Tenant hasn't paid electric bill in 15 months

kissprudence

I rent out an all electric house which I used to live in myself. My tenant is my brothers best friend and a single mother on benefits. She has lived there 15 months without any problems. A few months ago we were in the pub and talking about energy prices and I asked her how she found the electricity bills over winter. She told me she has never paid an electricity bill ! She said that npower have never sent her a bill in the whole 15 months she has lived there. She rang them on the day she moved in and notified them to change the account into her name but nothing came through. She is adamant that if an electricity company do not bill you for over a year then you do not have to pay them. I'm unsure of that, legally.

Recently, I went round to do some repair work and noticed out of the corner of my eye an npower bill addressed to the previous tenants on the table and she had put a line through their names and written "gone away" on the envelope, presumably to post it back to npower. I'm now worried that the account is building up in the name of my previous tenants but ultimately I'm worried that I - the landlord - will be chased for the electricity bill. My friend who is also a landlord said that as long as I have a signed tenancy agreement (which I do) then it is nothing to do with me and I cannot be taken to court for it. Does anyone have any advice?

thesaint

Do you have the metre readings from when she moved in/when the old tenant checked out?

You as the landlord should notify the utility company, and not leave it up to the tenants.

You should contact the utility company now, and send them a copy of the tenancy agreement.

booksurr

npower have a spectacularly bad reputation when it comes to them producing bills on time. for 3 of the 8 quarters I have been with them they have written and apologised that the bill will be late each time

clearly your tenant is being less than proactive over the situation and she certainly has no legal basis for saying they cannot bill after 1 year but as you say it is her problem, not yours. Your TA establishes that fact although it would have been better had you notified them of the change in tenants as well - hence LL like to know who their tenants are with (although of course cannot dictate who the tenant chooses)

bris

Don't worry the bill is all hers, when the time comes all you need is the tenancy to prove she has been there from the stated time. The LL is not responsible for tenants debts.


I have only ever had to send a tenancy agreement in once as proof, that was a case similar to yours where they hadn't paid gas or electric for two years.


So who's to blame, well I blame the utilities, if they don't chase a bill for 15 months they should expect to get burned.


The downside is they will now fit a prepaid meter to reduce the debt, but the tenants hate that. They put £10 in but most of it goes to the debt, they get fed up as it's costing them a fortune as they say, blame everyone else because they didn't pay for a year then leave because they can no longer afford to stay.

stator

She is wrong, if they catch up with her she will have to pay.
The previous tenants won't have to pay, but you might want to let them know incase it affects their credit.
You won't have to pay either, it's nothing to do with you.

However you might want to write to npower and tell them the dates and names involved and let them sort it out. She's likely to know what happened though so it might upset her

TBagpuss

thesaint wrote: »

Do you have the metre readings from when she moved in/when the old tenant checked out?

You as the landlord should notify the utility company, and not leave it up to the tenants.

You should contact the utility company now, and send them a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I would second this advice. Provided that your former tenant informed nPower that they were moving out, and gave final readings, they won't be liable.

in terms of the 12 months thing, OfGem issued some guidance in 2012 which says that companies should not back-bill for more than 12 months where the supplier is at fault for not sending a bill (my italics) It does not mean that they can't bill her, it means that they can't bill her for more than 12 months - so if she has had nothing for 15 months, they can bill her for the last 12 months, but not for the first 3. BUT the guidance goes on to say that this may not apply where the the occupier has "been using the gas or electricity supply but have made no attempt to contact the supplier to arrange payment. This includes moving into a property and making no attempt to let a supplier know you are the new tenant or homeowner"

This seems to be in the cuirrent Code with almost identical wording.

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/files/docs/Industry%20codes/Code%20of%20Practice%20for%20accurate%20bills/code_of_practice_for_accurate_bills_-_back_billing_for_domestic_customers.pdf

I think this is guidance not law, but would guess that the ombudsman would take it into account if any complaint were made.

kissprudence

Thanks for your advice guys. Given that the landlord / tenant relationship is complicated by my friendship with my tenant, do you think I should just let this one play out and have my documentation all in order for when the inevitable happens? Or do you think I should notify npower now but risk the professional relationship collapsing because of it? (I don't want a situation where she stops paying rent!)

tripled

As a landlord, you are not responsible for the bills while the property is occupied. You are only liable for the period in between tenancies.

As mentioned above, it is good practice to contact the supplier when tenants move in and out to provide meter readings. However there is no obligation on you to do this.

It is quite possible that the tenant is telling the truth about notifying nPower, although equally they have not chased it up.

In this instance, while in theory you *should* provide the details to nPower, it would likely impact your relationship with the tenant (knowing you have "shopped" them). It could also impact in their financial situation, particularly in winter.

The downsides of not informing nPower are primarily that they may get a warrant to change the meter for prepayment. If the meter is inside, they may drill and replace the locks to gain access. Also, if a debt is outstanding debt when the tenant leaves the property, they may require the proofs of occupancy before updating the account. If the meter has been switched to prepayment, this could delay the updating of details and the removal of the debt from the meter.

As a halfway house, you could contact nPower to provide them with the details to close the old tenant's account, telling them the new tenant hasn't given you permission to provide their details. nPower will likely accept those details (possibly requiring a proof of occupancy) and then generate a letter/bill to "The Occupier".

Pixie5740

As the LL you should have taken meter readings at the start of the tenancy and contact nPower.


The previous tenants should have taken meter readings at the end of their tenancy and contacted nPower.


The current tenant should have taken meter readings when she moved in and given them to nPower. Perhaps this is what she means when she talks about "changing the account to her name." Although you don't change utility account names, you open your own, new account, you don't take an account over from the previous occupier.


It's quite possible that all 3 parties have done the above but nPower do have a reputation for being a bit !!!!.


You just keep yourself right as the LL. Your current T might be fooling herself if she thinks she won't have to pay an electricity bill at some point. Then again my aunt hasn't had an electricity bill for almost 20 years. She has checked with the local electricity distribution company several times and every time they confirm it's company X. My aunt has contacted company X numerous times but they keep telling her they aren't supplying her electricity. So my aunt has been putting money away in a savings account for almost 2 decades just in case a bill ever does turn up.


Edit: You broke the golden rule of letting. Never let to friends or family. If you didn't contact nPower at the end of one tenancy and the start of another then do it now.