Landlord changes electric tariff???

Dierdrie

Hey, I'm looking for some advice on where I stand here & what I should do next. Basically, I am a private tenant & I have an electric pay as you go pound coin meter which my landlord comes & empties when it's getting full, the meter is set at 15 pence per unit. A couple of weeks ago, my landlord was round at mine dealing with an issue & in passing conversation, he said something on the lines of 'I think I'm going to raise the electric cost as the neighbour has' & 'the cost of electric has gone up'. These rough statements spring to mind anyhow. Well, on that same day, he emptied what was in the meter while he was here. Without even thinking about it, I've topped my meter up each week & just the other day when I topped it up again, I noticed that the dial has been moved from 15 pence per unit to 20 pence per unit. So the landlord has actually raised the tariff himself while he was emptying the meter, sneakily behind my back & has not even informed me, I just thankfully happened to notice. Yes, he did mention it in conversation but never confirmed anything & I certainly have nothing in writing. I have not approached him yet as I would like some advice on what my rights are first & I don't even know who the electric provider is. I'm pretty sure this must be a case of my landlord making a profit illegally, surely its not his decision to change the tariff? I am quite angry about it & worried as I think I'm being swindled, the cost of electric is bad enough anyway! Please help! Also, am I within my rights to get a prepaid meter? I've asked him before about this because of the hassle of trying to get change every week but he wasn't keen to have it all changed. Am I just being a totally stupid big mug?!! I'm not the most assertive of people so I need facts before I approach the situation

[Deleted User]

Hi,

non of the electricity providers use coin meters nowadays, so must be a private sub-meter.

The landlord can adjust it as necessary to cover the cost of electricity, though he is not allowed to make a profit, any over payment by you should be refunded to you.

He should've told you what he was doing.

Andy_WSM

Tell him that it is illegal for him to profit from the sale of electricity and ask him to justify the 20p per unit charge.

15p was probably more realistic when you consider the daily standing charge.

I pay about 13.2p per kWh and 24.9p per day standing charge, so 15p per unit wouldn't have been far off the mark, but 20p per unit is definitely overcharging IMO.

[Deleted User]

I looked at a British Gas preypay meter yesterday and it was set at 13.2 pence per kwh with a weekly standing charge of £1.10 p

Nada666

The landlord must provide you with evidence of the actual cost. He may not charge you a penny more than this.

(Note that this can work the other way - if your usage is very low you may owe a balance on the account.)

Dierdrie

Thanks for all your replies people, thats helped me out.

spiro

Nada666 wrote: »

The landlord must provide you with evidence of the actual cost. He may not charge you a penny more than this.

(Note that this can work the other way - if your usage is very low you may owe a balance on the account.)

But he can add on a element to cover the administration which in this case is coming round to empty the meter.
I would got onto one of the comparison website put in your postcode and find the standard pay on bill tariff for all the suppliers to give you a rough range of unit costs factoring in the standing charge. See how that compares and pull him up if its OTT.

molerat

Your rights are that the LL cannot profit from re-selling the electricity, the problem is that enforcing your rights may come with a S21 attached.

lstar337

Ask the LL for a breakdown of all the costs. Then you can see what admin charges you are paying.

If you have never had a refund, or had to pay a catchup bill, then I would say you are being swindled. It would be highly unlikely that you were paying exactly the right amount into your meter to match the bill.

Keep a note of all the money you put in too, then you know what you are paying.

Also, think about moving.

vuvuzela

molerat wrote: »

Your rights are that the LL cannot profit from re-selling the electricity, the problem is that enforcing your rights may come with a S21 attached.

Fair point. However, the other side of it is, why would you want to stay longer than you had to with a landlord who is happy to rip you off ?

Dierdrie

Thanks again, I've spoken to my provider and it turns out it's actually about right. My landlord is on a high tariff though and I had a go at him for not notifying me about the change and he has apologized. It turns out his provider are only giving him an estimate coz there's an inaccuracy with the meters in the building so he is actually being overcharged compared to what he takes out of the meter. Not on though, I've pushed him to shop around and get a better deal so watch this space! I even asked him to change it so I can be responsible for my own bills but he's not prepared to pay the price to move meters as thats apparently what he'll have to do, so it's still quite frustrating! As for moving, thats my plan when the tenancy runs out, I like to be in charge of my bills and what a farse having to find change in pound coins every week! Never again man!