Previous letting agent 'reverted' supply

pollenpath

Apologies if this sort of issue has been discussed before but I'm new to the forum and couldn't find anything similar.

I moved into a rented flat on 5th of August. The landlord is a friend of mine. Previously the flat had been let on his behalf by a lettings agent but he ended that arrangement and the previous tenant moved out just before I moved in. It took me a week or so to determine who her gas & electric provider had been, but once I knew it was npower I called them and set up an account in my name, gave them meter readings from the day I moved in and asked to be billed quarterly for the time being. Within a day or two I started receiving all the usual overdone mailings from them, but essentially I had an account with them in my name and the new account number and everything seemed set.

About 10 days later I found a bill from them addressed to the occupier. It was for a couple of days' supply of gas & electric just prior to me moving in. It was a different account number to mine, so I called them just to clarify that I wasn't liable,a nd they reassured me I wasn't.

Then the guy said to me - he sounded a bit puzzled at something I'd said - "You are aware that you no longer have an account with us, since the 15th of August?" First I'd heard! Turned out eon had instructed them that I'd decided to have both fuels provided by them from that date, which as I say was news to me - I'd had absolutely no contact with them and couldn't figure out what on earth had happened.

So I called eon, and after getting cut off and ringing again I finally got an explanation of sorts. Turns out the letting agency have this arrangement with eon whereby they make them the default supplier when they take on the management of the tenancy. So when the previous tenant moved in she must've gone from eon to npower, hence why when I took over the tenancy npower were supplying. (While it lasted!) But the letting agency had instructed eon behind my back that the supply should "revert" to them, while meanwhile I'd been setting up my account with npower!

Was told by eon to contact the letting agent. I knew the landlord hadn't a clue about any of this (he had felt let down by the letting agent over other stuff, which is why he had taken back management of the property from them). So I called him and we went down to see the letting agent together. They seemed surprised at what had happened but then the girl dealing with us spoke to someone on the phone and so we only got half the conversation but they made it sound like it was a perfectly acceptable practice and if I didn't want eon supplying me I'd have to contact them and let them know, and go back to npower and tell them I wanted my supply from them.

Of course, it takes 4 - 6 weeks for that to go through and what I'm cheesed off about is the underhanded way I've been put in the position where I'm expected to pay eon's unit prices and standing charge without having chosen them as my supplier, when the supplier had been npower until the letting agent interfered. Interestingly, in all that time I'd had no correspondence from eon, no account number or anything. And as far as I knew they hadn't had a meter reading.

I spoke to eon again just now and they explained that they'd had a meter reading from the letting agent (which corresponds with the reading I took the day I moved in) and the account is still in the letting agent's name; I have to ring another number and get the account set up in my name and then contact npower and tell them I want to change over to them.

That's easily enough done but before I give eon my details I wanted to find out if I do actually have a reasonable point when I tell the letting agent that I'm unhappy about their practice. To my mind they should have left the supplier as was. This idea of "reverting to" the supplier that was providing fuel before the previous tenant to me moved in seems questionable. Before they took over management of the tenancy, the fuel was supplied by Scottish Power. The landlord gave me that information. So they've given eon control of the supply to begin with, the previous tenant did her sums and changed to npower, and then they've given control back to eon 10 days after I moved in, and my tenancy is none of their business!! Someone I spoke to at eon let slip that this letting agent has a deal wih eon as their energy provider of choice!

My basic bugbear is that I have to pay eon's prices for a while and wouldn't have chosen to - had in fact set up the account with npower before it was sneakily snatched back by eon.

Does anyone have any advice before I contact this letting agent again, and give eon my details?

dogshome

I'm afraid that the beef with the Letting Agency is strictly between them and the Landlord as it was their contract, not yours - If the landlord had given written notice to the Agency to end their contract and the Agency still continued to interfere, the Landlord has a case, but for what as the Agencies actions haven't cost him anything.

You have my every sympathy, but my advice is to let the situation of N'power to Eon and then back to N'power just roll on and get on with the rest of life.

