Switching in a shared house.

SparciaM

There are 3 of us in this house and are rent has now changed from "All Inclusive" to "Rent plus Bills".

The current provider is Scottish Power Manweb for both electricity and gas and the landlord provided details of a bill of £105 a month for this. Obviously, we wish to get it cheaper than this.

BUT, can 3 people switch? I checked U-Switch and the other comparision sites and you have to put in direct debit details. We don't have a joint acc (for obvious reasons) and would like to pay on receipt of a bill. How can we switch doing it this way - as all the comparision sites ask for bank details?!?

Ken68

You must choose one of you to pay the bills, in his name, his bank details,his responsibility. Somebody for the providers to sue if things go sour..Ring Energy helpline on 0800 074 0745

SparciaM

What happens if you don't want to do this? What happens if we want all 3 names on an account and wish to pay when the bill arrives?!? There must be a way that shared houses can do stuff like this. As it ain't fair that 1 person has sole responsibility and if someone moves out or doesn't pay then they have no legal stance to get the money back.

Ken68

That's the thinking of the provider, what if all of you skipped.
You could ask the landlord to put his name forward.
If you ring the energy provider they will mark your card for future applications, even perhaps share your info with others. If you ring the comparison site, Energyhelpline, you will get fairer advice. Perhaps there is a gas/electric company that will just accept a cheque in settlement each quarter. You need to ring someone.

justtoclarify_2

I am assuming under the previous all inclusive arrangement, the Gas and Electric bill was in your landlord's name and that although you have changed to rent plus bills the bills are still in his/her name at the moment.

As the previous post indicated you can contact your choosen supplier directly and their systems should be able to cope with more than one name. The supplier may do a credit check on you when you sign up. You may need to transfer the existing account with the current supplier in order to switch. If your landlord has given a final meter reading to Scottish Power, subsequent bills should be addressed to the Ocuppier.

Since you wish to pay quarterly, it is likely that the only discount available will be a prompt payer discount. This usually requires any bill to be paid with 14 days of bill date. Which can be within 4 days of you receiving it as can take up to 10 days to arrive.

If you are in any doubt about ensuring that the bills are paid on time by all parties consider a pre-payment meter. Then you can just pay for the gas and electric as they occur with no large unexpected bills.

Whether you go the quarterly bill or the pre-payment route, you should make sure your checks on the comparisson websites include Ebico, they charge the same tariff whether you pay by DD, quarterly or pre-payment.But do not give discounts for any payment method. I believe uswitch only list them if you select social tariff. The comparisson site may warn you against using them because they are small but the billing is done by Southern Electric. You can download an application form from their website (https://www.ebico.co.uk), look under download menu.

As you have a bill from your landlord and Ebico tariff structure it is straight forward to work out if this supplier would save you any money given your payment constraints of no direct debit. Whoever you switch to make sure you read the small print about payment deadlines.

With regard to having all of you on the bill, if you are all named you will all be responsible. Which means you can pay your share, but if someone does not, the utility company or debt collector will chase all of the named parties until the bill is settled.

SparciaM

I don't think you understand.

The bills aren't in the landlords name anymore. He called all companies and put 2 out of 3 housemate names on the bills. I called Scottish Power and they said as far as they were concerned they had a phone call from a landlord saying x lived there and they are now responsible for bills.

I asked about putting a 3rd party on the bill, yet they were reluctant and wanted it in writing -- how can someone call up a utility place and put a new name on the account without their consent?!? BECAUSE at the moment I'm still on an "All Inclusive" contract - yet Scottish Power said they don't care and if I didn't pay the bill as my name was on their they would take legal action.

Yet when looking at the switching sites, you can't just pay the bill every month it arrives you need to set up a DD and I'm reluctant to do this, as I don't trust people not paying or whom can't pay. I do trust my housemates, BUT, I don't want to be liable for a bill that unlegally isn't all mine!

Cardew

SparciaM,

"how can someone call up a utility place and put a new name on the account without their consent?!?"

That is how it is normally done in the millions of times new owners/tenants move into a property. You can hardly expect the gas/water/electricity/phone companies to get involved with solicitors.

If you dispute that a bill should be in your name it becomes a civil matter and just don't pay it. Utility company/courts will sort out liability.

Your situation is no different to thousands of houses, often where several Students share, someone has to take responsibility.

musey

Not paying the bill is not an option in my view. You are the occupiers and as such are responsible in the eyes of the Utility Co for paying the bill. The fact that you contract with your landlord says otherwise is a seperate matter and needs to be sorted out as such.

