Park home owner - energy overcharged now court?

smellymel74

MattMattMattUK said:

smellymel74 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

dealyboy said:

Outrageous.
https://parkhomes.lease-advice.org/article/dealing-with-harassment-on-residential-park-home-sites/
0808 196 2212 from 09:00 Monday.
... they are very helpful.

It is not harassment, it is either a contractual or a debt issue. 

I’m not 100% clear on what you’re saying  MattMattMattUK? I’m not in debt for my energy and never have been. I just haven’t paid 2 months of a new £20 a month charge for reading my meter that I’ve never had to pay for the previous 20+ years and that isn’t in my contract to pay.  Nothing has changed except I’m suddenly being charged for the same guy to read my meter who’s always done it. We’ve never been charged previously because it’s included in the cost of the pitch fees.

If there is an unpaid debt then that is potentially a debt issue, the main question is, is the debt valid. The grounds for them taking you to court will be an unpaid debt, the court can then decide whether the debt is valid or not. 

smellymel74 said:

My main query here is which court the site owner goes to - my understanding was that all park home matters relating to the written agreement should be heard at the first tier property tribunal. So I’m confused as to why the site owner is suggesting taking me to the small claims court and whether he can do this without first having gone to the tribunal? 

My understanding is you can take them to a tribunal to dispute the energy charges, they can take you to court for unpaid debts. Though I am happy to be corrected if anyone knows differently. 

Thanks so much MattMattMattUK - that does seem reasonable. I suppose I was thinking that the small claims court wouldn’t necessarily know the nuances of park home law in the same way that the tribunal would, so I was concerned that they would see it as a debt when it’s very clear under park home law that it’s an unlawful charge - the rules say site owners cannot profit from supplying energy to park home residents and there have been several first tier and upper tier rulings on meter reading charges on park homes. They’ve ruled that the site owner cannot charge meter reading or billing charges beyond what they themselves pay *unless* residents’ written agreements say they can. Mine definitely does not and the site owner is not being charged a meter reading charge - just per unit costs and a standing charge plus VAT, which I already pay as part of my bill.

id hope any court would pay attention to these rulings but I’ve never been to court so it’s all quite scary for me!

thanks for your help

smellymel74

sammyjammy said:

If he takes you to small claims court now when you "owe" him £40 it will cost him more than that and small claims doesn't assign costs!

Good point! I don’t know how much it costs to go to small claims but he’d have to wait a while before it was worth it I guess, by which time I could go the tribunal about it. Thanks makes sense when people tell you but it’s all been a big shock for me as I’ve been fortunate not to have problems like this before

dealyboy

Hi Mel, the number I gave is the advice line for park home owners needing help (not specifically about harassment), they should be able to answer your specific legal path questions.

BooJewels

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

smellymel74

dealyboy said:

Hi Mel, the number I gave is the advice line for park home owners needing help (not specifically about harassment), they should be able to answer your specific legal path questions.

Thanks again. I’ll certainly get in touch with them. We have spoken to a specialist solicitor briefly about other related matters but I can’t afford to engage one because it’s so expensive. The help line sounds like a great option in this case  

smellymel74

BooJewels said:

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

That’s a great idea - I’ll check my policy documents. Could be a lifeline here so worth digging out. 

pochase

It does not seem that the meter reading charge in itself is illegal if you look at Ofgem guidelines.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2005/10/11782-resaleupdateoct05_3.pdf

It seem the landlord is able to recover administration costs, it is just questionable how high this can be.

dealyboy

Good point BooJewels ...BooJewels said:

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

Park Home insurance is often a condition of residence and is a specialist area which in my case includes legal cover for site owner disputes with an advice line and claims line (court or tribunal representation if reasonable chance of success).

QrizB

pochase said:

It does not seem that the meter reading charge in itself is illegal if you look at Ofgem guidelines.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2005/10/11782-resaleupdateoct05_3.pdf
It seem the landlord is able to recover administration costs, it is just questionable how high this can be.

But the landlord can't recover them as part of the elergy costs, they need to include them elsewhere in the charges. And the OP says there's nothing in their existing contract that permits this.

smellymel74

dealyboy said:

Good point BooJewels ...BooJewels said:

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

Park Home insurance is often a condition of residence and is a specialist area which in my case includes legal cover for site owner disputes with an advice line and claims line (court or tribunal representation if reasonable chance of success).

dealyboy said:

Good point BooJewels ...BooJewels said:

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

Park Home insurance is often a condition of residence and is a specialist area which in my case includes legal cover for site owner disputes with an advice line and claims line (court or tribunal representation if reasonable chance of success).

dealyboy said:

Good point BooJewels ...BooJewels said:

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

Park Home insurance is often a condition of residence and is a specialist area which in my case includes legal cover for site owner disputes with an advice line and claims line (court or tribunal representation if reasonable chance of success).

dealyboy said:

Good point BooJewels ...BooJewels said:

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

Park Home insurance is often a condition of residence and is a specialist area which in my case includes legal cover for site owner disputes with an advice line and claims line (court or tribunal representation if reasonable chance of success).

dealyboy said:

Good point BooJewels ...BooJewels said:

@dealyboy has perhaps already given you a better answer, but I was about to ask if you have legal cover included with your contents insurance - as that often covers contractual matters?

Although it's possible that your insurance is part of your site fees, so may be problematic if there's a conflictof interest. 

Park Home insurance is often a condition of residence and is a specialist area which in my case includes legal cover for site owner disputes with an advice line and claims line (court or tribunal representation if reasonable chance of success).

Yes this is a good idea. I do have specialist home insurance with a provider that specialises in park homes. But sadly it doesn’t include legal cover for this type of dispute - the solicitor I spoke to for a free consultation checked this at the time. I’ll be getting it next time for sure!