Deposit refused pending bills

ceri123

We recently moved out of a property with deposit held in DPS and the landlords have confirmed they're happy with the condition it's in and all rent paid up to date. But when requesting the return of the deposit (via agents) they have refused saying they won't until they have confirmation that all utility and household bills are settled. Can they do this? It obviously takes a bit of time to get final bills and pay them but as the accounts are directly between us and the utility companies etc I don't see that they have a right to withold the deposit.

anselld

They shouldn't. However it is probably quicker to settle the bills than to go through the dispute process.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

they've probably had bother before with folks not paying bills and getting hassle from suppliers.

Not sure about the legality though.

FBaby

Indeed, utility companies can't be bothered to chase tenants when they leave without paying their bills as it is so much easier to go after the landlord. All it takes is a tenant to say they left the property on 1st of August and they will believe it, even if you can show them a copy of the ast that says that it didn't expire until 1st of September.

I faced this once and the guy at E-ON words were 'how do I know that you haven't falsified the ast? We only go by what the tenants tell us'. No need to say that since that time and a bill of over £150, I do exactly the same, keep the deposit until I know all the bills have been paid.

FBaby

By the way, it doesn't take time to get final bills and pay them. Just go and pay your bills online, and then all you have to shown is a screenshot of what you had to pay and then show the confirmation that you've paid this amount. It only takes a few minutes.

mrginge

ceri123 wrote: »

We recently moved out of a property with deposit held in DPS and the landlords have confirmed they're happy with the condition it's in and all rent paid up to date. But when requesting the return of the deposit (via agents) they have refused saying they won't until they have confirmation that all utility and household bills are settled. Can they do this? It obviously takes a bit of time to get final bills and pay them but as the accounts are directly between us and the utility companies etc I don't see that they have a right to withold the deposit.

This is a practice used by bad landlords/agents and is not allowed.

Reclaim your deposit in full from the scheme. Inform the agent of this and advise then that if they do not release the deposit or agree to ADR then you will start court action including costs.

You can’t let charlatans like this get away with things. It is your money.

Dorian1958

Not all landlords are charlatans; the point has been made about tenants moving out and leaving the LL to sort out the utility bills at their expense. To protect against this the AST may state something about the the deposit being used to cover non payment of bills, and the DPS reasons for being withheld will be similarly specified. It is simple really, prove the bills have been paid and get your deposit back. No need for anyone to get angry.

RiversTam

FBaby wrote: »

By the way, it doesn't take time to get final bills and pay them. Just go and pay your bills online, and then all you have to shown is a screenshot of what you had to pay and then show the confirmation that you've paid this amount. It only takes a few minutes.

Not true, our final bill recently was £40 too high and it took over a month to sort. Thankfully we were leaving our own property and moving in with family - but if we were renting it shouldn't delay our deposit being returned, something we cannot control and had all intentions of paying.

SwanJon

Dorian1958 wrote: »

Not all landlords are charlatans; the point has been made about tenants moving out and leaving the LL to sort out the utility bills at their expense. To protect against this the AST may state something about the the deposit being used to cover non payment of bills, and the DPS reasons for being withheld will be similarly specified. It is simple really, prove the bills have been paid and get your deposit back. No need for anyone to get angry.

It can say what it likes in the TA - a utility bill is between the payer (in this case the tenant) and the utility company - nothing to do with the LL/agent.
As above, put a claim in with DPS and the LL/agent will need to provide evidence that they have a right to keep the money and I doubt they will be able to.

FBaby

Not true, our final bill recently was £40 too high and it took over a month to sort.

So if you'd been a tenant and not bothered, you could have told the company that you'd moved sooner and not only the landlord could have been liable for what you actually used, but the over-payment too.

Why should the LL take the risk of being left with paying something that has nothing to do with them, or having to then take the tenant to court, when you might find it impossible to do because they've made sure not to leave an address behind to do so?

Unfortunately, this never used to be an issue when utilities company accepted the evidence provided by LL, but they can't be bothered to deal with disputes and it's easier for them to go after the LL rather than the tenant, so this is the only way the LL can ensure they are not left with bills that have nothing to do with them.

m0bov

If the bills are in your name, then its nothing to do with the LL. Get onto the DPS and claim it back.