how to approach landlord suspected of using our electric...

Shakin_Steve

You all seem to be !!!!!footing around the fact that this cheeky bastid is stealing her tenants electricity. I would demand an explanation as I doubt this was done accidentally.

God grief...p.u.s.s.y is in the word filter?

G_M

Being tactful is not p.u.s.s.y footing.

There is no point escalating issues unecessarily. If it's possible to resolve without having a bunfight that's by far the best option. The tenant still has to live in the LL's property, and interact with the LL going forward.

I'm by no means excusing the LL (I agree they probobly knew full well), and if the LL does not resolve the matter amicably I'd be the first to advocate a firmer, and ultimately legal, approach. (well, 2nd after you Steve!)

baldelectrician

Ask your electrician to add a meter to her 'accidental' supply and don't tell her for a week or so.


You can buy meters from most wholesalers for about £30 and it will be £30 well spent.


Then she will return and find all working- this will give you time to build up evidence, you could pay for her leccy and deduct her usage from your rent.


Evidence is power


Now you have little (and she can deny it), after you have enough you can WRITE to her asking for her help as there may have been an error.

Sadie23

G_M wrote: »

Next step depends on the kind of person the LL is and the relationship you have.

If an approachable friendly person, then use an informal friendly approach initially and see what the response is. How often do you see her? Is there an inspection due shortly which is a conveient moment to bring it up. Use a diplomatic approach as alter ego suggests ie imply it was an oversight or mistake by electrician. If LL acknowledges this, and agrees to a refund for past overpayments, great. No animosity and problem solved.

Follow up though with a friendly but formal letter "just to recap our conversation last Xday when it came to light that I've been overpaying electricity since xxxx, we agreed that (whatever you agree)"

The alternative approach is to be formal /legalistic from the outset and send a letter (to the address provided on tenancy agreement for serving notices). Similar letter, briefly detailing the facts, estimating how much you've overpaid so far, and asking for a repayment within, say, 10 days, plus for the wiring to be changed wihin the same timeframe.

Relationship with LL is good, she comes to the area maybe once a month (as lives elsewhere in country), and we are happy enough to invite her in for glass of wine and have a chat. She's never requested a formal inspection whilst we've been here.

So far i've mocked up an email which i'll copy in, if theres anything i should add/remove then anyone please go ahead an voice their opinion. I would get my OH to ring her but i'd rather have a bit of written evidence for our sake.

I don't want to be rude, but understandably we are p***ed off that we've been getting charged for her constant use!

what i've written so far...


Hi *****,

We’ve had an electrician over this evening, our electricity bill has been way higher than what it should be since we’ve moved in and thought we might have a fault with the meter. When he looked, he noticed there is a separate fuse box running off of it for your storage room/bedroom/shower and another feed for what I’m guessing is the kitchen area in No5’s storage bit? We turned the fuse box off in the flat, and the meter was still turning quickly until he turned off the fusebox for your areas.

So, we’ve been paying for the electric in these rooms when we shouldn’t be? And it was never mentioned to us that we would be. You said before that you had underfloor heating in there, which I’m guessing is maybe why its clocking up so much if its electric? These rooms don’t appear in our inventory, so aren’t our responsibility.

We won’t know until we get our next bill on how much more its been costing us, so the electrician has left the fuse box ‘switched off’ for your areas so we can get an accurate reading of our actual usage then gauge the difference from there. However, I’m not sure if its worth getting your own meter installed properly for those areas because we don’t want to pay for it (nor should we have to).

I wouldn't say I'm being a pu**y, but its an awkward situation when you deal directly with the LL and are on good terms with them!

Shakin_Steve

Surely the electricity would still have to pass through the tenants meter, and so be registered, first? Plus, I doubt the LL would be best pleased with someone doing unauthorised work on her property.
I have, in the past, been accused of being ...errr....brusque, but I'm afraid I would be in her face.

Sorry, I should have quoted. This is in reply to Baldelectricians post.

