Gas bill in landlord's name - who is responsible?

Robsia

I have rented for eighteen years and never had a problem with a landlord until this one. I've also always got my deposit back 100%.

We have had multiple issues and, eight months down the line, he has issued a section 21 and I am looking for somewhere else to live.

However, I have an odd situation I have never come across before. I have always paid gas/elec/water etc. everywhere I have lived.

When I moved in here December 2012, I duly transferred the utilities into my name as usual. I got a phone call from some tenancy information line and was told that at the end of January the gas was due to be transferred from British Gas to another company. I know now it was Scottish Southern Energy, but at the time I was a bit frazzled and not really paying attention, so I promptly forgot it, figuring I'd get a bill at some point and deal with it then.

So, after the end of January I got a final bill from British Gas, and I paid it. Then I never heard a thing from the new company. Time went by. No letter came, no bill, no nothing. I started to get a bit concerned.

Eventually, in July a guy came to read the meter. I was relieved to see him and told him I'd been worried that I hadn't got a bill. He said I'd be getting one soon.

I didn't - but a letter shortly came for the landlord. It didn't have any company name on it, but it had some bumf on the back about saving energy, and saving money, so I wondered if it might not be something to do with the gas...

So, I thought about it for about a week, then...I opened it.

I know I shouldn't have, as it was addressed to the landlord, but I didn't know what was going on.

It WAS the gas bill. It said he had paid £28.04 in April, and that the bill was £523.02 and would be taken from his account by Direct Debit on the 2nd August.

So, I waited.

The 2nd August came and went. I heard nothing from the landlord or the letting agent, but today, another letter came for him from SSE. I opened it. It said that his direct debit had been cancelled and that he should ensure any future bills were paid promptly.

I don't know where the heck I stand legally. I honestly don't have a problem paying for the gas I have used, I really don't.

But if he chose to put the bill in his name, is he responsible? Am I? If I am, then the only way I can pay the bills is by opening his mail. If I hadn't opened his letters I wouldn't have known about any of this. The fact that he has cancelled the direct debit seems to imply that he doesn't want to pay the bill, but then why put it in his name in the first place?

And what about the money he has already paid? Do I have to pay him back? He hasn't asked me for it.

vuvuzela

Can't help in what might be a complicated issue, but if a letter has been correctly delivered to the address on it, you are legally allowed to open it, *as long as you don't use the contents to the detriment of the addressee*.

Robsia

It's dodgy ground, but I just found this from the Postal Services Act 2000:

127. Section 84(1) provides for it to be an offence if persons intentionally delay or open postal packets without reasonable excuse. It amalgamates the content of offences previously included in the Post Office Act 1953.

128. Subsection (3) makes it an offence for a person, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, to open a postal packet which he knows or suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.

So I think I'm okay as, in this case, I "have reasonable excuse".

terryw

Regardless of the discrepancy on the name on the bill (which appears to be a genuine error) surely if you have used the gas you should pay for it. Or have I missed something?

Robsia

But how can I pay it, if they are not sending them to me?

And, if he has put the bill in his name, then isn't he taking responsibility for it? There are tenancies where bills are paid by the LL and included in the rent.

I have put the money to one side, but if he does ask for it, I might just tell him to take it out of my deposit when I move out.

It's very odd that no one has actually contacted ME about any of this. Very odd situation all round.

terryw

Why not just ask the landlord what is happening? If the landlord is responsible for the gas bill, which is unlikely, then this will be clear in your tenancy agreement.

Robsia

I have no way of getting in touch with him, and the letting agents don't know.

macman

How can the letting agents not be able to contact their own client? If he's away abroad or something then they must have authority to act in his absence.
What does your STA say about billing? If it says nothing, then the utility bills are your responsibility.
I'm baffled by your comment about a 'tenancy info line'. If you registered with BG then that is who the accounts remain with. No-one can move them to SSE without your consent, including the LL So it sees like an erroneous transfer back in January. Rather late to be querying it now.

Robsia

macman wrote: »

How can the letting agents not be able to contact their own client? If he's away abroad or something then they must have authority to act in his absence.

They probably could, but they don't know anything about it themselves.

What does your STA say about billing? If it says nothing, then the utility bills are your responsibility.

Well, I just read the whole thing and it says nothing. So if the LL chooses to put the bills in his name, they are still my responsibility?

I'm baffled by your comment about a 'tenancy info line'. If you registered with BG then that is who the accounts remain with. No-one can move them to SSE without your consent, including the LL So it sees like an erroneous transfer back in January. Rather late to be querying it now.

It was odd. We'd been there a week or so, I was busy, and the phone rang. It was some woman and she said she was something to do with some tenancy information thing. Honestly, I wasn't really paying attention. I thought she was trying to sell me something so I was a bit short with her. But she assured me she wasn't; she told me who the utilities were with, and a couple of other things, that I don't remember, and I remember she distinctly told me it had already been arranged that the gas was due to switch from BG to SSE at the end of January, presumably prior to me moving in. I don't know why and she didn't tell me. I didn't query it - I figured I would see how much they charge, and if it was more than I expected, I'd just switch back. So I paid the final bill from BG, which WAS in my name, then just thought I would hear from the new suppliers in due course, but I didn't.

macman

You are responsible for the utility bills as you are the legal tenant. If your LL chooses to start paying them, that's his lookout. But if he doesn't continue to, then you are liable. Clearly you need to tell the agents to sort it out with the LL, as you have been erroneously transferred. By who, I have no idea.

Robsia

Well, I've bitten the bullet and asked the LA if the LL has been in touch with them and given them a brief rundown of the situation.

I honestly have no issue with paying for the gas I have used if I am legally required to, just wondered what the situation was, is all.