Tenancy Deposit Scheme & Bill cancellation fees

Nabla

Hi,


I was renting a shared house with two others.
We had a 6 month contract, with the three of us on it, after which one person left, and the Landlord gave 1 months notice to me and the other remaining tenant, because he wants to increase prices and rent to a family instead of a houseshare.
During the contract, all the bills were in my name, and the other two tenants paid me 1/3 of the total each, every month.


Problem is:
The gas/Elec company, First Utility want me to pay £60 early cancellation charges, and BT internet want me to pay £180 early cancellation, since in both cases, I'm having to cancel the 12 month contract at the end of 7 months (5 months remaining), so this is a total of £250 I have to pay, even though I'm not leaving out choice, but being evicted. Have spoken to both providers (and citizens advice bureau) and explained the situation, but the say I'll have to pay even if I'm being evicted, unless I can transfer to another name or address.


However, me and the landlord had a verbal agreement that I would stay for at least 12 months. Now I know a verbal agreement doesn't mean squat, but naively I trusted his word, and expected to stay for another 6 months on a rolling contract. I asked him if he'd contribute any money towards the cancellation fee, and he's basically said he won't. So I asked him if there was a new tenant confirmed to move in, who I could transfer bills to (in which case I don't have to pay charges) but he is ignoring calls and evading the question.


So, as some ammunition against him, I have discovered from the contract, he didn't protect our deposit in a tenancy deposit protection scheme, and/or notify us details of the scheme within 30 days of payment of deposit to him. So in this case, I've heard if you take action, you can claim up to 2-3 times the deposit value back from the landlord. Is this true? And if so how do you do it?


Thanks

G_M

You chose to commit to 12 months contracts for utilities knowing you had a 6 month tenancy.

However your house-mates are equally responsible so the cancellation fees should be split 3 ways.

If you realy had a 'verbal agreement' with the LL for 12 months that could be binding, but

a) hard to prove verbal statements if they are contested and
b) more likely the LL indicated that at that point in time he anticipated being happy to let the property for 12 months - not the same as an agreement

Having said that, yes, the failure to protect the deposit makes him liable for the penalty. See

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

saajan_12

Nabla wrote: »

Hi,


I was renting a shared house with two others.
We had a 6 month contract, with the three of us on it - were all 3 of you one 'joint and several' contract or did you have individual tenancies for a room each?
, after which one person left, and the Landlord gave 1 months notice to me and the other remaining tenant, because he wants to increase prices and rent to a family instead of a houseshare.
During the contract, all the bills were in my name, and the other two tenants paid me 1/3 of the total each, every month. - what was the agreement with the housemates? Did they know / agree to the 12 month utilities contract despite the 6 month tenancy? If you agreed to split all utilities costs 3 ways, you may be able to claim 1/3 of the cost from each of them.


Problem is:
The gas/Elec company, First Utility want me to pay £60 early cancellation charges, and BT internet want me to pay £180 early cancellation, since in both cases, I'm having to cancel the 12 month contract at the end of 7 months (5 months remaining), so this is a total of £250 I have to pay, even though I'm not leaving out choice, but being evicted. Have spoken to both providers (and citizens advice bureau) and explained the situation, but the say I'll have to pay even if I'm being evicted, unless I can transfer to another name or address. - your contracts with utility companies have nothing to do with the LL. You shouldn't have signed up to a 12month contract if you only had a 6 month tenancy.


However, me and the landlord had a verbal agreement that I would stay for at least 12 months. Now I know a verbal agreement doesn't mean squat, but naively I trusted his word, and expected to stay for another 6 months on a rolling contract. I asked him if he'd contribute any money towards the cancellation fee, and he's basically said he won't. So I asked him if there was a new tenant confirmed to move in, who I could transfer bills to (in which case I don't have to pay charges) but he is ignoring calls and evading the question. - fine. not really relevant though,
you agreed to a 6 month tenancy so you don't have the right to a 12 month stay if the LL evicts you properly via courts. Neither the LL nor their future tenants have any liability for your utilities contract.


So, as some ammunition against him, I have discovered from the contract, he didn't protect our deposit in a tenancy deposit protection scheme, and/or notify us details of the scheme within 30 days of payment of deposit to him. - Have you checked all 3 schemes? So in this case, I've heard if you take action, you can claim up to 2-3 times No,
1-3 times as a penaltythe deposit value back from the landlord. Is this true? And if so how do you do it?

The LL has nothing to do with your utilities contract. You have to pay this, at best you may be able to claim something back from your housemates you agreed to split the costs and they agreed to the 12 month contract - that was the real problem.

tg1897

If your landlord has any sense, he will settle the £250 with you. I imagine your deposit was far more than £250, and getting a fine of 1-3 times the deposit for not lodging it with a protection scheme is a silly road to go down. I suggest you point this out to them.