Buchannan clark + wells,debt collectors

Terrylw1

The Supplier has the right to estimate bills and collect on them by law. However, if the reading is challenged and proved incorrect they will happily change them.

£80 for that period of time is ludicrous given the fact you say nothing is on! Thats RR trying to worm out of making a mistake.

If the Supplier estimated the closing bill from that leaving tenant, they could have just estimated it too low. Then they get a reading from RR for the tenant moving in and you as the LL inbetween get a bill that spans into the previous tenant (does that make sense?)

When you say the new tenant has been estimated, do you mean their opening reading or did RR take one when they moved in? If the leaving tenant, you and the new tenant have all be estimated then there could be another reason. Suppliers work out estimates based on days, so if you do a lot of estimation and then have a long period of vacancy, they would work out an average daily usage and times it by the days vacant to generate your bill as LL.

Now, if they dont have any readings off the meter that is very easy to do.

Confused_landord

after the period of being empty,,,,,scottish power says that the new tennant moving in,,also had an estimated bill on moving in and that no readings were submitted to scottish power for the new tennant......So tommorow i have to fone RR and query this.............i have myself worked out an average of what my bills work out when its empty and its 7.50 per month based on a passed bill i got when it was empty before and the meter readings were correct....thank you for your replies.....RR have in the post tinight at my request sent me there terms and conditions of business and have hilighted a paragraph saying its up to the landlord to read meters,,then if this is correct why read them in the first place......i thought FULL management was it ,,LOck Stock and Barrel so to speaK

Terrylw1

It does sound a bit like they are trying to worm their way out of it because they know they are at fault.

So, it seems that the closing reading for the tenant who left, you and the new tenant have all been estimated. This is pretty easy for a Supplier to correct. They just need to understand that between X date and X date the property was vacant and you will pay for that. They just need to then re-estimate all of these readings.

They may need some reading data to do this. They have have access to some and have failed to use it or maybe a current reading will help them understand how to calculate it.

Seen this issue many times and it's very easy to correct from the Suppliers point of view. Of course, it can never be accurate so it's a matter of a compromise.

Confused_landord

thank you for all your replies and taking time to check my posts... i will up date tomorrow further to my next fone call to reads raines.thank you

Confused_landord

today i contacted Scottish Power with the meter readings which were 29703 for the tenant moving out and 29763 for tenant moving in..They said they need 3 seperate readings for each reading,,one for low one for night and i think one for economy,,,,,,,and you know what ,,its now gone a full circle again...This jogged my memory and thats what they told me in 2006 when the problem bill became apparent..I foned reeds raines this afternoon to tell them how they incorrectly read them,, insufficient meter readings,,and guess what???? they must close early friday afternoons so i couldnt get through it just rang out!!!!!,I had rang them in the morning and i told them i would fone back later , so they had the opportunity to tell me they shut at 1 o clock or whatever!!!,,,were now do i go from here ???going back to my first posting RR incorrectly read my meter and now its apparent they didnt take 3 readings each time???i dont know weather to just pay up myself and write a letter to RR of complaint to them and remind then that they have just lost from me £1,400 per year in money that they would have earned from me in them letting my property all because they woulldnt own up to there mistake???????and that i am giving it to a new letting agent.......thank you in advance for any replies and advice i may get,

Terrylw1

What rate are those readings for? There seems to be very little in the way of an advance there which looks more reasonable.

With you having 3 rates, do you have a night/day & heating set of rates?

I think the situation remains the same to the Supplier, they need to re-estimate the bills.

Have you got any heating devices that are operated by a timeswitch on the meter? If so, they would continue to operate ven when the property is vacant which would add to the bill.

Confused_landord

Yes ,,lookin back on my old bill that was 29.98 ,,i can see two different readings..economy night and economy day,,cant see 3 readings tho.........All appliances are switched off when an ols tenant leaves (or are they????)I did think ,,, i hope the heating hasnt been left on while it has been vacant,,,but i do go and check it at different times so surely in the 4 months of visiting i would have felt heat at some point......i dont know which way to go with this now really , i am tirering of it

Terrylw1

Ok, if your bill reflects 2 readings they don't need the third since they won't use it anyway. They would only need the third if they intended to use it in the bill.

If you have Economy 7, the meter has a timeswitch which activates your storage heaters for 7 hours per night.

The Supplier can re-estimate your bills regardless of getting a reading from you but it will still not be completely accurate. If you have one of the 2 readings they can use one and estimate the other quite easily.

Confused_landord

why did they say today that cant do my bill without the 3 readings for each time it shuda bin read?????they said the meter shuda bin read of all its 3 tarrifs,, i think thats the right word????????????accordin to my archived bill , i can only see two tariff readings?????? big sigh

Terrylw1

There are all types of E7, some have 2 readings, some have 3.

The third can be a heating rate. However, if you have a 3 rate E7 (day/night/heating) then you should have 3 readings on the bill.

Some E7's do have 3 readings but the third one if not used for billing by the Supplier.

Worth asking them why they need 3 readings off the meter when you are billed only on 2 of them.