Deemed contracts for energy over summer period in student rental properties

mrsnonsmoker

My daughter and friends signed a tenancy agreement for a student property. They paid half rent for July and August on the proviso that they could not have any access to the property - no keys.  This is a pretty standard student agreement.  The only exception was they had to make an appointment to store a few bags in the house, they were accompanied by the agent and told to leave within  few minutes, she stood inside with them. They were not allowed to look around etc.
When they moved in mid September, they read the meter, there was a letter from Glide the student bill company saying we are your current energy provider so  please get in touch.  The agent had left a  note of meter readings which appeared to have been taken mid-August. One of the girls rang Glide, was asked to give her bank details and unfortunately did so in all innocence!  Glide have now said there was a Deemed Contract from 1st July and they have estimated the bill for July and August to be over £400.  I have read OFGEM guidance saying they are allowed to do this, and charge a "reasonable" amount.  
Apparently neither the previous tenants, the agent or the landlord ever read the meter each believing it to be someone else's problem, so now the girls are left facing a large debt when they had no access to the house and no control over who read what meter when.  I say its the landlords liability.  What do you think? (PS also posted in consumer rights)

AdrianC

They have ESTIMATED the bill for two months to be £400.

Assuming a fairly typical 15p/kWh, that'd be 2,65- kWh - across 60 days, that's 44kWh/day, or 1.85kW on all the time... Clearly ridiculous.

So the 1st July estimate is clearly inaccurate. And there's one other group of people who didn't bother reading it who you forgot to mention - the new tenants...

anselld

If the contact started 1 July albeit half rent then they are liable for the bills from that date.  Bills (and readings) are the tenants responsibility unless the contract is bills inclusive.
 
With hindsight they should have taken opening readings and opened their account at that time.
However, check the basis of the estimate vs the reading which they presumably took when they moved in in Sept.  It should be possible to get a reasonable estimate of average summer usage based on the agents reading and the September reading.  Then daughter and friends need to try to persuade Glide that their estimate is more "reasonable".   Enter complaint process with Glide if necessary.

dimbo61

Sorry to hear this and I blame the Letting agents as they get a huge commission from Glide.
Can you check the very expensive tariff they are on ?
Did the students read the meters and take photos when they moved in ?
What does it say on the inventory the students should have been given to sign and have a copy when they moved in ?
Is the property a HMO with 5 or more  unrelated tenants or even 3 tenants in certain towns and cities ???
We're the tenants given copies of the EPC, GSC, EICR ( for all new tenancies from July 2020) Pat testing if the property has a Washing machine, fridge freezer etc.
Did the landlord have legionnaires checks done ?
I don't like Glide or split the bills as great when signing up but shocking customer service and send huge bills once students have moved out followed quickly with demand for payment and legal threats if not paid.
It will be an estimated bill so each tenant pays say £30 a month but you find out that the actual cost was way higher.
Demand the initial readings from the Letting agents or you will report them to the redress scheme for letting agents.

dimbo61

PS if 6/7 tenants in big old poorly insulated house and they run the gas / electric 24/7 with no consideration for energy saving the bills could be £2,400 for 12 months !
Yes I am a HMO landlord who offers bills inclusive rent so it's in my interests to install A rated appliances, lots of loft and wall insulation, A rated boiler and full double glazing.
House is C rated on EPC as well.
What is the EPC of your daughter's rental ?

dimbo61

https://find-energy-certificate.digital.communities.gov.uk/

Slithery

mrsnonsmoker said:

What do you think?

I think that your daughter should have read the meters the day the tenancy stated.

mrsnonsmoker

Bit confused, for those who are saying she should have read the meter - they were not allowed access to the property, no keys, its part of the tenancy agreement, no access from 1st July to 31st August.  She read it the day they moved in, in September.

mrsnonsmoker

Its been helpful to see that some posters think she is to blame, even though many student lettings work on the "no access during the summer" basis.  The Deemed Contract is nothing to do with anyone running the electricity a lot or the EPC. Under OFGEM rules Glide or any energy company are allowed to charge whatever they like under the Deemed Contract, so what they do is use the highest possible tariff, because they can. 

anselld

mrsnonsmoker said:

Its been helpful to see that some posters think she is to blame, even though many student lettings work on the "no access during the summer" basis.  The Deemed Contract is nothing to do with anyone running the electricity a lot or the EPC. Under OFGEM rules Glide or any energy company are allowed to charge whatever they like under the Deemed Contract, so what they do is use the highest possible tariff, because they can. 

No, they use their standard tariff (Capped by the regulator) and it is still based on consumption, hence the reference to EPC etc.  The Customer can phone up on day 1 to open their account and select any available tariff and register an opening reading which is what most Customers do.  The Customer can also immediately initiate a switch to a provider of their choosing, which takes 21 days.  The deemed contract is only there to ensure there is no gap 

AdrianC

mrsnonsmoker said:

Bit confused, for those who are saying she should have read the meter - they were not allowed access to the property, no keys, its part of the tenancy agreement, no access from 1st July to 31st August.  She read it the day they moved in, in September.

Except they did have access - you told us that.

"Yes, we're leaving - but first I just want to take a pic of the electricity and gas meters." <click, click> "OK, let's go."