They're 'Setting up the Utilities for me'

GrimJam

Hi everyone,

I'm about to move into a rented house, and the estate agent has told me that my information will be passed to a company called Hallmark, (found at *companyname*corporate.co.uk) who will arrange my utilities for me. (This was automatic and was mentioned only in a confirmation letter - no opt-out)

On the face of it, this seems like a company who 'take the hassle out of moving in', but my suspicion is that I will be automatically put onto the most expensive tariffs, and Hallmark will make their money by taking a cut of this from the utility companies.

Hallmark have not sent me any communication, though I was told a 'utility pack' will be sent to me for completion.

- - Do I have a right to be suspicious of this kind of service?

- - What are my rights in this situation? (is it wrong for my estate agent to give away my details, and are Hallmark allowed to arrange anything? Can I quickly reverse this if they take it upon themselves to do it?)

I'm worried about being locked into contracts for services I didn't want use, let alone pay for.

James

jd87

What does it say in your tenancy agreement?

chanz4

regardless what it says in the tennancy, legally you have a right to choose your supplier. Change away and get your supplier to object to any application to move

GrimJam

Cheers Guys,

I haven't yet signed the full contract, and will be doing so on the day of moving in, but I was made aware through this, in my letter of confirmation:

"It is the tenants responsibility to arrange and pay council tax, water, gas, electricity, telephone and TV license (if applicable) and any other agreed outgoings of the property during the tenancy. To assist the tenant, *Landlord*'s utility administrator Hallmark will contact gas, electricity water and council tax suppliers for those accounts to be put into the tenants name(s)."

That's a little contradictory.

I'll certainly dig in my heels if they try to do anything for me. The problem is that I don't know the current utility suppliers, and have had no luck from the landlord in ascertaining who it is - which makes it hard to commit the switch myself before moving in. I've been looking on the net and will call Transco and other bodies tomorrow morning to find out more.

Cardew

There have been posts on MSE about letting agents signing up their tenants to firms like Utility Warehouse who sell gas and electricity through a network of salesmen; who get an ongoing commission whilst the tenants remain with their firm.

I cannot see how they get any commission for council Tax and water, although with no choice for those services it just means change of account holder.

[Deleted User]

Spark energy is popular with lettings agents, they get a commission. Unless you ve signed to stick with the landlords supplier, visit a comp site and switch, it takes 4-6 weeks

macman

You are paying the bills, so make your own arrangements. These managed services do not come free, you will be paying a penurious utilityrate if you contract with them-and they will probably mess up the readings anyway.
You should just strike such clauses from any tenancy agreement, they are unenforceable.

dogshome

Hallmark seem to be a fairly new kid on the block with pages on their w/site only half built.
They say they work with SSE, but drilling down on their w/site seems to show a relationship that's closer than that.

There is absolutely no mention of fee's to L/lords, Agents or Tenants, so the whole operation would appear to be a fishing net for SSE to trawl new customers

GrimJam

Excellent, I'll certainly strike any clauses. Luckily I haven't signed anything from them (though this may not matter to these kinds of companies), and I'm mostly hoping to get in before they do, switching on my own

Thanks to all for the advice

equitable

GrimJam wrote: »

Cheers Guys,

To assist the tenant, *Landlord*'s utility administrator Hallmark will contact gas, electricity water and council tax suppliers for those accounts to be put into the tenants name(s).".

That's standard practice, it does not however insist on any specific named supplier, and as chanz4, Cardew and other say its unenforceable even if they tried to.

*Landlord*'s utility administrator Hallmark will contact gas, electricity water and council tax suppliers for those accounts to be put into the tenants name(s)."

From the moment you sign you will be on a 'deemed contract' with your supplier not with the utility administrator. Make sure you take & photograph every reading the very first day you contract including water if you can, and try to give a copy of those readings to your managing agent / utility administrator / landlord and any other interested party the same day.

Then go about comparison and changing supplier.

- - Do I have a right to be suspicious of this kind of service?

You will know yourself the moment you hand over your own copy of the readings on the day you contract, if they are different and you're being charged for someone else's usage. One thing for sure the 'utility administrator' is not providing a service for free, and you - the end user, will be picking up the tab.

CIS

I would contact the council yourself , I've seen numerous problems with these companies where they have been used to pass on the information and nothing has been received leading to problems at a later date.