What's very interesting about this post that I'm sure other regulars will note, is Eons entry into the "Let's bribe Letting Agents to get new business market"
It's astounding that Eon, a major player, should ape the tactics of Spark Energy - Perhaps Ofgem should include Eon in the investigation thay are currently running on Spark

zerog

Get some cashback for switching "back" to npower via TCB or quidco, which should more than pay off the difference in price between eon's rates.

I recently asked about your scenario on MSE, but only hypothetically. Thanks for telling me what would actually happen in reality.

dogshome

Ooops - I got it wrong !
In my Post #2 I said that the Agents actions were just between the Landlord & Agent and that you were not involved.

In fact the Agents authority to dictate which Utility you use actually comes from a clause in the lease, which the tenant agrees to to when they sign it - Usually tucked at the back in very small print

On the assumption that you do have a lease from the landlord, which from what you have written it should not contain any such clause, but check it carefully just in case.

If nothing is there you can really have fun by sending a copy of the lease to Eon enclosed in a letter headed Complaint, demanding to know on what authority thay took over your account
With nothing in the lease they can only plead it was an Erroneous Transfer, which makes them responsible for any extra costs you have incurred

ValHaller

OK, 2 issues here, as I see it

• Did the Agent have the authority to change supplier?
• What are the rules on changes of supplier ordered by one customer but taking effect after that customer has relinquished supply?

When you moved in on 5th August, there was a deemed contract with nPower who were the previous supplier for 28 days.

If the Agent initiated the switch on or after the 5th of August, they had no authority to do so because the tenancy had started they were not the customer and they were not acting on the customer's authority.

If they initiated the switch after the previous tenant left but before OP took on the tenancy, then the Landlord would have been the customer and the agent would by default have had the authority to initiate a change of supplier.

However, in this situation, I am not certain about what would happen once a tenant moved in and took over the supply. If the switch had not occurred, then OP would be in a deemed contract with the previous supplier - but would the agent's switch request still be valid? As I see it, a deemed contract should logically override any outstanding switch request. But whether the rules for switching even recognise this issue is something I don't know.

pollenpath

Thank you all for your input and for giving consideration to my plight! I've spoken to the letting agents (having since discovered that they get some sort of commission from e.on for switching supply to them). They claim that generally they are responsible for covering a 'void' period between tenancies and that taking ownership of the fuel supply is part of that. However, as I pointed out to them, in this case they were aware that there was no need to do so and they have acknowledged that.

I spoke to e.on again at the end of last week and they gave me a number to call to have the account set up in my name so that they could initiate a transfer back to npower. The letting agent has advised me to do this also. I told him that e.on had said the supply was currently in the letting agency's name, and he agreed that they should be billed for the period they have effectively asked for the supply from e.on. But before I contact e.on, something is bothering me. If I'm left to change the details of the account to my name, am I not basically saying "bill me"?! Or will they in fact bill the letting agent for the period that the supply was in their name? I'm just a bit worried that as soon as I put my name to this, it'll cost me. Given that I moved in on 5th August and changed the previous tenant's supply to my name with npower, it seems odd that e.on told me that as far as they were concerned, the electricity began being supplied by them on 16th August and the gas not until 28th August. All very confusing. Npower told me both supplies ended from their point of view on August 15th. I envisage getting various bills from both suppliers and I want to approach e.on with confidence before I change details.

Does anyone have any experience of this or hear the same alarm bells as me? I know they are short periods but even so, it's all hassle for me and already I'm going to end up paying more for my units and standing charges than I had chosen to do, which in these lean times is not inconsiderable.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi pollenpath

Sorry for the delay replying, I've been out of the office quite a bit recently.

You're right to be concerned. Billing will start from the day we're told you've taken responsibility for the supply.

As the account is still in the name of the letting agency and they've agreed 'they should be billed for the period they have effectively asked for the supply from E.ON,' your supply start date needs to fit with this.

At this stage, I'd suggest having another chat with the letting agent and agreeing with them the date the account goes into your name.

It's also worth remembering that there'll be a period where we continue to supply whilst the account switches. You may want to discuss factoring this in too.

At the moment, as the account is in their name, the letting agent continues to be responsible for it.

Hope this helps pollenpath. Let me know if you need any more advice as will be happy to help.

Malc