wow prepayment electricity.. too much now

Robin9

borderline said:

.. it's just if there is any electrical  problem that needs to be sorted I don't want to be the one paying just because it's under my name 

That's your landlord's responsibility  - it's what you pay rent for

borderline

SAC2334 said:

borderline said:

MWT said:

borderline said:

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

mmm, if voucher not in your name then that's fraud, stealing, would you take a cheque into a bank to cash it in somebody else's name?

not stealing really.. the former tenant cannot make any use of this voucher because it goes on the meter that I pay, it's not money for me to spend on something else

You are taking a risk.

The money is being given to those who have an electricity account in their name.

You do not have an account in your name so you do not qualify for the money.

We do not yet have any details that would give certainty that you are going to be able to get the £400, so why wouldn't you want to be certain and get the account in your name?

I will try to contact SSE and see what they say.. I don't have an issue with being on my name but I don't think the other tenants it's under their name either.. other letters from SSE comes under my landlords name so I don't see why the one for my flat it's under the tenants name.. it's just if there is any electrical  problem that needs to be sorted I don't want to be the one paying just because it's under my name 

As a long time meter reader I understand how very common this is especially when tenants come and go several times a year . The outgoing tenant s do not tell anyone because probably no one has ever told them thats what they must do..Landlords are not  at all bothered about it neither. Its not their concern 
The whole prepayment meter business appears to be a UK answer which does nt really work IMO and we should never have started off down this road and have  done what the other Countries do..eg if you refuse to pay what you owe you get disconnected. This works in most countries including the USA 

I agree. Nobody told me, Before I was paying via direct debit at previous addresses so I had no clue about these meters , here the landlord only told me to top up and that's it , so I never saw the need to chance anything being a pre paid and not being my property . At the end of the day I wouldn't think SSE would care who pays as long as the meter is on credit.  But I will speak to landlords again and see what they say and why other tenants their meter seems to be under my landlords name 

Ultrasonic

borderline said:

I agree. Nobody told me, Before I was paying via direct debit at previous addresses so I had no clue about these meters , here the landlord only told me to top up and that's it , so I never saw the need to chance anything being a pre paid and not being my property . At the end of the day I wouldn't think SSE would care who pays as long as the meter is on credit.  But I will speak to landlords again and see what they say and why other tenants their meter seems to be under my landlords name 

Realistically you knew things weren't right once you were aware that the letters relating to your energy supply were in a previous tenant's name. Just in case it becomes an option, I would encourage you NOT to get your account put in your landlord's name in case this means you can't get the government support mentioned above. 

As I posted above I still see zero downside in just getting this transferred to your name, and it's unquestionably what I'd do in your position.

Alnat1

Also might be nice of you to mention to the other tenants that if their bill is in the landlords name he'll get the £400 instead of them. 

QrizB

Ultrasonic said:

Just in case it becomes an option, I would encourage you NOT to get your account put in your landlord's name in case this means you can't get the government support mentioned above.

As an example, the £150 council tax credit earlier this year was not paid to landlords. If you didn't have your Council Tax account in your own name, you didn't get it.

It's possible that the £400 electricity bill credit will work the same way. You might go as far as to suggest to the other tenants to make sure their accounts are in their own names.

borderline

Alnat1 said:

Also might be nice of you to mention to the other tenants that if their bill is in the landlords name he'll get the £400 instead of them. 

yes, but in this case, they don't give you 400 quid to spend on anything else.. it's only against your meter, they don't put money onto your bank account like they did with council tax , so the landlord or anyone else could not do anything with this voucher other than go to the shop and top up the key 

Alnat1

A canny landlord might transfer the account into the tenant's name at this point and claim the credited amount as his.

Mstty

@borderline

There are some very knowledgeable people on this forum.

They have pretty much all told you to get the meter in your name if you 100% want the £400 vouchers come October.

What you do now is up to you 👍