Letting agents are trying to hit me with a big bill

geezabloke

Hi all,

I'm hoping there is somebody on here with a bit of legal knowledge to help with my situation.

The day I left the house I was renting (14 November 2009) I took an electricity reading for my own records as I thought the letting agents were supposed to do the same and supply it to the electricity company.
*separate issue - We had a few arguments with the letting agents (LA) over how much deposit we were due back(no surprise there) and eventually got a sum back we were.... not exactly happy with but agreed too.

We had a calls from the LA in November and December saying that they could not find the meter (it was in a farm house and the meter was in one of the barns) so they could not take the readings and asked us to send ours to the supplier.
We sent our readings to the supplier on January 6th after dealing with the move, switching the girls schools & christmas etc.
We had a final bill from the supplier, paid it and life carried on with that chapter of our lives closed.

Fast forward to today (22 July 2010) 8 months after we moved, 6 months after the electricity was settled, we have had a rather large bill from the supplier.

After calling them to find out what was going on, we were told that the LA had given their readings to the supplier on the 16th July 2010 that were 'supposedly' taken on the 14th November 2009 (the day we left, yes this is a blatant lie), funnily enough this amount is only 45 units less than the suppliers confirmed reading (they have changed the meter on the 1st July 2010 & took a FINAL reading), even though, this is a big farm house that we were in and the landlord had left multiple lights on to deter thieves 24/7 for the past 8 months (FYI - a hundred watt lightbulb uses 1 unit of electricity every 10 hours, yeah, it doesn't add up!).

I think we can all see what the LA is doing, they have been privvy to the last readings the supplier took, reduced it by a bit and sent theirs in saying that they were taken on the 14 November 2009 to cover the fact that they never did their job.

Now then, this is all easy to see what has gone on in practice, but I am just one man who is fending off the crap from the supplier, the LA and the landlord, so to head this off as quickly and easily as possible I need to ask wether my idea stacks up legally.

In our contract it states that the deposit we paid is for "Any unpaid accounts for utilities or water charges or environmental services or other similar services or council tax incurred at the property for which the tenant is liable"

My dispute is that the fact that we already have been given what remained of our deposit months ago should of only come around after the LA should of crossed the t's and dotted the i's on anything we were liable for shortly after we left the property.

In this case I believe, even if I was blatantly lying(which I'm not as my evidence proves) I should not be liable for the outstanding amount.

The reason I want to go down this route is because, whenever I have been in a vaguely similar situation as this before, trying to fight my case based on truth and facts of the situation and occurrences have stood up to nothing.
I'd rather deal with this situation in one swift blow and move on with my life.

Now then, congratulations if you managed to read all the way to the end of my post! Any help and direction will be greatly appreciated.

spiro

Points I would make:

1) You should have advised you supplier the day you moved out not nearly 2 months later, this may leave you open to 2 months more elec.
2) If the supplier queries your move out date you will need a copy of the tenancy agreement showing the end date and also any proof of the date you moved into your current property.
3) Yes the LA should have read the meter, normal practice is when they do the moving out inventory they read all the meters and you both have a copy so stop any disageements in the future.
4) Did you provide the LA with a copy of the reading you took?
5) Did you photograph the meter so you have dated (most camera date pictures) proof of the reading?
6) I think the fact that only 45 units was supposidly used in 7.5 months may help especially given the weather because I suspect just thinks like boiler timers etc will use more than that up.
7) I would write to the supplier stating that you took a reading on 14 November 2009 and that it was x and as that was the date you moved out of the property you are not liable for any more consumption.
8) Was anyone else there living with you or with you when you read the meter?
9) How many extra units are they trying to charge you for?
10) The worst I can see happening is LA or Supplier taking you to court. LA is unlikely to lie under oath and the Supplier may have difficulty proving you used the fuel if the final reading you provided was in line with previous useage.

Cardew

The bottom line is it is a third party dispute, someone has to pay for the electricity.

I would write to the Utility company, copy to the LA, explaining the situation and stressing the points about getting back your deposit etc and that you have paid your final bill.

Hopefully the Utility company will accept that situation and bill LA or write off sum.

However they very well might take the easy path and pass the disputed sum to a DCA(Debt Collection Agency); that has implications for your credit record. DCAs are not interested in the merits of the case, they just want money!! In that case it might be an idea to pay outstanding sum and take LA to small claims court.

geezabloke

Thanks for the comments, not really what I wanted to hear, really don't want to drag it through court, the outstanding amount is for £700+ for your information, I did take photographs but not of the last reading as it was dark in the barn (no lights) & I used the light from my phone camera to actually be able to see the meter!

Cardew

As you indicate in the first post, there is no way lighting would(or should) run up a bill for £700.(something like 30kWh a day) Are you sure the property has been unoccupied?

If you are convinced you are correct, and the LA is lying,(and a phone call in Dec saying they couldn't find the meter doesn't support their actual reading on 14 Nov) I would still take them to the small claims court. It really does take a hard-nosed individual to stand up in court and commit perjury(you are on oath). The likely outcome is that they will not defend!

Premier_2

This really does again demonstrate the importance of getting an agreed inventory/statement of condition that includes the meter readings on the days you start & end a tenancy agreement.

It really would avoid all this hassle.