Not returning deposit until you have paid utilities

talulahbeige_2

In the letter my LA have sent confirming when our tennancy will end they have included a paragraph about the return of the deposit. It basically says that they won't return the deposit until we have provided them with proof that we have cleared all the utility accounts.
Now this amazes me as the bills are in my / my OH's names and therefore not the LL's / LA's responsibility and if we didnt pay them it would be us they chased not the LL. We also pay them via monthly DD and have online billing.
Can they do this? I dont believe they can but I can't find any reference to it on various sites (deposit scheme, shelter etc)

zappahey

Is it mentioned in the contract you signed at the start of the tenancy?

talulahbeige_2

zappahey wrote: »

Is it mentioned in the contract you signed at the start of the tenancy?

I'm not sure as I don't have it to hand.
If it does then I'm guessing yoiu are suggesting they can?

Doesn't this go against the depsoits schemes that say they have to return the deposit in a certain time frame?

clutton_2

utility bills are nothing to do with LLs or LAs - if its y our name on the bill, its your reponsibility

mchale

Bear in mind, it has be known for some utility companies to insist on a card/prepayment meter, if a rented property has a history of non payment of bills by the tenants who have lived there.

princeofpounds

No they can't do this, but you would need to either go to arbitration or court to get the money back anyway.

rchrisp

i've got the same sort of letter, am moving out next week.

the original contract was one A4 page and I really cannot remember utilities being mentioned on it.

I thought the same as you about the occupier being responsible as it was in our name... let me know how you go.

penguingirl

I had a similar problem when I moved out of my flat and I posted about it here

In our case it was part of the tenancy agreement- in hindsight we should have questioned that when we signed it. But I am aware that some LLs get panicky about utlitilies 'blacklisting' addresses etc. and I think ours was just naive so I can see why they do it for peace of mind and so that they/ future tenants don't have problems. I guess it's also a way of checking that you've given accurate meter readings to the utilities.

In the end our our LL received copies of our final bills, rang the utilities to confirm they had been paid and returned our deposit fairly promptish when we mentioned that we knew our deposit wasn't protected.

davidgmmafan

Firstly an unrelated question is it possible to subscribe to a thread rather than having to find it to get an update?

Now the reason why this caught my interest. I work for a utility company and have encountered an increasing number of people who are saying thier landlord/letting agent will not release the deposit until such a letter is produced. Since a reciept is not provided automatically they need to speak to us to request this.

This has even happened to people who were moving out of the country, which makes it hard to chase up obviously.

curlylou1986

Hi,
my and my OH are looking into moving feb/march when contract expires on our flat. we have to have proof that all bills etc are all cleared and paid up before we get the deposit back.
when my OH lived with his friend bout 6 years back they had to do the same. had moved out etc, took all the meter readings possible, called the companies to let them know that they had moved out at the time and to finialise the readings, had the last part of the money paid up on the bills and a letter stating all bills had been cleared then they got their deposit back.
seems to be a general thing - i cant remember either if its in our contract as cant find the folder with those bits in at the moment, but my OH says we def have to do it before get depoist back.