Please help - Landlord decided to put in a coin meter??

Hello all.

I've lived in my little studio flat for 18 months now.

It is (what I think) a converted garage on the side of a large house which my landlord lives in) it is has it's own front door etc.

My rent when I first moved in was £325 + £15 per month for electric. I didn't have my own electricity bill, Im assumsing he just used it to pay towards his overall electricity bill.

I saw him yesterday and he told me he is having a coin meter put in for my electric!! I am having my £15 per month back and instead I've got to put coins in this meter to pay for my electric.

How does this work? How can I tell if I'm being ripped off? I don't want to be paying for his electric as well! He is a nice guy and has never ripped me off before so I don't think he would but I don't want to be paying over the odds for it.

Can someone please help?
Was debt free... then went travelling!
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Comments

  • Farway
    Farway Posts: 13,116
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    There is a maximum price the meter can be set at, I do not know what it is, depends on area, supplier, you may get more info here

    http://www.energywatch.org.uk/
    Eight out of ten owners who expressed a preference said their cats preferred other peoples gardens
  • roses
    roses Posts: 2,330
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    Did you ask why he is putting in a coin meter and not a separate electric meter for your studio? The electric company can do this too & it will be a lot more convenient than using coins.
  • Terrylw1
    Terrylw1 Posts: 7,038 Forumite
    Hi,

    Ok, the landlord is submetering the property as this meter will allow him to correctly deduct your electricity from his bill. He can do this with a coin meter or a non coin type (and then take a reading, add it up and get you to pay monthly)

    This is completely his call and is totally legal as long as he only bills you for what you use. Makesure that you won't be powering areas of the property that he uses or you will be getting ripped off.

    Farway, is mistaken and believes it is a PP. PP meters are attached the the main tails and are the property of the Meter Operator. Charges are set by your Supplier on these, private meters are set by the landlord. Coin meters were banned many years ago for Suppliers a they get broken into. However, private submetering is still allowed and can be fitted by a private electrician.

    It's a third party issue and is not linked in any way to you Supplier. However, you need to make sure that you do not overpay for the unit costs hence they should always be set inline with what he pays for electricity. If he was a dishhonest landlord, he could switch to a lower tariff and not lower the unit price on the meter.

    Roses suggested a seperate meter. Thats requires the landlord to request a brand new supply from the local distributor and that could cost him anywhere over £400. So, if it's not going to generate him a profit, he won't want to do it.

    A seperate supply would eliminate problems, but it's up to him.

    You need to check something with your landlord on top of this - is his fusebox wired seperately to allow the properties to function seperately? If not, communal areas could sap your coins. I guess you could attach a monitoring device to keep a check afterwards.

    Another way for him to do it would be to give you a tenancy agreement inclusive of electricity charges.

    As far as liability goes - your landlord is 100% liable for all charges whether you pay or not. Thats the Suppliers take. So, if you ever didn't pay, he would have to take private legal action to recover it and the Supplier would insist he pay (just as a bit of extra info for you)

    Maybe you could convince your landlord that this is a security risk. Some work on a taken basis so you could buy the off the landlord, not sure what the options are at the moment or whether token types are still out there.
    :rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:
  • Hi I have just had an electronic meter placed in the flat I'm renting and put £20 of coins in nine days ago then within two hours of doing so I turned off all plus/heating/lights and only left the fridge on I've just come back to discover theres only £2 left. Surely this is extorionate! It doesn't cost £2 a day to run a fridge does it?
  • There is a maximum price that a landlord can charge tenants for gas and electricity for domestic use. Anyone selling gas or electricity for domestic use from a supply provided by a supplier must comply with these regulations.
    OFGEM (The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) fixes maximum resale prices under section 44 of the Electricity Act 1989 and section 37 of the Gas Act 1986. The Utilities Act 2000 amended these provisions to give OFGEM the power rather than the duty to set a Maximum Resale Price (MRP) for gas and electricity.
    The MRP consists of: a charge for each unit of gas or electricity used by the tenant plus VAT; and the cost of the gas or electricity supplier's standing charge divided equally between the tenants.

    This arrangement means that landlords will be unable to charge tenants more for gas and electricity than they have paid for it.

    In addition, to ensure transparency, at the request of the tenant, the landlord must inform the tenant the price he is paying for gas or electricity and furnish documentary evidence to support this information. This is enforced by financial penalties. A landlord who overcharges will also be subject to such penalties. These penalties will be enforced through the civil courts.
  • Stone_Fox
    Stone_Fox Posts: 39 Forumite
    There is a maximum price that a landlord can charge tenants for gas and electricity for domestic use. Anyone selling gas or electricity for domestic use from a supply provided by a supplier must comply with these regulations.
    OFGEM (The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) fixes maximum resale prices under section 44 of the Electricity Act 1989 and section 37 of the Gas Act 1986. The Utilities Act 2000 amended these provisions to give OFGEM the power rather than the duty to set a Maximum Resale Price (MRP) for gas and electricity.
    The MRP consists of: a charge for each unit of gas or electricity used by the tenant plus VAT; and the cost of the gas or electricity supplier's standing charge divided equally between the tenants.

    This arrangement means that landlords will be unable to charge tenants more for gas and electricity than they have paid for it.

    In addition, to ensure transparency, at the request of the tenant, the landlord must inform the tenant the price he is paying for gas or electricity and furnish documentary evidence to support this information. This is enforced by financial penalties. A landlord who overcharges will also be subject to such penalties. These penalties will be enforced through the civil courts.

    So this essentially means that if the landlord is charging me a higher unit rate for my electricity than they are paying themselves they are breaking the law?

    I was told that if a company (say, a letting agency or landlord) registered themselves as a supplier then they could charge what they like, is this accurate?
  • JasX
    JasX Posts: 3,996
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    Why are you bumping threads over 15 months old? please go and learn how an internet forum works.
  • Plushchris
    Plushchris Posts: 3,592 Forumite
    JasX wrote: »
    Why are you bumping threads over 15 months old? please go and learn how an internet forum works.

    Are you also the type of person that would tell someone to use the search button before asking questions?

    Because thats exactly how old threads get bumped, whats the problem with that?
    Missing Tesco R&R since Feb '07 :A & now a "Tesco veteran" apparently! ;)
  • Stone_Fox
    Stone_Fox Posts: 39 Forumite
    JasX wrote: »
    Why are you bumping threads over 15 months old? please go and learn how an internet forum works.

    I suggest tha you pull your over inflated sense of self worth out of your backside then YOU go learn how the internet works.

    Rather than start a new thread, I used the search function. Which every forum on earth will advise you to do.

    This prevents (depending on archiving times and settings) forums and servers from becoming clogged and slowing down.

    It also means that people can find answers to related questions in the same thread.

    Now, if you have something constructive to add (which I suspect you don't) then by all mean contribute! Although after being flamed like this I doubt you'd be inclined to do.

    Otherwise, please think and / or do some research before you waste your own and other peoples time with pointless posts that come across as both ignorant and offensive.
  • My electricity meter is set to 16.6 pence per unit. I've looked online and i cant find anything quite so high. Generally the average seems to be between 9 and 10 pence per unit with a charge of between 1 and 2 pence per unit for the fact i have a meter (which in itself is irritating but that aside....). Can anyone tell me if I am paying as much over the odds as I seem to be?
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