Landlords and energy back-billing

mjenderby

Currently trying to sort out an unresolved issue with my late father-in-laws estate. 

- He was a long term tenant (>60 years) on an estate which consists of a main residence and 2 rental properties.

- electricity/gas is metered to the main residence and then distributed to the 2 rental properties via subsidiary meters

- for over 50 years he provided monthly readings, got bills and paid them promptly. This worked fine and bills appeared fair. Suspect there was never any written arrangement for this.

- 3 years ago a new landlord came in and my father-in-law continued to submit monthly readings. However the landlord didn't respond with bills (despite being regularly requested to supply them). 

- A bill (for over 2 years of fuel) eventually arrived after he died and the tenancy terminated.

Two questions ...

1) Is the landlord governed by Ofgem's back-billing rules?
2) Can the Energy Ombudsman get involved in cases where a landlord reseller is involved?

Cheers

Mark

FlorayG

A bill arrived where? Your father isn't going to be reading it and it's his bill, not yours

born_again

No idea on if they can. Would suggest that you contact Ofgem to find out.

Is there any funds in the estate after funeral to pay any debts?

mmmmikey

mjenderby said:

Currently trying to sort out an unresolved issue with my late father-in-laws estate. 

- He was a long term tenant (>60 years) on an estate which consists of a main residence and 2 rental properties.

- electricity/gas is metered to the main residence and then distributed to the 2 rental properties via subsidiary meters

- for over 50 years he provided monthly readings, got bills and paid them promptly. This worked fine and bills appeared fair. Suspect there was never any written arrangement for this.

- 3 years ago a new landlord came in and my father-in-law continued to submit monthly readings. However the landlord didn't respond with bills (despite being regularly requested to supply them). 

- A bill (for over 2 years of fuel) eventually arrived after he died and the tenancy terminated.

Two questions ...

1) Is the landlord governed by Ofgem's back-billing rules?
2) Can the Energy Ombudsman get involved in cases where a landlord reseller is involved?

Cheers

Mark

Hi Mark, not 100% sure but I believe the simple answers are "no" and "no". 

I'm no expert, but my understanding is that the backbilling rules apply to contracts between energy suppliers and domestic customers. The landlord is not defined as an energy supplier in this context. Any dispute here would probably be governed by contract / tenancy law and I would suggest taking legal advice. I'd imagine that if you have a solicitor advising on execution of any will they would be able to help.

As far as the EOS is concerned, because this is a landlord-tenant dispute without an energy supplier involved it doesn't fall within the scope of their service.

Not what you want to hear, I suspect.

Perhaps someone else could confirm my understanding?

molerat

^^Unfortunately for OP I agree, it is a private "owed money" dispute and governed by the usual 6 year, 5 in Scotland, rules.  OFGEM only have authority over currently licenced energy suppliers.

Scot_39

Except if the father in laws estate was insolvent - in which case the debt might not be servicible by the funds available in estate (and therefore not paid in full or at all).

mjenderby

Thanks for the replies. Am still waiting for Ofgem to get back. The estate can service the debt but would not cover any solicitor fees to resolve the dispute (and I guess we can't deliberately put the estate into insolvency to pay one). Currently, the big problem is the landlord is just not replying to any attempts at communicating which puts everything in limboland. Guess next stop is Citizens Advice,

Cheers

Mark

mmmmikey

mjenderby said:

Thanks for the replies. Am still waiting for Ofgem to get back. The estate can service the debt but would not cover any solicitor fees to resolve the dispute (and I guess we can't deliberately put the estate into insolvency to pay one). Currently, the big problem is the landlord is just not replying to any attempts at communicating which puts everything in limboland. Guess next stop is Citizens Advice,

Cheers

Mark

Thanks for the update Mark, it's always appreciated. Be great if you can update again when Ofgem get back as it helps the regulars here stay up to date and is also useful for anyone reading this in the future.

Good luck and I hope sorting this out doesn't prove too tortuous.