Landlord just sent me a £2000 utility bill that I didn't know existed

Jimbo8x8x

I've been renting a flat from an established letting agency for about 2.5 years. I've been paying a monthly electricity bill to EDF since I moved in... along with council tax and water rates (there is no gas supply).

Unknown to me - until today - there is a separate utility provider specifically for the Heating and Hot Water. Turns-out that the provider has been sending monthly bills to the landlords address, to an account in her name, for the last 2.5 years. She has been ignoring them the whole time and decided today to send the latest bill to the letting agency, instructing them that I (the tenant) needs to pay it. The bill is just under £2000.

I'm not really sure where I stand. Obviously I'm liable for the utility bills, but nobody told me about the Heating and Hot Water being separate entity. I checked the correspondence from the letting agency from the time when I first moved in, and they make no mention of this. In fact they specifically mentioned the Water company, the Council and EDF for electricity. 

Any thoughts on what I could do ?

Feels wrong that I can just have a bill dumped on me like this, especially for an account I didn't setup and was not made aware of for 2.5 years.

Edit: sorry I might have posted this in the wrong section.

Aylesbury_Duck

Firstly, check your contract to make sure you are liable for the bills. I suspect you are, but check properly.  If the landlord has never registered you as the bill-payer, there may be an interesting discussion to be had with the letting agent because as it stands, the bill isn't yours, it's not registered to you. 

Assuming you are liable, then you need to check the bill is correct. That means finding out when the last meter reading was taken (should have been shortly before you moved in) and what reading they're using to establish the bill. Is it estimated or has it actually been checked?

Then it's a question of explaining the situation to the utility company and arranging a payment plan with them. 

peachyprice

How many meters do you have?  
Have your EDF bills been extraordinarily low? 

JReacher1

Bills not in your name so I don’t see how you can be liable. 

The landlord needs to pay the bill and transfer the account into your name. 

hollydays

Also, to be on the safe side, record any conversations that may now occur between you and your landlord. What kind of a utility company allows bills to remain unpaid for to years🤔 You could get advice from Shelter. Livechat for england for example https://www.shelter.org.uk/

dogshome

Your flat is in a block that has a "District Heating" scheme - Rather than each flat having it's own boiler for Heat & Hot water, there is one Giant boiler in the basement that supplies Heat & Hot water to every flat

This set up is much greener than a boiler in every flat, BUT, the attraction for the developers is that there are almost no rules as to what they can charge the residents

The almost £2000 bill for 2.5 years works out to appx £66 a month, so add this to your Elec bills to see what your annual energy bill actually is - The one thing that is in your control is the Elec bill and there are plenty of suppliers out there who charge less than EDF 

neilmcl

dogshome said:

Your flat is in a block that has a "District Heating" scheme - Rather than each flat having it's own boiler for Heat & Hot water, there is one Giant boiler in the basement that supplies Heat & Hot water to every flat

This set up is much greener than a boiler in every flat, BUT, the attraction for the developers is that there are almost no rules as to what they can charge the residents

The almost £2000 bill for 2.5 years works out to appx £66 a month, so add this to your Elec bills to see what your annual energy bill actually is - The one thing that is in your control is the Elec bill and there are plenty of suppliers out there who charge less than EDF 

That may well be the case but if there's no mention of this separate charge in their rental agreement I can't see how the OP is liable for the charges.

Aylesbury_Duck

My niece is in a similar set up for a tenancy in London, with a shared boiler for heating and hot water for the whole block.  It is clearly written into her tenancy agreement that her rent covers the heating and hot water costs and the only things she's billed for in her own name are electricity and broadband.

eddddy

I guess you need to check your tenancy agreement to see if this charge was mentioned.

If it says something generic, like you're responsible for utility bills (but doesn't mention the heating), it would be a case of what a 'reasonable person' would have understood by that.

For example, would a 'reasonable person' have known that there was communal heating, if it wasn't mentioned, and that there was a separate charge to pay?

davidmcn

If it is a district heating system, I'm struggling to think how a resident would be unaware of that after 2.5 years - where did they think the heating and hot water was coming from if there's no boiler etc inside the flat?

Jimbo8x8x

Thanks so much for the replies. To answer some of the above...

Firstly, check your contract to make sure you are liable for the bills. 

Yes. Clause in the agreement reads: "To pay all charges falling due in respect of the use and supply at the Premises of any water and environmental services, electricity, gas, communal energy, oil or other relevant fuel and telephone services during the tenancy."

How many meters do you have?  

Have your EDF bills been extraordinarily low? 

I'm not sure how many I have. I don't have access to them, they are behind a locked door in a hallway somewhere. 
My EDF bills average around £65-70 a month (I'm the only tenant in a two bedroom flat in a fairly new building, around 3 years old). I did call EDF yesterday because I originally thought this other bill meant I was being charged for electricity from two suppliers. EDF were very confused and didn't say anything about me not paying them for heating or hot water. They did say that my usage was a bit on the low side.

Your flat is in a block that has a "District Heating" scheme - Rather than each flat having it's own boiler for Heat & Hot water, there is one Giant boiler in the basement that supplies Heat & Hot water to every flat

Yes, I've since learned that this is indeed the case.

Update...
I've since emailed the letting agency and asked why I wasn't made aware of the energy provider (East London Energy), and also asked who's responsibility was it to setup the account. They replied and said that in their original handover documents from the developer, they themselves were not informed of this energy providers involvement (i.e. they didn't know about them either). They added that "they have not been receiving the bills at their office address until recently" (they didn't say how recent). The photograph of the bill they sent to me is dated April 9th 2020 and is for the period March 1st to March 31st 2020, and the name is that of the landlord, but the address is that of the letting agency. Incidentally, the amount on the bill for the period is £61.97 (£59.02 for District Heating Charges + £2.95 VAT)... plus the outstanding balance of £1,849 (grand total £1,911).

To answer my question of "who is responsible for setting up the account", they copied and pasted this text from a welcome document/email I received when first signing the lease (they highlighted the bit in bold)...

It is ultimately your responsibility to inform all of the utility companies and the local tax council office of your intended occupation. If you do not arrange the transfer of the utilities the service may be terminated and disconnected. Additionally you are responsible for the payment of all utilities and council tax for the duration of the Tenancy. In certain developments where there are communal utilities you will be invoiced separately.

... yes, 'invoiced separately' after 2.5 years.

They also added the following...

It is also my understanding that the registration form along with details of East London Energy do form part of the home owner manual which was also included in your property at the commencement of your tenancy.

... I checked the box containing the manuals, it doesn't contain anything from that company. Also, I'm not the first tenant, so any registration form (if there ever was one) could have been filled-in by the owner, or a previous tenant. That statement by them is just an excuse to make it look like I'm in the wrong.

The letting agency has now given me a PDF registration form for East London Energy, asking me to complete it. Presumably so they can setup the account in my name and transfer that debt to it.

I tried calling the energy company yesterday, but I get the feeling it's a small operation because the calls to their main number are unanswered and go to some blokes voice mail.

Before I complete any form and inherit someone elses debt, I think I need to know how that £1911 breaks down... for all I know it could include bills from before my tenancy, penalty charges, call-out fees and who knows what else.