What does you contract with your landlord actually say? How did he make the change from all inc to you paying the bills? Have you signed a new contract? If you answer these questions I may be able to advise more.

justtoclarify_2

From what you have subsequently said it sounds like the bills are now in two of the three sharers names, your name being one the named bill payers?

Scottish Power now want written confirmation that you wish to add a third name to the bill. In the short term, put it in writing to Scottish Power that you wish the account to be in all three names. Hassle but if they change it you will at least have part of what you want.

If you have accepted the change in rent arrangements, the landlord notifying the current supplier that they are no longer responsible for the gas/elec is correct. The supplier putting the account in two of the three sharers name is annoying but probably due to inadequate billing systems. However would you have preferred them to cease supply, asked you what you wanted to do and charged you a re-connection fee for the privilege? Gas and electricity are often transferred on assumed basis, which is why ensuring final and starting meter readings are correct so important. If the supplier does not have a name they will bill the occupier, as the owner of record the landlord would probably end up being liable, hence why it would be in their interest to give the supplier the names of responsible parties at the time of the change.

With regard to the switching sites if they only allow you to switch using their services by using a DD arrangement then don't use them other than to determine who the cheapest service available to you is. Take a note of the the supplier and plan they claim is the cheapest for you and contact the supplier directly. Yes you will miss out on any cashback incentive for switching but if your aim is to ensure all three of you are liable for the bill then this is something you will have to accept. The comparisson sites will normally have website addresses of the suppliers so you can use the suppliers online system for registering, this may not be suitable for you as they are usually configured to accept one or two names; so try by phone or in writing.

The comparisson sites will give the costs for paying quarterly which usually covers paying by cheque. The sites will imply that DD monthly, quarterly is the only way but it is not. If you want to pay quarterly by cheque you may find that the savings available to you are not that significant compared to what you are paying to Scottish Power at present.

SparciaM

I'm still on an "All Inclusive" contract till Dec, stating that I pay one lump sum each month which includes all bills. Thie new contract of "Rent plus bills" hasn't even been drawn up yet and I've not signed anything.

He spoke to us a few weeks back informing that it will change from All Inclusive to Rent plus bills on 1st Oct , yet were starting to get bills and still haven't signed any new contract.

In my opinion, I still pay the LL lump sum and he sorts out bills, but LL and Scottish Power are saying it's not up to them. LL advised new contract will not be ready to be signed until 30th Sep!

- So I guess the only thing to do, is advise LL that I'm not signing the new contract until I have written confirmation that Sep bills will be paid by him an not us, otherwise I guess he has to give us notice on the old contract.!.

musey

SparciaM wrote:

I'm still on an "All Inclusive" contract till Dec, stating that I pay one lump sum each month which includes all bills. Thie new contract of "Rent plus bills" hasn't even been drawn up yet and I've not signed anything.

He spoke to us a few weeks back informing that it will change from All Inclusive to Rent plus bills on 1st Oct , yet were starting to get bills and still haven't signed any new contract.

If you are still within the fixed term of your contract your landlord cannot alter the terms in the manner he is suggesting, that is not to say that any agreement between you and you landlord is anything to do with Scottish Power. They are quite within their rights to bill the user of their service, in this case you and your housemates. The issue of your contract is between you and your landlord, Scottish Power do well not to get involed.

What exactly does your contract say regarding utlilities?

SparciaM wrote:

In my opinion, I still pay the LL lump sum and he sorts out bills, but LL and Scottish Power are saying it's not up to them. LL advised new contract will not be ready to be signed until 30th Sep!

I agree with you (depending on the wording of the contract regarding bills).

SparciaM wrote:

- So I guess the only thing to do, is advise LL that I'm not signing the new contract until I have written confirmation that Sep bills will be paid by him an not us, otherwise I guess he has to give us notice on the old contract.!.

He cannot force you to sign a new contract before your old one ends, in fact he cannot force you to sign a new contract at all. He can offer you the new contract to start when your current contract ends, you do not have to agree to it, if you don't agree to it and don't sign it he must give you 2 full months notice to leave the property. If you don't leave after that point he must then apply to the court for a possesion order.

I would be interested to hear the exact wording in the contract regarding bills before givin more advice. I would certainly recommend your talking to the helpline advisors at shelter http://england.shelter.org.uk/home/index.cfm/setcountry/true/