Tennents and pre-payment meters

asdash

I have a rented property, the tennent has been there for 7 months, its his first house so I think he is figuring everything out.

He rang yesterday to say he needed to put pre-payment meters in, when I spoke to him, it turned out he has never given the energy companies a meter reading and they now have one and state he owes £1500 and the only thing he can do is install a pre-payment to clear the debt.

It turns out he is with Spark energy which I suspect the letting agents moved the property too. I have just rung them and given them the readings I took when the property is empty which has reduced his outstanding to £1300.

I am reluctant to install pre-payment meters as I feel it will cause issues with other tennents and up to now I have never had any issues with utilities (I always do meter readings when it is empty) He has said he will pay the £100 to have them installed but I would have to pay £100 to go back to normal ones.

I suspect he can get his energy much cheaper from someone else - can he change suppliers if he has a payment plan set up with Spark ? Or will he have to pay off the debt in full before he can switch.

Any advice ?

Thanks

Andrea

HappyMJ

He has to pay his debt off before he can switch...but on departure you can switch to another supplier and get the meters removed for free. Certain suppliers will do it for free.

It's debateable whether you can charge him to remove the PPM and put in a credit meter. It depends on exactly what it says in your tenancy agreement.

As long as the rent is being paid then it's a good idea allow a prepayment meter. The only other option is for him to leave before they remove the meter. That's up to you if you want to finish the tenancy and have no one in the property.

Wywth

asdash wrote: »

I have a rented property, the tennent has been there for 7 months, its his first house so I think he is figuring everything out.

He rang yesterday to say he needed to put pre-payment meters in, when I spoke to him, it turned out he has never given the energy companies a meter reading and they now have one and state he owes £1500 and the only thing he can do is install a pre-payment to clear the debt.

It turns out he is with Spark energy which I suspect the letting agents moved the property too. I have just rung them and given them the readings I took when the property is empty which has reduced his outstanding to £1300.

I am reluctant to install pre-payment meters as I feel it will cause issues with other tennents and up to now I have never had any issues with utilities (I always do meter readings when it is empty) He has said he will pay the £100 to have them installed but I would have to pay £100 to go back to normal ones.

I suspect he can get his energy much cheaper from someone else - can he change suppliers if he has a payment plan set up with Spark ? Or will he have to pay off the debt in full before he can switch.

Any advice ?

Thanks

Andrea

There's not a lot you can do, unless you offer to pay your tenants bill for him

Remember also that the letting agent shouyld be working for you

Remember the teanat has a responsibilty to return the property back to you in the condition it was originally let (fair wear and tear excepted) and so if on it's return you find it has PPMs installed and you need to pay to get credit meters installed, then the tenant would be liable for these reasonable costs.

Did I say the letting agent should be working for you?

Perhaps its time to remind them. After all they should be sorting all this out for you too ...

asdash

Thanks - had a feeling that would be the case

Unfortunatly I don't have an agent for this tennacy, we do have a standard tennancy drawn up through the solicitors

Andrea

Wywth

asdash wrote: »

...Unfortunatly I don't have an agent for this tennacy, we do have a standard tennancy drawn up through the solicitors

Andrea

Well you employed them at one point if there is any credence to your assumption

asdash wrote: »

...It turns out he is with Spark energy which I suspect the letting agents moved the property too. ..

If you've now decided to dispense with the agent's services, you'll have to sort this out yourself.
I'm sure your solicitor will help you for their usual fees :cool:

asdash

The tennents prior to this were through a letting agent which is who I suspect changed it to Spark.

I am happy to tell him that he cant have the PPM's but I just wanted to see if there was anything else I could do to help as I feel he hasn't a clue as it is his first house.

Andrea

SwanJon

asdash wrote: »

I am happy to tell him that he cant have the PPM's

You can tell him, but he is under no compulsion to obey you - especially if it is the best way for him to manage his bills.

If there are any costs with removing them at the end of the tenancy you may be able to recover these from the deposit - if this was covered in the tenancy agreement.

Richie-from-the-Boro

asdash wrote: »

The tenants prior to this were through a letting agent which is who I suspect changed it to Spark.

I am happy to tell him that he cant have the PPM's but I just wanted to see if there was anything else I could do to help as I feel he hasn't a clue as it is his first house.

Andrea

- its entirely possible, or probable that spark are still paying commission to the letting agent that took on their service
- ditto telephony, broadband and mobiles

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Tennents and pre-payment meters

when I saw the title I thought,



and



not a good combination.

macman

With a debt of £1,300, if the tenant wants a supply then they're going to fit a PPM anyway. That's an incredibly high debt to accumulate in just 7 months (a whole year's dual fuel usage?), so he can't have paid anything at all to date.
Sounds like he will be doing a runner at some point anyway-that's the only thing he has 'figured out'. I'd make sure he doesn't get behind with the rent.
If you want the PPM's removing later then you'll have to recover it from his deposit. But I suspect that that will be the least of your problems with him.

chanz4

The meters are owned by the suppliers, they can say if its a pre-pay or credit no matter whats in the tennancy