Landlord attempting to force us to pay utilities for months before we moved in

Etheon6000

thanks. The water and energy companies are taking the stance of, the account was started, we are liable, and its not their problem. To take it up with the landlord for those months, but we still need to pay them now

Guest101

Etheon6000 wrote: »

thanks. The water and energy companies are taking the stance of, the account was started, we are liable, and its not their problem. To take it up with the landlord for those months, but we still need to pay them now

There are only 2 types of contract by which you can owe them money:


1: Actual contract which you set up, IE you give them authority to conduct a credit check and to bill you


2: Deemed contract whereby you are using the utilities and therefore owe the money.


So ask them which contract they claim you have, because you cant have 1 as you didn't set up a contract and 2 can only start on September 1st when you used the utilities.


Now follow the advice above. Formal complaint, then ombudsman. In the meantime, pick a different supplier and set up a proper contract in the 3rd persons name.

marksoton

Guest101 wrote: »

Tenancy cannot begin until you take possession.

Guest101 wrote: »

No you haven't, its common. But that doesn't mean that you owe the utilities.

The former being the case surely the tenancy should not state 1st July.

Guest101

marksoton wrote: »

The former being the case surely the tenancy should not state 1st July.

I agree it shouldn't.


But flip it round, they sign a contract to start July 1st, LL breaches that contract by refusing access.


It's another case where LL and LA (was there an agent) don't know their elbow from ....

Etheon6000

Yes there was an agency. Thanks for all the advice, contacting the companies now.

pmlindyloo

You have had a lot of information here so I think it is time that you get some support with this.

First thing you need to do is ring the utility companies and explain to them that you are in dispute with your landlord about the bills and you are going to get advice about this. Ask them to put a note to this effect on your accounts. This shows the companies that you are not ignoring them.

Next take your tenancy agreement to the welfare department at your place of education and ask them for advice. Ask them to to help you draft letters if these are needed.

At the same time ask them to check that the LL has fulfilled all his responsibilities as regards your tenancy. As there are 3 of you this will be a house of multiple occupation so he may have additional responsibilities as well as the usual requirements.

Good luck!

DaftyDuck

Oh, and take photos of the meter readings. A few days late, but better than nowt....

moneyistooshorttomention

Etheon6000 wrote: »

thanks. The water and energy companies are taking the stance of, the account was started, we are liable, and its not their problem. To take it up with the landlord for those months, but we still need to pay them now

Correction - some low-level person (low-level salary/low-level training) there says so.

Someone higher up would probably "see sense" more on this.

How about providing a copy of the contract direct through to higher-level person in the firms concerned?

If all else fails - Facebook shame them (and tell them you're doing so - in case they don't notice your posts themselves).

FBaby

thanks. The water and energy companies are taking the stance of, the account was started, we are liable, and its not their problem. To take it up with the landlord for those months, but we still need to pay them now

And indeed it works both way. We had a tenant who contacted their utility company and informed them they were leaving providing reading, but ended up not leaving until 3 weeks later and continued to use gas/electricity. They left before they fixed term and gave landlord address. Landlord got an invoice. When landlord call to say that the tenants had left earlier, they were told that they were legally obliged to go by what they'd been told unless we could prove they had left another date. A text indicating they were leaving was deemed not good enough as could have been written by the landlord (not sure how, but that was their response) and there was no arguing with them that they were choosing words of a tenant over evidence from the landlord.

In the end, landlord raised it with DPS who did accept text as evidence and the cost of the utilities for that time was awarded to the landlord.

All I can say is good luck arguing with the utility company as all they will get is evidence of your tenancy that will support what your landlord is telling them. Your landlord is clearly a crook, when can you get out of your contract?

Guest101

FBaby wrote: »

And indeed it works both way. We had a tenant who contacted their utility company and informed them they were leaving providing reading, but ended up not leaving until 3 weeks later and continued to use gas/electricity. They left before they fixed term and gave landlord address. Landlord got an invoice. When landlord call to say that the tenants had left earlier, they were told that they were legally obliged to go by what they'd been told unless we could prove they had left another date. A text indicating they were leaving was deemed not good enough as could have been written by the landlord (not sure how, but that was their response) and there was no arguing with them that they were choosing words of a tenant over evidence from the landlord.

In the end, landlord raised it with DPS who did accept text as evidence and the cost of the utilities for that time was awarded to the landlord.

All I can say is good luck arguing with the utility company as all they will get is evidence of your tenancy that will support what your landlord is telling them. Your landlord is clearly a crook, when can you get out of your contract?

There is ofcourse courts to settle this kind of matter