Need some advice- is it legal or not?

osman2010

my boyfriend has moved into a new build of apartments which is shared ownership and after a month of living there he got a bill for his electricity, water, sewerage and heat/hot water. but because its a shared ownership(2 bed) he has to pay a 40 pound charge every month. when he called to ask about what the charge was for, they told him it was an insurance and that he has to pay it. he told them that he was going to and they said well then you dont get heating or water. but also when he got the bill he got a contract on the same day with it. they also told him that he cant switch his supplier because it only runs of their system(?) and that he has to stay with the one they use.

is this right because it doesnt seem right to me!

Antispam

Never heard of a insurance like that, and I would think twice about getting into a scheme that did that, £40 is a rip off unless its for something else too

I cant see how £40 charge a month just for insurance is justified

Strange how you cant change supplier, unless meters are shared, the energy down the lines doesn't discriminate between suppliers as its managed national and not by the energy supplier

spiro

You mention 'shared ownership' and '2 bed', do you mean he has purchased x% of the apartment and a housing association owns the y%? What has 2 bed got to do with anything?

If it is a block of apartments the £40 may be a service charge which covers things like communal areas etc.

Cardew

As said above, the £40 sounds like it is the service charge which covers insurance for the building.

If it communal heating and electricity(i.e. he doesn't have his own meters) then he obviously cannot change.

However if he has his own meters, then he should be able to change supplier. If that is the case it sounds like someone has signed the flats up to get commission; and perhaps continue to get commission.

Who supplies the gas and electricity?

Fire_Fox

£40 a month for heating, hot water, water and sewerage is a complete bargain - not sure what the problem is? What documentation did your boyfriend get with the purchase , all this should have been explained by the solicitor.

kippen_noedel

Fire_Fox wrote: »

£40 a month for heating, hot water, water and sewerage is a complete bargain - not sure what the problem is? What documentation did your boyfriend get with the purchase , all this should have been explained by the solicitor.

yep, I agree & if this isn't the case then the OP needs to rewrite the post

osman2010

thank you for your posts.
The gas and electricity is with Switch 2 and he owns 35% and pays rent on the rest. He pays for what he uses which obviously depends on how much he uses, what im saying is that on top of his bill he has to pay an extra 40("insurance") every month. he was told about the gas and alectricity, he just wasnt told about the extra charge until he received his first bill. when he called the energy people up they told him that its tough because the housing people should have told him when they didnt. He already pays a service charge of 150 a month. i put down that it was a 2 bed because thats what is written on the bill.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Is it boiler insurance perhaps?????

Cardew

osman2010 wrote: »

thank you for your posts.
The gas and electricity is with Switch 2 and he owns 35% and pays rent on the rest. He pays for what he uses which obviously depends on how much he uses, what im saying is that on top of his bill he has to pay an extra 40("insurance") every month. he was told about the gas and alectricity, he just wasnt told about the extra charge until he received his first bill. when he called the energy people up they told him that its tough because the housing people should have told him when they didnt. He already pays a service charge of 150 a month. i put down that it was a 2 bed because thats what is written on the bill.

We really must have more details if we are to help.

Who are 'SWITCH 2'??

To whom does he pay the £40?

Can you give some exact details on the bill?

It might be(as you are only a part owner) that the agreement insists you pay for a boiler/CH/drains/electrical servicing agreement.

Your lawyer should have explained this charge. Are other owners in the apartment paying this charge?

kippen_noedel

£150pm each in a block of flats, what is it ?? A 24/7 butler service

markharding557

Sounds like an extortion racket to me