A little help please (on behalf of my renting brother!)

Stargirl29

I'm just looking for a bit of advice for my brother.

He's just moved into a flat and is having a few problems with the electricity. I'm a bit sketchy on the details but I'll try to fill you in as best as I can.

Basically, he's in a flat above a funeral parlour (rather him than me!!) and when he was talking to the agents about it before they moved in, they had no problem with him switching electricity suppliers. He's since found out that the last tenant moved out because he couldn't afford the bills (£450 a quarter!) - they are getting charged business rates the same as the funeral parlour and another flat. They rang E-ON (their supplier) and explained, and were told they'd need to prove it with a council tax reference number which they haven't got yet. So meanwhile, they've tried to find out the serial number of the sub-metre as they were told they need that too - this is where they've hit a dead end. They have been stopped getting in to see the metre (which is apparently in the chapel part) and when they contacted the agents they were told that they can't switch suppliers now, and that they have no need to contact the electricity company as they will be getting their bills through the landlord.... that sounds very dodgy to me.

Just wondered what, if anything, they should do about it? They've been to CAB, and all they said was "yes, that sounds odd. Better get legal advice." They can't really afford it, but apparently earn £25 too much between them to get it free.

Thanks in advance for any help - sorry it was long winded and possibly confusing.

Ditch_Crawler

Has your brother got a rental/tenancy agreement? What does it say about who pays the electricity bill?

Fire_Fox

This needs sorting out with the landlord in writing - chances are he will not want to explain any dodgy dealings in writing. If the bills are in his name your brother does have the right to switch supplier and he should have the right to access his aown meter. He can be charged through the landlord but the landlord cannot resell energy at a profit, so your brother could ask to see the bill. If the bills end up in the landlords name your brother is not liable the landlord is.

£450 a quarter in winter or £450 a quarter year round? The former is not unbelievable if this is an all electric property with poor insulation, £100 a month in winter is normal in a new build.

Stargirl29

Thanks for your replies. I'm unsure whether he has a tenancy agreement, but I'm sure he must have. I'll have to find out from him and get him to check it.

I didn't realise you could get charged through the landlord - so that's not as dodgy as it sounds then? I'll pass this info onto my brother and get him to write to the landlord. I think his worry is that he'll end up paying the bill for the whole building and not just his flat. I believe the £450 is all year round, not just winter.

I'll try to get more details from him and update if necessary. Basically though, he just needs to check his agreement.

Thanks again for your help, poor things were starting to lose sleep - everything seems to have gone wrong for them on this move.

poppysarah

http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/cti_home.htm

he can get his reference number from here for the property.

dacouch

Sounds like your brother is in the dead centre of town

Stargirl29

Thanks poppy, I'll pass the link on to him.

Thanks dacouch, very useful!

A quick update as I've spoken to him today to give him your advice. He says he's not even sure if they have a sub-metre - they've only been given the number for the main one, and like I said - they're not letting him see the metre. Surely if they're a residential address they should have a sub-metre so they're not paying the rates for the business?

He's checked his T.A - and he's down to pay the bills so they can't stop him switching or stop him seeing the metre. He's writing to the Landlord today so we'll wait for his response!

Thanks again for your help so far.. Jen

pinkshoes

Going back 15 years... but my gran rented a flat next to a garage. She paid the electricity via the LL, and got rather suspicious at the huge costs, despite her efforts to cut her usage.

Turns out there was no separate meter, and she was paying for the garage's electricity too!

She put her foot down and refused, and they agreed a fixed amount per month in the end I think.

Stargirl29

That sounds like the same thing pinkshoes, my brother is now writing to the LL to ask and hopefully it'll get sorted soon! I guess there isn't a seperate meter and that's why they won't let him see it - apparently they were nice as pie until that point!

Fire_Fox

Stargirl29 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. I'm unsure whether he has a tenancy agreement, but I'm sure he must have. I'll have to find out from him and get him to check it.

I didn't realise you could get charged through the landlord - so that's not as dodgy as it sounds then? I'll pass this info onto my brother and get him to write to the landlord. I think his worry is that he'll end up paying the bill for the whole building and not just his flat. I believe the £450 is all year round, not just winter.

I'll try to get more details from him and update if necessary. Basically though, he just needs to check his agreement.

Thanks again for your help, poor things were starting to lose sleep - everything seems to have gone wrong for them on this move.

Getting charged through the landlord often denotes a landlord who does not have consent to lease and is pretending to still live in the property. However there are some blocks of flats which have a communal heating system; the costs are allocated by the superior landlord (freeholder) based on what is in the long lease. These costs can then be passed on to the sub-tenant if the flat is a BTL, but there should be no profiteering.

loulou41

My friend pays the landlord approx £10 a month for electricity, it's £40 for four of them. I do not know how that works as the landlord has got a cafe downstairs. I told her as long as it is only £10 that's fine, she also pays him cash every month. Sounds dodgy to me.