Landlord, via Letting Agent, has just dumped a huge utility bill on me after two and a half years

Jimbo8x8x

I already posted this but probably not in the most suitable forum, so as suggested I'm posting here as well...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6133234/landlord-just-sent-me-a-2000-utility-bill-that-i-didnt-know-existed/p1

I've been renting a flat in London for about 2 and a half years. In that period I've been paying Electricity and Water Rates... as per the initial instructions I got from the Letting Agent. Unknown to me there is another utility provider for 'Heating and Hot Water'. I only learned about this last week when the Letting Agent sent me an email with a picture of a bill which has an outstanding balance of £1911.

In a rather crass email, the letting agent has simply said that although it's probably a shock, it is my responsibility to settle the outstanding balance. The email includes a photograph of a bill in the name of the landlord (a Chinese woman who as far I as know doesn't live in the UK) and the address on it is that of the letting agent. I've no idea where the bills have been going in the last 28-months, I've never received any correspondence from this provider. They also included a form for me to complete and send to the supplier, whom they also cc'd on the email.

I've since asked them who's responsibility it was to setup an account with the provider. They failed to answer and instead gave me an excuse, saying that 'until recently' they were not aware of the provider themselves because it wasn't included in the handover documentation they received from the developers (the building is three years old, and I'm the second tenant in the property). They went on to suggest that I should have received a registration form in my 'welcome pack', which is basically the homeowner manuals. I've since checked and there isn't one.

I'm at the stage now where I've filled-out the form they emailed to me. All I need to do is sign and email it to the supplier, at which point they will transfer that debt to me.

So until I send them the form I won't know what the exact bill is. It might be £1911, or it might be less if that current bill includes some months from before I moved-in. However, if it is £1911 then it works out to an average of £68.27 a month on heating and hot water. On the providers website, it says an average winter bill is £70. That means, even in the hottest of summer months, I'm still being charged something very close to their average winter bill. I think it goes without saying that I would have been immediately on the phone to them if I received a £68.27 bill in July, when I'd not used any heating for months. Of course I couldn't do that because I didn't know they, or the bill, existed. Seems very unfair.

I can't contact the landlord... all I have is their name, and like I said, I think they are overseas and probably don't speak English anyway. The Letting Agency seem to have washed their hands of it and I can't contact them on the telephone because they are all working from home and seemingly don't take calls. I can't even speak to the energy supplier (East London Energy) because they to are all working from home and their phone system only goes to voice mail. I have exchanged a couple of emails with them, but they are just telling me to complete the form so they can issue the bills.

Any thoughts on what I could/should do ?

Thanks

theartfullodger

The nationality of the landlord is surely irrelevant, albeit where they live might be (which country).

I've tried but sadly unable to read your tenancy agreement.  Could you kindly please let us know what it says about this other supplier/utility please? If it says nothing then I think it's not your problem, but you may wish to "negotiate" is you don't want to be (eventually) evicted with the "for no reason at all" s21 eviction process.

swingaloo

Sorry , has to change my reply as Ive just read your link to the other thread.

numbercruncher8

I'm guessing this will be a charge for the hot water for the underfloor heating. You may have a cupboard outside where the water is piped in (with hot water for other things being provided by hot water cylinder).
I think it will be charged at way above normal levels, just a back-hand way for the building to make money out of its tenants. The charge isn't based totally on usage, with heavy standing charges, etc. Unlike the electricity there will be no way to change suppliers....
If the landlord is non-resident I bet these bills have been piling up all the time, and nobody did anything about it.

What have other people in the blocks of flats said about this charge? Are there any other renters in the same situation? If you are not responsible for paying the service charge, I do think this falls under that category as well and is not a utility.

eddddy

Looking at your other thread, it may be more helpful to summarise the key facts:

• You've been a tenant in a flat for 2.5 years

• The flat has a "District Heating" scheme - i.e. a communal boiler that delivers heating and hot water to all the flats (But this wasn't clearly explained to you, and you didn't realise this. And it seems that the Letting Agent didn't realise either.)
  

• However, your tenancy agreement says you have agreed "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."

• Your LL has only just forwarded you a bill for 2.5 years heating and hot water - at a total cost of £1,900. (The bill is currently in your LL's name)

And you are wondering if you are legally required to pay the £1,900.

Is that about right?

greatcrested

First off, I'd suggest you do not sign or return the form till you know exactly what your legal position is!

You do not want to make yourself the account holder unless you have to, and at present you do not seemto understand the position. And we certainly don't.

As artful says above, get out your tenancy agreement, read it, and quote here any relevant clauses relating to utilities, bills etc.

I'm surprised I must say that you've managed to live there so long without understanding where your heating/hot water came from! I assume your electricity bills (no gas of course) must be pretty low.

Jimbo8x8x

eddddy said:

Is that about right?

Pretty much, yes.

davidmcn

greatcrested said:

I assume your electricity bills must be pretty low.

Actually not as low as you might think for a modern flat, though I do wonder where the OP thought all the heat was coming from.

Jimbo8x8x

greatcrested said:

I'm surprised I must say that you've managed to live there so long without understanding where your heating/hot water came from! I assume your electricity bills (no gas of course) must be pretty low.

Not really, consumption for the last 12-months is above the average and my monthly bill is around £65.
With this other thing, it'll be double that.

eddddy

So on one hand, your tenancy agreement says you have agreed:

"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.

But on the other hand, that's clearly a 'catch-all' clause - for example, it mentions 'oil' - which is presumably irrelevant to your flat. So would a 'reasonable person' assume that if 'oil' is irrelevant, then it's likely that 'communal energy' is irrelevant as well - as nobody had mentioned a 'communal energy' system to you?

But then I guess a 'reasonable person' might have started to wonder where their heating and hot water was coming from.

I suspect there'll be a big dispute over this... maybe one solution is to try to negotiate a compromise.

HampshireH

eddddy said:

So on one hand, your tenancy agreement says you have agreed:

"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.

But on the other hand, that's clearly a 'catch-all' clause - for example, it mentions 'oil' - which is presumably irrelevant to your flat. So would a 'reasonable person' assume that if 'oil' is irrelevant, then it's likely that 'communal energy' is irrelevant as well - as nobody had mentioned a 'communal energy' system to you?

But then I guess a 'reasonable person' might have started to wonder where their heating and hot water was coming from.

I suspect there'll be a big dispute over this... maybe one solution is to try to negotiate a compromise.

Does beg the question how did the OP think their water was heated.

If on a district/communal system there would be no boiler and no water cylinder. 

OP you should have a 2nd meter in your flat. The heat meter should display a reading. Unless it really is just a % of the bill divied by x number of flats (unusual but not unheard of)

The letting agent should have a reading from when you moved in (so should you if you read your meters.)

Do you have a heat meter in your flat?