Shakin_Steve

Sadie23 wrote: »

Relationship with LL is good, she comes to the area maybe once a month (as lives elsewhere in country), and we are happy enough to invite her in for glass of wine and have a chat. She's never requested a formal inspection whilst we've been here.

So far i've mocked up an email which i'll copy in, if theres anything i should add/remove then anyone please go ahead an voice their opinion. I would get my OH to ring her but i'd rather have a bit of written evidence for our sake.

I don't want to be rude, but understandably we are p***ed off that we've been getting charged for her constant use!

what i've written so far...


Hi *****,

We’ve had an electrician over this evening, our electricity bill has been way higher than what it should be since we’ve moved in and thought we might have a fault with the meter. When he looked, he noticed there is a separate fuse box running off of it for your storage room/bedroom/shower and another feed for what I’m guessing is the kitchen area in No5’s storage bit? We turned the fuse box off in the flat, and the meter was still turning quickly until he turned off the fusebox for your areas.

So, we’ve been paying for the electric in these rooms when we shouldn’t be? And it was never mentioned to us that we would be. You said before that you had underfloor heating in there, which I’m guessing is maybe why its clocking up so much if its electric? These rooms don’t appear in our inventory, so aren’t our responsibility.

We won’t know until we get our next bill on how much more its been costing us, so the electrician has left the fuse box ‘switched off’ for your areas so we can get an accurate reading of our actual usage then gauge the difference from there. However, I’m not sure if its worth getting your own meter installed properly for those areas because we don’t want to pay for it (nor should we have to).

I wouldn't say I'm being a pu**y, but its an awkward situation when you deal directly with the LL and are on good terms with them!

That's pretty much what I had in mind, not p.u.s.s.yfooting at all.:T

esmy

I'd suggest removing the question marks.....you know this, you're not asking.

pawlala

Sadie23 wrote: »

Hi *****,

We’ve had an electrician over this evening, our electricity bill has been way ££££.pp higher than what it should be since we’ve moved in and thought we might have a fault with the meter. When he looked, he noticed there is a separate fuse box running off of it for your storage room/bedroom/shower and another feed for what I’m guessing is the kitchen area in No5’s storage bit? We turned the fuse box off in the flat, and the meter was still turning quickly until he turned off the fusebox for your areas.

So, we’ve been paying for the electric in these rooms when we shouldn’t be ? And it was never mentioned to us that we would be. You said before on insert date that you had underfloor heating in there, which I’m guessing is maybe why its clocking up so much if its electric ? These rooms don’t appear are not in our inventory, so aren’t our responsibility.

We won’t know until we get our next bill on how much more its been costing us ££££.pp extra per month, so the electrician has left the fuse box ‘switched off’ for your areas so we can get an accurate reading of our actual usage then gauge the difference from there. However, I’m not sure if its worth getting your own meter installed properly for those areas prior to switching back on because we don’t want to pay for it (nor should we have to).

I would get rid of the guessing games. Your relationship with LL might be good but when it comes to ££££ all is fair in love and war. IMO anyway.

Mr.Generous

I'd also guess the landlady has the heating on far more than she would if she was paying for it.

On your email ...

Electricity bill higher than we expected (not what it should be)
Our electrician said that two mains boards are supplied from our meter. The one in our flat, that covers the rental area as expected but also one that supply's the ground floor areas comprising your storage room/bedroom/shower and another feed probably for the kitchen area in No5’s storage area.
We have previously mentioned to you our concerns regarding the electricity used and the high bills, it would appear we have been paying for something we have not used and got no benefit from. Obviously this situation needs to be resolved urgently and we need to be reimbursed for the wrongly charged electricity.

I'm not sure about leaving her kitchen / other kitchen turned off. They might have freezers with body's in or something. Then again, its you paying for it! Very difficult situation!

zagubov

I once stayed in a central London flat where the leccy meter soaked up money like a sponge. We were always feeding it 50p pieces. Pretty sure the landlord was making money from it.

However the rent was so reasonable I didn't dare question it, and was better off that way by a country mile.