Meter change by tenant

Gettingtherequickly

We had a tenant on an agreed statutory periodic tenancy.  However, despite the notice period required, we were given notice the afternoon before they moved out.  When we went to check the property before placing back on the market, we were gobsmacked to discover that the electricity meter had been changed without our knowledge, so there was no power supply to the property.  We know that the tenant has the right to to do so, but not without our knowledge.

We then had to go through the process of trying to top it up to allow us to do some work there and were advised that the smart meter which had been fitted allowed the billing process to go from prepayment to billing without a meter change, perfect, requested that it be changed to billing and didn't think anymore of it.

Friday evening received a phone call from the estate agent advising there was no electricity supply, so had to make a payment again, as the meter had not been switched.

Spoke to supplier this morning and as the meter was originally in the tenants name, we will need to have a credit check carried out as the property is owned by a limited company, that's fine, but as the vacant period is so short, a new tenant will probably be in situ very shortly after after the LL credit check.  We don't want to go through this process of ensuring there is a supply each time a tenant vacates.

Any suggestions on a convenient/easy resolution to the problem?  We have no forwarding details, and we appear to be returning a pile of CCJ related paperwork to Nothampton, which is obviously going to be a potential concern to a new tenant, albeit they have nothing to worry about.

_Penny_Dreadful

Gettingtherequickly said:

We had a tenant on an agreed statutory periodic tenancy.  However, despite the notice period required, we were given notice the afternoon before they moved out.  When we went to check the property before placing back on the market, we were gobsmacked to discover that the electricity meter had been changed without our knowledge, so there was no power supply to the property.  We know that the tenant has the right to to do so, but not without our knowledge.

We then had to go through the process of trying to top it up to allow us to do some work there and were advised that the smart meter which had been fitted allowed the billing process to go from prepayment to billing without a meter change, perfect, requested that it be changed to billing and didn't think anymore of it.

Friday evening received a phone call from the estate agent advising there was no electricity supply, so had to make a payment again, as the meter had not been switched.

Spoke to supplier this morning and as the meter was originally in the tenants name, we will need to have a credit check carried out as the property is owned by a limited company, that's fine, but as the vacant period is so short, a new tenant will probably be in situ very shortly after after the LL credit check.  We don't want to go through this process of ensuring there is a supply each time a tenant vacates.

Any suggestions on a convenient/easy resolution to the problem?  We have no forwarding details, and we appear to be returning a pile of CCJ related paperwork to Nothampton, which is obviously going to be a potential concern to a new tenant, albeit they have nothing to worry about.

The meter won't be in the tenant's name as the meter belongs to the supplier.  The electricity account connected to the meter will have been in the tenant's name though and when the tenant moved out you should have set up a new account in your own, or rather the limited company's name, just the same as you would if it hadn't been a prepayment meter.

There isn't a simple solution.  It take ages for gas and electric companies to set up new accounts so even when a new tenant moves in it will take weeks to sort the final bill for the limited company's new account and to set up a new account for the new tenant.  Also, a tenant does not need your permission to change to a prepayment meter so you can't prevent it from happening in the future.  Often it's not the tenant's choice to go prepayment but the utility supplier forcing a prepayment meter on them due to arrears, which is understandable.  The good news is that with the smart meters it's the same physical meter for prepayment and billing whereas before you had the rigmarole of having to get the physical meter changed too.

FreeBear

_Penny_Dreadful said: The meter won't be in the tenant's name as the meter belongs to the supplier.  The electricity account connected to the meter will have been in the tenant's name though and when the tenant moved out you should have set up a new account in your own, or rather the limited company's name, just the same as you would if it hadn't been a prepayment meter.

Setting up a new account in a Ltd company name would (probably) mean being on a commercial tariff at exorbitant rates. Any new tenant would then have extra work to get the account switched to a domestic tariff in their own name. Much easier to use your personal name to set up the account - Cheaper all round, with a little extra work when doing the company accounts.

theartfullodger

Tenant is perfectly entitled to change meters or suppliers.  I thought all landlords knew this.

Would be nice to be told but tenant doesn't have to.

(no offence) but if not aware of this, care to outline what education/training you've done in how to be a landlord?

Best regards.  Artful, landlord since 2000. Yup, made loads of mistakes when starting, thinking I knew everything...

Grumpy_chap

From the LL perspective, having the meter on a pre-payment means that the tenant can't have left leaving an energy debt which the supply company may try to recover from the LL and there is no risk of the LL picking up the tab for the next tenant if they don't register the account properly.

It would seem simplest for the LL to just stay on pre-payment for the (hopefully short) void period and the new tenant will then put in place whatever account is best for them.

It is entirely possible that the tenant was only offer pre-payment by the energy suppliers because of  credit worthiness.

Jonboy_1984

When we moved in the prepayment meter had debt on it from the previous tenants, who were on some sort of arrangement whereby payments were split between the debt and new energy.

It was a pain for a few days as the suppliers automated systems kept over-riding the customer service teams daytime actions overnight and cutting the power.
Then when they properly sorted the new accounts and text me the new meter key numbers, so I could top up online they failed to mention they wouldn’t work until the following day…and  subsequently took three attempts to move to credit billing.

Sistergold

Gettingtherequickly said:

We had a tenant on an agreed statutory periodic tenancy.  However, despite the notice period required, we were given notice the afternoon before they moved out.  When we went to check the property before placing back on the market, we were gobsmacked to discover that the electricity meter had been changed without our knowledge, so there was no power supply to the property.  We know that the tenant has the right to to do so, but not without our knowledge.

We then had to go through the process of trying to top it up to allow us to do some work there and were advised that the smart meter which had been fitted allowed the billing process to go from prepayment to billing without a meter change, perfect, requested that it be changed to billing and didn't think anymore of it.

Friday evening received a phone call from the estate agent advising there was no electricity supply, so had to make a payment again, as the meter had not been switched.

Spoke to supplier this morning and as the meter was originally in the tenants name, we will need to have a credit check carried out as the property is owned by a limited company, that's fine, but as the vacant period is so short, a new tenant will probably be in situ very shortly after after the LL credit check.  We don't want to go through this process of ensuring there is a supply each time a tenant vacates.

Any suggestions on a convenient/easy resolution to the problem?  We have no forwarding details, and we appear to be returning a pile of CCJ related paperwork to Nothampton, which is obviously going to be a potential concern to a new tenant, albeit they have nothing to worry about.

If a tenant or resident falls into arrears an energy provider can also come and install a pay as you go without anybody’s consent. So it’s not necessarily that they wanted to change it and they don’t have to tell you either. The next tenant can also be the one to change it to meter if that’s what they want. You could go through the whole process of changing it to meter and when the new tenant moves out you still find it’s back to pay as you go! 🤷‍♀️