Rental agenency charges the water bill after check out

raja.kaliyannan

Hi,

I lived in a flat for 30 months and recently moved out.I have paid all my utility bills (electricity &Gas) without fail during my tenancy.

Now i have got a letter from the rental agency that they charge £400.00 for the water for 30 months.

Since i lived in a flat the water and maintenance was charged to the Landlord and i never got the bill for the water during my 30 months tenancy.

After i moved out they sent the letter to deduct that money from my deposit.

They say as per the agrrement i'm responsible for the water bill.If that is the case whey they didn't ask the water charges for 30 months and asking after i moved out?

Please advice what to do now?

Thanks,
Raj

GillsMan7

If your agreement states that you are responsible for the water bill and if you haven't paid the water bill, then I'm afraid you need to pay the water bill of £400.

Brb

Yup sorry but if your tenancy agreement says you are responsible for the water then you're responsible.

£400 for 30 months though works out just over £13.30 ish a month so not bad (I pay £21 a month for our usage).

Edit:

An after-thought. Could you not negotiate with water board to a reduction ? Was the bill meant to be in your name ?

satchmeister

Brb wrote: »

Yup sorry but if your tenancy agreement says you are responsible for the water then you're responsible.

£400 for 30 months though works out just over £13.30 ish a month so not bad (I pay £21 a month for our usage).

Edit:

An after-thought. Could you not negotiate with water board to a reduction ? Was the bill meant to be in your name ?

Utility bill in LL's name, shows he lives there and it's not rented out. HMRC don't know about the rent so no tax to be paid ... just a thought.

Brb

satchmeister wrote: »

Utility bill in LL's name, shows he lives there and it's not rented out. HMRC don't know about the rent so no tax to be paid ... just a thought.

I see your thinking, if that was the reason then the electric/gas/council tax would also all be in LLs name ? bit odd that it's just the water.

I asked because it's possibly a conversion and water supply wasn't split/metered to each flat and LL owns it all so pays the bill himself (could be still under water rates as one property and he splits that between 2 or 3 flats and then charges the tenants). Normally though you'd see that put in with rent. Only thing that makes me think that is that it only comes out to £13 a month.

olly300

Actually the reason could be very innocent.

The LL may not want the tenant to have the water bill in their name to avoid having a water meter installed in the property.

Some water companies i.e. Thames Water try and enforce a water meter on properties where the name on the water bill changes believing its the same as a change of ownership.

They are quite persistent, have poor customer service and act as bullies so unless a tenant is aware that they can argue that they shouldn't have a water meter because the property hasn't changed ownership they will start the process of installing one.

And my water bill is about £19 a month now though I've lived in properties which had a lower rateable value than mine.

tbs624

OP - if you knew that your tenancy agreement stated clearly that the water bills were your responsibility why did you not clarify things when you lived there? Was it the case that you thought you had got away with not paying?Equally the LL should have passed the bills on to you and/or notified the water company that the bills should be addressed to you at the property

You could check the wording of your tenancy agreement to see if it specifically what your deposit may be used for and if nothing about bill payment is mentioned then offer to pay in instalments.

Was your tenancy deposit scheme registered btw, assuming property is in Eng/Wales and let under an AST?

tbs624

Brb wrote: »

I see your thinking, if that was the reason then the electric/gas/council tax would also all be in LLs name ? bit odd that it's just the water.

LLs of shared student properties often retain the water bill in their own name ( & not just for those properties which are HMOs) but the OP's set up does seem odd, if payment is held by the AST agreement to be the responsibility of the LL.

raja.kaliyannan

The LA repliend me for the reason why the water bill was not sent to me -''The reason you have not received a bill is because the Management Company of the development send bills to the Landlord as they are billed as a block, then divided between properties.''

raja.kaliyannan

satchmeister wrote: »

Utility bill in LL's name, shows he lives there and it's not rented out. HMRC don't know about the rent so no tax to be paid ... just a thought.

Hwn i asked the LA about why the bill was not sent to for 30 months he gave the reason-'' The reason you have not received a bill is because the Management Company of the development send bills to the Landlord as they are billed as a block, then divided between properties.''


But in his deduction he showed the water bill with the pattern for every 6 months.When showed the water bill with the pattern for every 6 six months why it was not invoiced for 30 months? That puzzles me.

raja.kaliyannan

Brb wrote: »

Yup sorry but if your tenancy agreement says you are responsible for the water then you're responsible.

£400 for 30 months though works out just over £13.30 ish a month so not bad (I pay £21 a month for our usage).

Edit:

An after-thought. Could you not negotiate with water board to a reduction ? Was the bill meant to be in your name ?

When i asked the LA about why the bill was not sent to for 30 months he gave the reason-'' The reason you have not received a bill is because the Management Company of the development send bills to the Landlord as they are billed as a block, then divided between properties.''


But in his deduction he showed the water bill with the pattern for every 6 months.When showed the water bill with the pattern for every 6 six months why it was not invoiced for 30 months? That puzzles me.