Suspect Holiday Park Owner is Inflating Utility Bills

Sn00py

Hello

I am concerned that the owner of my holiday park may be inflating the unit prices charged for gas, electricity, and water. I have been unable to obtain copies of the original utility bills to verify whether the amounts charged to residents accurately reflect the costs incurred by him.

I am also concerned about raising this issue directly, as I fear potential repercussions if it becomes known that I have questioned the charges. Is there a regulatory or reporting body that can investigate whether the prices being charged to tenants align with what the park owner actually pays to the utility suppliers, and that can do so confidentially or anonymously?

We are currently paying:

• LPG Gas: £3.55 excluding VAT plus, £10.00 standing charge for 6 months
• Electricity: £0.52 including VAT at 5%, plus £10.00 standing charge for 6 months
• Water: £2.47 per unit including VAT, plus £10.00 standing charge for 6 months

Many thanks.

la531983

They will be on business tariffs, not domestic ones, by their very nature these cost more than domestic.

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981108#Comment_81981108

^

For what it's worth, if the £10 standing charge is for 6 months as the OP says, then that suggests a standing charge of ~£0.055/day, which is very low by domestic stands, I currently pay £0.60/day on my electricity!

There could be a situation depending on how low their usage is that it would be cheaper than a typical domestic tariff (but back-of-napkin-maths suggests this is probably around the sub 1000 kWh annual usage).

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981138#Comment_81981138

Suspect he is more querying unit rates, but yes agree £20 a year SC per fuel is a bargain.

lohr500

Won't it be a single standing charge from the utility company split across the number of homes on the site?
Hence it being so low?

WiserMiser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981138#Comment_81981138

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981138#Comment_81981138

I currently pay 0.60p/day on my electricity!

Standing Charge of less than a penny per day? I don't think so !

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981142#Comment_81981142

I understood that, was just providing a silver lining to the OP.

WiserMiser

I currently pay 0.60p/day on my electricity!

Standing Charge of less than a penny per day? I don't think so !

I thought you had lost the plot, but I've just twigged my mistake!

I'll edit my post, I wish it was 0.6p !!!

Ildhund

@la531983 wrote:

They will be on business tariffs, not domestic ones, …

If they were, the VAT would be 20%, not 5%.

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981239#Comment_81981239

There are numerous exemptions.

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981239#Comment_81981239

It's a bit more nuanced than that.

Businesses can qualify for the reduced 5% VAT rate for several reasons, e.g. low usage (I believe >1000 kWh per month), admittedly that means that it would only work if there was like 5 homes on this holiday park, or for mixed-use between business and residential, but I'm nowhere near clued up in this field to know how that applies to a holiday park. I just know we pay 5% VAT on one of our business units, so it's at least not black and white.

Edit: googled it, seems to confirm "Electricity in holiday parks typically attracts a reduced VAT rate of 5% if it is individually metered for the caravan or lodge, as this is considered "domestic use."

Article for those bored enough to read it: https://www.aw-accountants.co.uk/post/vat-on-charges-by-holiday-caravan-park-and-residential-park-charges

MattMattMattUK

• LPG Gas: £3.55 excluding VAT plus, £10.00 standing charge for 6 months
• Electricity: £0.52 including VAT at 5%, plus £10.00 standing charge for 6 months
• Water: £2.47 per unit including VAT, plus £10.00 standing charge for 6 months

Are those per kWh/litre/cubic meter, per day, per something else?

LPG is often billed per litre, if that price is per litre then that is on the expensive side, but well within the range if they maintain a piped network on site. If that is for bottled gas then it is on the cheap side.

Electricity is normally billed per kWh, as others have said, whilst that cost is on the high side per kWh, it could also be reasonable based on them buying on a commercial supply rate rather than a domestic rate.

If that water rate is per cubic meter (normal rate) then it is on the cheap side, if that cost also includes wastewater that cost is very cheap.

To do anything other than pointlessly speculate we would need what those numbers are actually for.