New tenants- utility bills

susie1990_2

Not sure if this is in the right forum??

Myself and four other students have recently taken over the tenancy agreement for a house. We took over the tenancy in July but under the agreement we were not allowed to have access to the house until September.

The 4th of September I went and collected my keys to start moving belongings in, when I got there I was faced with a pile of post in our names all from utility companies.

The letting agency had informed the water companies that we were living in the property from 1st July ( when we were unable to live there until the 1st September under the agreement) therefore there were numerous letters and final demands from the two water companies (different companies for fresh water and sewage water) for the period of jul 2010 to march 2011, as we are not on a water meter.

We are all very concerned about the letters I have managed to pay one of the bills online that day although it was around 10 days after the final demand letter was sent out and the other bill (where there was not actually any other letters except the final demand letter) I was unable to pay online as I did not have any of the relevant numbers so am going to attempt to pay tomorrow over the phone.

Firstly should I ring the company for the bill I have just paid to explain the situation i.e not being told that the utilities had been changed to our names and the fact that under our tenancy agreement we didnt have access to the house until september and paid the bill at the earliest possible time and also to confirm that no further action is being taken on reciept of the payment... or just leave it as the payment has been sent?

For the second company where i have not received a bill just a final demand should I request the bill and also explain the whole situation to them or just ring up and try and pay the money and also try and confirm that no further action is being taken as the final demand for the second water bill was sent around 10 days ago?

These may seem like silly questions, but this is our first time renting and having to deal with utility bills and were all a bit angry that the estate agents didn't inform us that they had changed the bills over or that it was likely a bill would arrive while we were not granted access to the property.

Has anyone got any advice?

bristol_pilot

The circumstances you describe, taking over a tenancy and not having access to the house until several months later, are something you should never have agreed to. You should have rented elsewhere. It is entirely normal for landlords to put bills in tenants' names.

However, you are where you are. What you should do is call the utility companies and pay the amount requested by debit card. Utility companies are only interested in getting their money, they are not interested in explanations.

Gothicfairy

Advice : Don't ring, send a copy of your tenancy agreement with the bit in question highlighted and ask them to change the start date on the bills.
For the ones with meters give them the meter readings from the date you actually took responsibility of the property and ask that they use that as the starting reading.

The letting agents do tend to do this but the utility companies are use to student agreements so it can be sorted out without to much of a hassle.
You can also ask for a payment plan to make it easier and also make sure that everyone's name is on the bill so one person does not get stuck with the whole bill
Oh and make sure you take readings when you moved out for the gas and electric and give the right date to the water company.

macman

Does your rather odd tenancy agreement make you responsible for the bills between July and September?
It's up to you to register for the utility supplies, the agency can't just set up an account in your name without your authorisation or knowledge.
What about the other utilities?
Speak to the agency first.

Gothicfairy

Mac, Letting agents can and do set up accounts for their tenants all the time. They can do it as there is nothing in the guild lines (certainly with the water ) that stops them from doing that.
They can also apply a void period for the time the property is empty. They do that all the time based on student tenancy agreements ( as a lot do state a waiting period till term time starts) Really it is not all that odd to be honest and most agents at the utilities have heard it all before.

macman

But in that case, why have they given a mailing address that they know will be empty for the summer? The OP has now lost the right to pay in installments, which is hardly their fault if they didn't have access to the property.

Gothicfairy

Not true at all. The OP has lost nothing

The bill becomes due as soon as the account is opened as it is an RV account, there is no way to put that on hold.

All the op needs to do is send a copy of the tenancy agreement to the water company with a covering letter and they will sort it out.

There really is no need to panic at this stage at all.