advice on possible back billing of an unregistered electric meter

inventors

I posted recently about an unregistered electrcicity meter in the flat i was renting. (Long story short- no bill throughout my tennancy, i was told by previous tennants there was no bill and assumed was included in rent, turns out the flat was simply not being billed by supplier- am stil to work out exaclty why- but seemes it's never been billed in the entire time it's been rented out.)

I have a couple of questions about where I stand now that I have moved out. I have talked to the landlord about the problem and they claim ignorance as to why the flat's never been billed, they can't explain why prevoius tennant told me there was no bill etc. In fact they said they have no record of who supplied the electricity- ever! They asked me to find out who the supplier is, which I have done, but beyond that they don't seem to concerned.

In a couple of days I return the keys to the landlord and ask for my deposit back. Could the landlord legally withold my deposit and claim that there is an 'unpaid bill' even though that isn't actually the case and won't bill until it's clear what action the suplier takes. I have said i will pay for my share and I will provide a fowarding address for the landlord to get in touch.

Currently no one new has moved in and I get the feeling the landlord just wants to wait and see what happnes when someone new does arrive and set up a new account (ie. will the supplier realise.)

When this happens and if the supplier realises their mistake how can I make sure I'm back-billed fairly for the time i rented the flat? And how can I use the billing code to decide if the flault is on the part of the supplier?

macman

No the landlord cannot withold your deposit, as the bill (when it eventually arrives) is not his responsibility, it is yours, unless your SHT agreement specifically stated that the electricity was included in the rent.

Premier_2

inventors wrote: »

...When this happens and if the supplier realises their mistake how can I make sure I'm back-billed fairly for the time i rented the flat?

A outgoing signed and agreed by both LL & T inventory/statement of condition (hopefully to match the similar ingoing one) with the meter readings on would prove useful in case of any later dispute.

inventors wrote: »

And how can I use the billing code to decide if the flault is on the part of the supplier?

You can't use that code. It's not the fault of the supplier if there isn't currently one and if there is, it isn't the fault of the supplier that you failed to register with them.

inventors

Premier wrote: »

A outgoing signed and agreed by both LL & T inventory/statement of condition (hopefully to match the similar ingoing one) with the meter readings on would prove useful in case of any later dispute.

You can't use that code. It's not the fault of the supplier if there isn't currently one and if there is, it isn't the fault of the supplier that you failed to register with them.

because the outgoing tenant told me there was no electricity bill when i moved in no reading was taken. it's possible the landlord might have an outgoing bill for the last tenant, but when i asked them about this they said 'they didn't know'
I have an out going reading, but my guess is if no in-going reading can be found an estimate will have to be made