger

Assume you notified the elect/gas companies when the tenants moved in & what the meter readings were...

The consumer is responsible for the debts.. I'd strongly advise not getting involved at all with Gas/Elect bills... and start proceedings to evict then recover the money they owe.

You've hopefully got... references (to ask in 6 months time where they are now) employers, NI numbers, DoB, names, copies of Passport/Driving Licence etc//

Then use a tracing agency (AFTER they've left not telling you were they've gone) and move, eventually, to arrestment-of-earnings..

3 months not paying rent!! Expect other bill-chasers...

Sorry to be so gloomy: Been there, been done, but getting the money back slowly...

Artful

Ulfar

Have you inspected the property recently.

If the electricity bill is £2000 for 3 months then it sounds like your premises are being used as a cannabis farm.

Be prepared for the worst.

tbs624

Ulfar wrote: »

Have you inspected the property recently.

If the electricity bill is £2000 for 3 months then it sounds like your premises are being used as a cannabis farm.

The OP said the *rent* hadn't been paid for 3 months and that there was an unpaid utility bill. However, it does not necessarily follow that the the the utility bill merely covers the same 3 month period.

dj_jenns - does the tenancy agreement clearly state that the T is responsible for the utility bills, and did you take a meter reading before the T moved in & notify the utility company?

Ulfar

tbs624 wrote: »

The OP said the *rent* hadn't been paid for 3 months and that there was an unpaid utility bill. However, it does not necessarily follow that the the the utility bill merely covers the same 3 month period.

dj_jenns - does the tenancy agreement clearly state that the T is responsible for the utility bills, and did you take a meter reading before the T moved in & notify the utility company?

You are correct however £2000.00 is 40 months worth of electricity use for an individual using £50.00 a month which is a lot. Do we really think British Gas would wait this long.

Zelie

I lived for a year in a place where British Gas refused to accept me as a customer because there was a huge outstanding bill which went back a few years and which was in the name of the previous tenant. They didn't disconnect the supply, they just ignored the whole problem. So every quarter or so I got a new bill with the new cost. After going down every avenue to sort this out and complying with all BG's requests for official documentation I gave up. After a year I moved out and went elsewhere so that's at least three year's of gas owed which nobody every paid for - in part because BG refused my offers of payment for my part of it.

So yeah. I do think they'd wait that long.

tbs624

See http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3908399.ece

Scamp22

I had the same problem only 3 weeks ago. My tenant abandoned the property without notifying us and a disconection letter came through the door from BG.
I rang them and explained the situation. They were really helpful and said that the debt is not ours as it was in the tenants name. As long as it's not in your name, then it is not your debt. Hope this helps.

theartfullodger

Short story: A few months ago my 'phone went - Electricity Company, the SS, asking if I had new tenants at a property. Why? Says I - 'cos there's a large bill outstanding.... Oh, really says I?? Yes, she says, over £1k.. (Electricity only, where we are talking about there is no Gas for 46 miles),..are the tenants ok she asks...

So, what do you want from me I ask... Well, who is the tenant she asks, well says I I'd like to help but I can't...

Why? She ask... "Data Protection" says I...

I was ***ger if I was grassing up my tenants... (They'd been fine, very friendly, I knew the neighbours well and the only comments I'd had were positive..) and the rent had been paid, a couple of times a couple of days late, otherwise perfect..

Went round to see how things were & to forewarn the tenant: She'd not known how to read the meter & the SS had, as per. usual, grossly overestimated the bill. Read the meter for her as anyone would. AFAIK everyone now happy.

Serious points

a)- Surely utility companies are breaking some Data Protection regs. by telling anone else about the state of someone's bill...???
b) Perhaps dj_jenns tenants don't owe anything like £2k...
c) I'm always more interested in getting my money 1st. ***gered if I'm helping another creditor (if it becomes a competitive debt chase) to find/take £££s off a creditor of mine..

Cheers!

Artful

Any views anyone???

Artful

amz84uk

All, following on from these comments, I'm in a similar situation to DJ_Jenn. My previous tenants run up a bill of almost £500 just for Electricity and almost £1000 with BT. BT had solicitors/bailiffs involved, but a friendly call to them stopped all that, and reset everything for the new tenants that have now moved into my house.

The suppliers have been informed of the forwarding address for the previous tenants who owe the bills, as the landlord nor the new tenants are liable.

However, my problem is that the tenants owe me 2 months of rent, and they've taken with them the kitchen appliances. What can I do to recover the kitchen appliances back? They took all the bulbs and also the kitchen drainage pipes too!!!