Am I liable?

Wellyboots6

I moved to this property a few months ago and filled in a form the letting agent gave me which meant they would contact the energy suppliers and set up a direct debit to get gas and electricity bills paid.

I have had gas and electric bills in my name through, and have set up monthly direct debits which is all fine.

I have also had bills through addressed to my previous letting agent, not the ones for the current property, charging for the time the current property was empty before I moved in.

I rang the energy company to explain that these bills were coming here and were addressed to a letting agency and not the resident of the property, and they told me to ignore them and the bills were nothing to do with me.

Do I ignore them? They are now red bills

Meadows

If you have bills from before you moved in then as well as contacting the energy company which you have, hand these bills back to the letting agent and tell them they are nothing to do with you and are actually theirs or the previous tenants bills.

Not sure why you would have let the letting agency set up you DD with the Utilities as this is down to you and on moving in (or out) you should always contact the utilities yourself to let them know the day you moved in and what the readings are (keep a note to confirm against first & last bills).
By letting your letting agent set all this up how do you know you are on the best tariff for you?

Fire_Fox

katy721 wrote: »

I moved to this property a few months ago and filled in a form the letting agent gave me which meant they would contact the energy suppliers and set up a direct debit to get gas and electricity bills paid.

I have had gas and electric bills in my name through, and have set up monthly direct debits which is all fine.

I have also had bills through addressed to my previous letting agent, not the ones for the current property, charging for the time the current property was empty before I moved in.

I rang the energy company to explain that these bills were coming here and were addressed to a letting agency and not the resident of the property, and they told me to ignore them and the bills were nothing to do with me.

Do I ignore them? They are now red bills

I haven't a clue what you are on about! Why are you getting three lots of bills for one property, two lots of letting agents and bills in your own name? Why have you filled in forms to permit the agents to set up a direct debit, in whose name/ bank account? When are these bills for, before you were in the property or after?

If before again why did you fill in any forms since that was nothing to do with you? If after why did you fill in forms since that is nothing to do with your landlord or the agents?

You are the energy user, you are responsible for reading your own meters and supplying readings, choosing your own supplier and tariff, you are responsible for your own banking and direct debits, you are responsible for paying for all energy usage for the full period of your tenancy, no more no less. If you have done this the rest makes little sense.

macman

What's the betting that the OP has been signed up with our good friends Spark (the landlords' friend)?

Wywth

katy721 wrote: »

I moved to this property a few months ago and filled in a form the letting agent gave me which meant they would contact the energy suppliers and set up a direct debit to get gas and electricity bills paid.

I have had gas and electric bills in my name through, and have set up monthly direct debits which is all fine.

I have also had bills through addressed to my previous letting agent, not the ones for the current property, charging for the time the current property was empty before I moved in.

I rang the energy company to explain that these bills were coming here and were addressed to a letting agency and not the resident of the property, and they told me to ignore them and the bills were nothing to do with me.

Do I ignore them? They are now red bills

When you spoke to the supplier, why did you not explain the letting agents are not at your address, and give them the address they are located at?

Then the bills will go directly to them.

Simples! :cool:

Wywth

macman wrote: »

What's the betting that the OP has been signed up with our good friends Spark (the landlords' friend)?

Probably, especially as the OP says it's all fine, unlike most Newbie posters posting on here about Spark

Wellyboots6

Sorry, my first post is very confusing, let me try again!

Old property: With letting agent A.

I moved out, gave my final meter readings to the energy companies and have had my final bills. All paid and sorted.

New property: With letting agent B.

I moved in and filled in a form that the letting agent B provided (originally came from the energy company currently providing the new property) which gave moving in meter readings and bank details to set up direct debits to pay the energy company.

My plan was to set this up initially and then when I got time to look in to changing to cheaper providers.

I have received the first bills (although no payment needed as direct debit set up) for New property, in my name.

I have also received bills, in letting agent A's name, for New property, for the period New property was empty before I moved in. I shouldn't have opened them as they weren't addressed to me as they were addressed to letting agent A, but opened one accidentally.

I can't see that these bills have anything to do with letting agent A as they only dealt with Old property, and have no idea how the energy suppliers got their name.

I am asking if I am liable for these bills, because they are now red bills and there are now letters from debt collection agencies coming through.

Letting agent A says they are nothing to do with them, which I suspect is correct. Letting agent B say they are nothing to do with them. And I don't think they are anything to do with me!

I want to change energy companies but want to understand all this first, as money is very tight and so I need to know what I am expected to pay. I get easily confused by things like this and so need to try and understand what is happening before I try changing companies and confuse myself even further!

And Spark are not involved

Wywth

I understood you correctly the first time and my response still stands

Don't worry about others problems; if you are considering switching supplier check this out

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

With Spark Energy often coming out cheapest (unless you want a fixed deal), then maybe you will be with them soon

undaunted

I think I would write to the supplier confirming the date you moved in, the meter reading then & now & requesting that they bill accordingly and cease mailing you / your address with anyone elses bills.

There is no need for you to have any (further) contact with the letting agents about those bills, nor to worry about who should be billed - they are not your problem.

Fire_Fox

Much clearer, thank you.

The person liable for the energy bills before you moved in is either the tenant (if it was let) or the landlord (if it was empty), you are definitely not liable. It is highly unlikely either letting agent is liable although sometimes letting agents do pay bills and claim the money back from the landlord.

Write to your landlord using the address at which to serve notices on your tenancy agreement, enclose all the erroneous bills and ask him to resolve them. Always do this in future, if you receive mail that is not for you pass it to the landlord, I would deem this 'acting in a tenant like manner'.

If you wish also write or e-mail the supplier confirming your incoming meter reading and dates of occupancy, give them the address of the landlord or letting agent B or both in respect of the account which is in debt. This debt should not affect you switching suppliers since your account is being paid, the account with debt belongs to the landlord or previous tenant.

In future complete your own forms and send them off yourself, your energy accounts are none of the letting agent or landlord's concern they should not be sticking their nose into your business. TBH it's quite bizarre they are concerning themselves with your account but not addressing the problems with the landlord/ previous tenant's account!