Paying a standing charge on tenants' energy bill

trippy

Our previous tenants had a 12 fixed term but told us they wanted to leave early. We agreed that if a new tenant was found they could terminate early.

The old tenants decided to move out at the beginning of August anyway but paid rent until the new tenants moved in at the end of that month. They checked out with the LA and handed in the keys when they moved out at the beginning of August.

We have now just received an energy bill for the 'vacant' period and have discovered they had moved to a tariff with a standing charge and that despite no energy being used during August, we have been billed the standing charge for that month.

This is irksome as we've had no involvement with bills and wonder if this was a LL schoolboy error? It doesn't amount to much, around £20, but obviously it's not cost effective for us to have our tenants on a tariff where we, as LL, incur a standing charge when the property is empty.

What do other LL do about this?

Takeaway_Addict

So you moved it over into your name?

I would say that is your responsibility to check I'm afraid.

G_M

Why did the tenants close their utility account before the tenancy ended?

Who put the utilities into your name? Them? Or did you contact the utilitities when they moved out and take over the accounts?

trippy

We didn't move it into our name. The LA notified the energy company that the old tenants had moved out and presumably gave them our details as LL. Then the LA notified them again when the new tenants moved in. We weren't involved and didn't think to check if the tariff had changed from the one it was on before.

trippy

I think we just need to put it down as another lesson learned and next time make sure that the utilities contracts are terminated when the new tenant moves in. No doubt we've got council tax and a water bill to look forward to too!

G_M

trippy wrote: »

We didn't move it into our name. The LA notified the energy company that the old tenants had moved out and presumably gave them our details as LL. Then the LA notified them again when the new tenants moved in. We weren't involved and didn't think to check if the tariff had changed from the one it was on before.

You have a contract with your letting agents to act on your behalf. Thus if they contacted the utilities, they were doing it on your behalf. Thus the account was transferred into your name. So far as the utilities are concerned, it is your account.

Your beef is with the agents, who should NOT have done this since the tenancy was ongoing. You have a useless agent!

Write to them with the bill and demand they pay it. Whether they decide to try to re-coup the cost from the (long-gone) tenants is their problem.

Then read:

Letting Agents (Tips for selecting, and tips for sacking them)

trippy

Thanks. I'll mention it to the LA next time as I'm not very happy with incurring extra costs for the period when we were covered by a tenancy. Too late to do anything now but will know for the future.

G_M

trippy wrote: »

Thanks. I'll mention it to the LA next time as .

So you're really not too bothered about this? Then why post the question?

WRITE to the agent enclosing the bill, telling them how they messed up and what you expect them to do about it.

'mentioning' will get you nowhere.....

Perelandra

I think you're being too harsh on yourself here- this isn't a "schoolboy error".

Due to the changes being introduced by Ofgem, virtually every tariff by every supplier now has a standing charge element- there are a few exceptions (Ebico, for instance).

The tenant does not commit the landlord to a tariff (even if it's a 12-month fixed tariff, that tariff will normally be cancelled when the new billpayer starts paying the bill). The tenant does, however, commit the property to taking gas/elec from a particular supplier, at least for the period before supply can be switched elsewhere.

The combination of the following:

landlords are responsible for the bills when tenants move out;
the 4-6 week switching window
the extreme likelihood that a tenant is not with Ebico

suggests to me that in most cases landlords will now find themselves paying standing charges on their gas/elec between tenancies. The only way to avoid this, I think, would be for the tenant to start a switch during the notice period to a zero SC tariff (which as I've said are few and far between)

This situation may improve in the future, as the government is working with the energy companies to make the switching process far faster.

Disclaimer: I work for British Gas, but post here in a private capacity. Any opinion I express is my own, and does not necessarily reflect that of my employer.

theartfullodger

trippy wrote: »

Our previous tenants had a 12 fixed term but told us they wanted to leave early. We agreed that if a new tenant was found they could terminate early.

The old tenants decided to move out at the beginning of August anyway but paid rent until the new tenants moved in at the end of that month. They checked out with the LA and handed in the keys when they moved out at the beginning of August.

We have now just received an energy bill for the 'vacant' period and have discovered they had moved to a tariff with a standing charge and that despite no energy being used during August, we have been billed the standing charge for that month.

This is irksome as we've had no involvement with bills and wonder if this was a LL schoolboy error? It doesn't amount to much, around £20, but obviously it's not cost effective for us to have our tenants on a tariff where we, as LL, incur a standing charge when the property is empty.

What do other LL do about this?

Trippy: You are giving landlords a bad name as a penny-pinching, mean & quibbling botherer who would have made the £20 in their highly-paid job in the time it took to think about, read & post these questions...

It's a business: Sometimes there are costs: Get over it or get out of the lettings business!

Cheers!

trippy

So on the one hand I'm giving LL a bad name for querying why I'm liable for bills when there was a tenancy and on the other I'm being told off for not caring enough to speak to the LA about it immediately.


It just goes to show how you can't please everyone!


Fwiw we are accidental LL as we can't sell the house and we had to move out of the area for work. So we're not in it to make money or run a business.


Furthermore we've had excellent service from our LA who have gone above and beyond a tenant find and I'm not inclined to ball them out over something that has cost us £20. But I was going to bear it in mind so we are aware of this pitfall next time we let a tenant end its agreement early.


As it happens, I spoke to the LA today as I was concerned about the council tax for August. They confirmed that the old tenants were liable for all charges till the official end of their tenancy, ie when the new tenants moved in. The LA says the old tenants must have given the earlier date for closing the account as that was when they moved out. The LA will confirm the actual date with the energy provider and confirmed that they had given the later date to the local council re the council tax.


Thanks for your help.