Taking over tenancy of a flat- previous tenant owes money to Npower

EMMAP

Hello all

First off let me try and explain this quite complicated situation my flatmate and I have found ourselves in. After finding a flat on gumtree, I moved in in July of last year. I didn't realise initially but the guy we (me and another girl who moved in in April of last year) are living with was sub letting the flat to us as he could no longer afford it on his own. We were told the cost per month and no bills were mentioned to either of us so we assumed this was all in.

After seeing a number of unopened envelopes from npower (addressed to our male flatmate who has everything in his name) we began to get worried. Even more so when we finally decided to open one (I should perhaps include that about a month in I realised my male flatmate is an alcoholic who has since been in and out of hospital 3 times since I've lived here) and found that there was over £900 owing on the gas/electricity. We confronted the housemate who blamed it on him being in hospital (never for more than two weeks at a time I might add- the rest is spent at home drinking) and not keeping up with bills. However this problem seems to have been going on for the year or so preceding us moving in.

Anyway I chucked him a little extra over the past month or so to put towards gas, even though we are paying a fair amount. Now we've had enough of the lying and the food stealing and the irresponsible often scary behaviour so he is moving out. My flatmate and I want to take over the tenancy of the place but don't fancy paying what is now over a thousand pounds to npower. We want to start from scratch. Can we go with BG or do we have to open a new account with npower showing them the new tenancy agreement? Nothing is signed yet but I was just wondering what our options were.

All advice appreciated.

Thanks much
x

lizzielondon

if a previous tenant owes money it's not your problem- you contact the provider with meter readings and the date you moved in

however in your case you were living at the property with the previous tenant for a while? and you paid your share of bills to him, and he choose to keep this money and not pay for the bills in your name?

in your position when he leaves i would contact the provider and let them know the date and the readings for the start date of the new tenancy and that you are the new tenants- they will then chase the old tenant for the money owed

i don't know if this is the correct/legal thing to do! i would suggest maybe asking over on the renting board, as alot a peeps over there will probably know

are you not named on his tenancy agreement?
did he have permission to sublet?
has the landlord agreed to transfer the tenancy to you?

EMMAP

We're not on the tenancy agreement, although I think he should have put us on. No idea if he had permission to sublet.
The agents haven't agreed yet- we're just thinking ahead to what we're going to do if we're allowed to keep the place. And just out of curiosity- what energy providers do people recommend? I've seen some alarming things about npower on this board!

lizzielondon

EMMAP wrote: »

We're not on the tenancy agreement, although I think he should have put us on. No idea if he had permission to sublet.
The agents haven't agreed yet- we're just thinking ahead to what we're going to do if we're allowed to keep the place. And just out of curiosity- what energy providers do people recommend? I've seen some alarming things about npower on this board!

if you haven't signed your own agreement together then you're not on it, he can't just 'put' you on by himself

do you pay your rent to him or the landlord? if there is a papertrail of rent being paid to the landlord then it could be proved that you do have a contract- this could be important re the money owed to npower. although, hopefully someone else can clarify, i think you may be safe because the bill is only in his name?

sorry can't be more definite

kippen_noedel

If you really want to stay, kick him out and get the lease in your name. Of course you have no legal rights to do that.

The lease is in his name as are the bills, which of course means without a written agreement you have no liability to pay any of the bills while his name is on the tenancy & the bills. Even with a written agreement for subletting, the landlord will have to agreed to this in writing for it to be enforceable.

Under no circumstances contact the energy suppliers prior to getting the lease in your name.

If you paid a deposit to the tenant for subletting, I would not expect this to be paid back. I would bet already spent in the pub.

hermum

They cannot kick somebody out. Only the LL or agent can do this after serving the appropriate notice & all the legal side, maybe court order bailiffs etc. You could be seen by the ll as trespassers so tread very carefully. Maybe you & the other flat mate would be better finding somewhere else.

EMMAP

lizzielondon wrote: »

if you haven't signed your own agreement together then you're not on it, he can't just 'put' you on by himself

do you pay your rent to him or the landlord? if there is a papertrail of rent being paid to the landlord then it could be proved that you do have a contract- this could be important re the money owed to npower. although, hopefully someone else can clarify, i think you may be safe because the bill is only in his name?

sorry can't be more definite

No we haven't signed anything- what I meant by 'put' was asked for us to have our names on the lease. I'm looking for advice......the tone of your replies is a bit short lizzie- everything ok? We pay our rent to him so no papertrail.

And yeah we paid a deposit to him. I reckon it went straight into his pocket! But we're gonna try and see what we can sort. I think speaking to the estate agents is a good bet. They need to know the score.

lizzielondon

EMMAP wrote: »

No we haven't signed anything- what I meant by 'put' was asked for us to have our names on the lease. I'm looking for advice......the tone of your replies is a bit short lizzie- everything ok? We pay our rent to him so no papertrail.

And yeah we paid a deposit to him. I reckon it went straight into his pocket! But we're gonna try and see what we can sort. I think speaking to the estate agents is a good bet. They need to know the score.

everything is fine! i was just in a rush, only trying to help! didn't wan't to say anything definite as i wasn't 100% sure

re: your tenancy, the renting board will help you there if you want it

re: speaking to the letting agents, as someone as posted above your status as tenants is questionable- as you have no signed contract or implicit contract through money going straight from you to the ll (again i *think*) you can evicted with no notice- and your dodgy flatmate may be not bothered about helping you out since you say he's a numpty and he has your money...

are the letting agents aware you're there?

maybe finding somewhere else would be a good idea? the prob of the bill and the flatmate would both go away?

seafarers_wife

i work for the dreaded npower so what i say is not in any official capacity just advice from one person to another

at the moment you are not liable for any of the debt as you are not named on the bills and not named on the t/a.

if you wanted to take over the account you can do a couple of things.

1. get your flatmate to phone npower with you by him and get you added to the account - this i wouldnt recommed as you would then be also liable for the debt.

2. get him kicked out and get a new tennancy agreement in your name. take meter readings on the date your t/a starts and call npower to get the account set up in your name. they will close his account down, open a new one in your name and you will not be liable for his debt. you will need to fax in your full t/a to them so that they can see your not the same person trying to pull a fast one.

good luck

gxx

PNPSUKNET

Just hope that the collections department dont decided to call the l/lord as they can and if they have doubt will. Also they can search the landregistry so be honest.

lizzielondon

PNPSUKNET wrote: »

Just hope that the collections department dont decided to call the l/lord as they can and if they have doubt will. Also they can search the landregistry so be honest.

as i understand it the landlord doesn't know the OP lives in the property, npower have the name of the tenant the ll is aware of; the tenant who the OP has paid their share of the bills to and who has chosen to steal the OP's money rather than pay the bills- i don't think the above is the main prob for the OP?