EDF energy charging business rates on a residential property

Mrhuffins

I have just recently found out my Father has been ignoring and putting to one side his electricity bills, The amount for just over the last 12 months is roughly £3,346. every single bill starts:

Dear customer,

Your business electricity bill


Now the place he is living is not a business, It is stupidly obvious it is not a business.

My father's excuse is he told them over the phone about 6 months ago and then just ignored it. (i should explain he is on ESA and is suffering severe depression, there are times i never knew if he would be alive or dead when i would visit)

I was forced to ring them up just under a month ago. I was told that there was no reference or note put onto the account in regards to the place being residential. I also explained that the first 4 months of him living in the place, The landlord was the one who paid the bill.

Apparently my father way paying an extra 100 pound a month in his rental agreement which was covering the costs of electricity and water rates. After 4 months he received a letter from the land lord stating that these would be passed onto him to pay now.

The idiot on the other end of the phone then proceeded to tell me, that the landlord would of been made to pay business rates, and that because it was switched from landlord to tenant, the current tenant my father, should of told them of the changes.

As soon as he told me this, i agressive told him how much bulls*** he had just told me, that if all the landlords in the UK had to pay business rates on their residential tenants for just paying their bill, that they would end up going bankrupt from the amount of money they are effectively throwing away.......they would be loosing thousands of pounds a year! just because they pay the bill instead of the actual tenant. And at more work for them. they would be having to do more work and pay a larger sum of money.

His reply was basically "irrelevant of that fact sir"


He then told me i must get evidence to prove it is a residential property, which as i don't live there and my father is not doing ANYTHING about it, is very hard.

Since then they are sent people round to the place, (when i wasn't there) my father never answered but they dropped a letter through the door stating that they had come to either....set up a pre payment metre or cut off the electricity since business premises don't get pre payment metres installed it was to shut it off.

I really don't have a clue where i go about from here, and any advice would be amazing

[Deleted User]

Many private houses are registered for business electricity, proberbly there may be some tax advantage for this set- up. Sometimes people move into a property like this and dont bother, or are not aware, that they need to change from non domestic to domestic rates, just telling them over the phone would nt be enough.With businesses they are in a fixed contract, I think 3 months notice is required ( before the end of the contract ) to change suppliers and maybe also to change back to domestic rates

dogshome

That 'Evidence' of a domestic dwelling are your father's Council Tax bills that show him being charged a domestic banding

To deal with EDF on Dad's behalf, he must WRITE a letter to EDF giving you the authority to act on his behalf - This can be sent with your letter headed Complaint asking as to why they have been chargeing him Business Rates on a Domestic property, and why they ignored his call 6 months ago.

bob_bank_spanker

The "idiot" was perfectly correct.

Many property management companies have their energy provided by business suppliers, funnily enough as the entity paying the bill is a business. When the arrangement between landlord and tenant changed, that should have been communicated to the energy company, it is not down to them to intuit what goes on in a rental agreement.

The "idiot" was also correct that evidence needs to be provided of the change in circumstances (the rental agreement/contract should suffice). They will be able to bill historically at residential rates according to the evidence provided.

Sounds like the chap dealt with you in a thoroughly professional manner, which is much more than I would have managed!

Mrhuffins

bob_bank_spanker wrote: »

The "idiot" was perfectly correct.

Many property management companies have their energy provided by business suppliers, funnily enough as the entity paying the bill is a business. When the arrangement between landlord and tenant changed, that should have been communicated to the energy company, it is not down to them to intuit what goes on in a rental agreement.

The "idiot" was also correct that evidence needs to be provided of the change in circumstances (the rental agreement/contract should suffice). They will be able to bill historically at residential rates according to the evidence provided.

Sounds like the chap dealt with you in a thoroughly professional manner, which is much more than I would have managed!

I have learnt from calling the landlord, that the property was a business 4 years prior to moving in and that the reason he switched him so he had to pay for the electricity was because he was being wrongfully charged business rates on the property and he said it was an easier thing to do, to switch it so the tenant pays.

Can you please explain to me where i stated he rented from a business management company? it is a private rental from a private owner.........

chanz4

Well swearing at the advisor will get you nothing, if not more hoops to jump. People are not there to be abused