Landlords rights ?

daz69kay

Good morning ,

I am a landlord and had credit meters installed since 2005 but recently found out that my previous tenant ran up a big gas debt the energy supplier got a court order to change gas to pre payment meter.
Since then the tenant has left and untraceable, when i phoned the company they obviously chase him for debt but want £60.00 to change the meter back. I said ive never had any issues with them and wasnt my fault and as a landlord surely i needed to know about it. They said they sent me letters to my address. Obviously i dont live there.
Is there a way around a waive fee , if not if i change energy supplier with a new company do this free of charge ?
Thanks:beer:

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

The meters don't belong to you - they belong to the energy provider. And the contract for energy is between them, and the tenant. So no, you aren't required to be informed.


You may have a case to withhold the meter change fees from the deposit as the house wasn't returned in the state it was handed over, but it sounds like this ship has sailed.


There are plenty of suppliers that will change from PPM to credit meters free of charge (provided you pass a credit check). One minute of research on google will tell you about this.


That said, this process takes some weeks - is your void period going to be that long? Would it not be best to let the incoming tenant decide how they want to handle this?

[Deleted User]

You have your rights I suppose.Credit meters are more likely to attract tenants.Many tenants are ahead of the game and see credit meters as free energy for a couple of years or as long as it takes suppliers to react to straight theft. How about just leaving the prepayment meters in,to avoid the next tenants stealing thousands ?. I can t see why you should be so bothered if the renters have to top up by pay as you go meters or by quarterly or monthly bills . Don t you believe in the old phrase " once bitten twice shy " ?. Then again its not you who they chase for the money.
Another big reason why smart meters in prepay/credit mode are so badly needed to avoid the wholesale theft in the private rental markets.

Cardew

sacsquacco wrote: »

Credit meters are more likely to attract tenants.


How about just leaving the prepayment meters in,to avoid the next tenants stealing thousands ?.

Your first statement above gives the reason why your second statement is not appealing to landlords.


A property with pre-payment meters makes it less attractive to tenants.

HappyMJ

sacsquacco wrote: »

You have your rights I suppose.Credit meters are more likely to attract tenants.Many tenants are ahead of the game and see credit meters as free energy for a couple of years or as long as it takes suppliers to react to straight theft. How about just leaving the prepayment meters in,to avoid the next tenants stealing thousands ?. I can t see why you should be so bothered if the renters have to top up by pay as you go meters or by quarterly or monthly bills . Don t you believe in the old phrase " once bitten twice shy " ?. Then again its not you who they chase for the money.
Another big reason why smart meters in prepay/credit mode are so badly needed to avoid the wholesale theft in the private rental markets.

If a property that I was to rent had a prepayment meter in it and no other properties were available then the first thing I would do is remove them and replace them with a credit meter. If two properties were available and one had a credit meter and one had a prepayment meter then I would apply for the one with the credit meter. As there are so many properties available I can quite easily ignore all the properties with prepayment meters.

Although prepayment tariffs are the same cost of standard tariffs there are many other tariffs that give very large discounts if you pay by direct debit.

[Deleted User]

HappyMJ wrote: »

If a property that I was to rent had a prepayment meter in it and no other properties were available then the first thing I would do is remove them and replace them with a credit meter. If two properties were available and one had a credit meter and one had a prepayment meter then I would apply for the one with the credit meter. As there are so many properties available I can quite easily ignore all the properties with prepayment meters.

Although prepayment tariffs are the same cost of standard tariffs there are many other tariffs that give very large discounts if you pay by direct debit.

And the best discount is a discount of 100 % because a growing number see a property to rent with credit meters as a pot of gold because they wont a pay a penny on the energy bills.. Landlords can t do a credit history check, many are lucky to get their monthly rent.Smart meters are really needed to stop the farce of easy theft, which we all pay for in the long run. My advice to daz69kay is to leave the prepays in situ and let any new occupier get credit checks to remove the meters because his last tenant has just moved to another property with credit meters to continue thieving. I ve seen this happening so often.One thief just moved two doors down just to stick with credit meters that some landlords continue with..Every landlord should, IMO, be legally required to start with prepayment meters so the people who are most likely to loose money, the suppliers, can apply proper credit checks.Landlords cant do this.
If you are still on intent on switching back to credit meters, BG +Sainsburys Energy, Eon and EDF frequently switch for free.Scot Power are nt as stupid as those suppliers and will charge such a hefty amount, £215 per meter, that they deter a switch.

footyguy

daz69kay wrote: »

Good morning ,

I am a landlord and had credit meters installed since 2005 but recently found out that my previous tenant ran up a big gas debt the energy supplier got a court order to change gas to pre payment meter.
Since then the tenant has left and untraceable, when i phoned the company they obviously chase him for debt but want £60.00 to change the meter back. I said ive never had any issues with them and wasnt my fault and as a landlord surely i needed to know about it. They said they sent me letters to my address. Obviously i dont live there.
Is there a way around a waive fee , if not if i change energy supplier with a new company do this free of charge ?
Thanks:beer:

As you are presumably aware, the tenant is expected to return the property to you in the same condition as it was let (fair wear & tear excepted)

Presumably you took a security deposit to safeguard you in the event it was not.

In regards to the question over getting the meter changed for free, this MSE article explains the position adopted by each of the Big 6 in this regard
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/switch-prepaid-gas-electricity

A supplier will not send letters to you unless you are the account holder. If you are the account holder, then you can set up an alternative mailing address with the supplier if required.