My Tenant Left Without Paying Bills – So Now What?

Tenant Left Without Paying Bills

Unfortunately, not a totally uncommon scenario, when tenants vacate and leave behind a trail of unpaid utility bills. It’s happened to me on a few occasions, but it never seems to get less frustrating.

Here’s a quick and brief rundown of what happened the most recent time it happened to me…

One of my problem tenants’ recently vacated after being served an eviction notice for massively falling behind on rent. Lordy, let me tell you, what a pair of numpties! But I won’t get into that today.

Unsurprisingly, they left behind a whole host of unpaid utility bills, which is pretty routine when tenants fall into rent arrears. Experience has taught me that when someone is in rent arrears, they’re usually behind on other bills, too.

The unpaid utility bills totaled to approximately £400. Not an earth shattering amount in the grand scheme of things, but enough for me to get pissy about. Bear in mind, I had already accepted that I wasn’t going to recover the rent arrears (for various reasons), so I was extremely reluctant on allowing them (the husband and wife duo) burden me with their lousy utility bills.

Informing the utility provider of the situation

When I contacted the gas & electricity provider, Powergen (now known as e-on), to notify them that the tenants’ had vacated the premises because they had fallen into rent arrears, so to stop chasing the money from the property, I discovered that the tenants’ never actually transferred the accounts over to their name, they had only added themselves as mere contacts (that’s despite the fact that I told them to do so when they initially moved in, and they had assured me it had been done).

Well, SHHHHHHIT!

Upon hearing the news, I heard an almighty crash. It was my stomach falling out of my ass, because now I was certain I would have no get-out and I was destined to lose even more money because of these numpties! It’s not so much the money (although, that is definitely a concern), it’s more about that on the verge of getting away with murder. It’s particularly frustrating because I know I was a good landlord to them.

When the utility bills are registered under the landlord’s name (not the tenants)…

Yes, guilty!

I know, I know, I should bear some of the responsibility! I should have been more diligent and checked for myself that they had transferred the accounts to their name. Lesson learned. That won’t happen again.

Fortunately, it seems as though I managed to catch a break.

The Powergen customer service rep informed me that if I could prove that my tenants were actually occupying the property during the period the unpaid bills account for, I won’t be liable, so they initiate a debt collection process on them instead of me.

Hallelooya!

The fact the account was under my name during her occupancy wasn’t going to prevent justice from being prevailed.

So I quickly emailed Powergen a copy of the tenancy agreement, which proves that my tenants had been occupying the property during the period the bill was incurred, along with a cover letter, which briefly reiterated the situation.

Bottom line: if you’re in a similar position, where one of your tenants vacated your property leaving behind unpaid bills, then don’t worry, all is not lost. Probably!

I say probably because I’m not sure how other providers would have dealt with the situation, I wouldn’t be surprised if they held me liable because I was the official account holder. I’d like to think they wouldn’t, though.

When the utility bills are registered under the tenant’s name…

If it’s the case that unpaid utility bills are registered under the tenants’ name, then I wouldn’t be worried at all. This has happened to me on a few occasions and it’s easy to resolve.

Remember, unpaid utility bills are not connected to the property itself, but rather the account holder(s). The only reason why my situation was nerving on this occasion is because I was still the account holder.

So if your tenant has vacated with unpaid bills and they’re the account holders, all you need to do is inform the utility providers, and they’ll stop sending the bills to your property. They’ll probably ask you for a forwarding address for the tenant, but don’t worry if you don’t have one (many landlords won’t have one in this scenario).

Extra notes

  • This is a reminder why written tenancy agreements are critical.

    While I never understand why it is the case, I know many crazy landlords don’t bother getting a written contract in place. It’s truly mind-boggling.

  • Don’t discard tenancy agreements, even after your tenants have vacated. In times like these they can prove to be extremely useful.
  • As said, I can’t guarantee that all service providers operate under the same policy! But I’m – perhaps naively – assuming most do! So as long as you can provide prove that your tenant was the occupant during the period of the bill, they should be held liable.
  • Whenever new tenants move in, ensure to check that all respective accounts get transferred over to them. I made the mistake of not checking, but from now on I will contact the service providers directly to confirm. Don’t trust your tenant your to do it!

Has anyone else had similar problems with tenants leaving behind unpaid bills?

44 Join the Conversation...

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d.fenton 31st January, 2010 @ 13:42

i went guarantor for my sons x through a letting agency she is on benefits who paid the rent direct to her, she faild to pay 2 months rent now the rent is paid in part to the letting agency £30 short which she fails to pay increasing arears. i have spent £300 on leagal advice, but the landlord rightly wants whats owed to him.she has been given 2 months notice to hand back the property.has anyone been in this nightmare situation and give me some peace of mind is there any light at the end of the tunnel so to speak

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lisa 3rd February, 2010 @ 23:17

If you signed as a guarantor, any money owed by joint/tenants or property/financial damage to the landlord has to be your liability of the last resort. That is a commerical agreement. There is no limit of liability to a guarantor. You could be taken to small claim court for not paying it and get CCJ record on your credit rating i.e. you can not open new legitimate loans.

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Bahar 28th March, 2010 @ 19:06

I rented out my flat on the 27/12/2009 but the tenant has lost his job and wants to return to his country on the 22nd of April 2010. As a landlord I am responsible for utility bills such as electricity, council tax, water and TV licence in the address. However he asked to have a phone line and broadband line which I did not provide, I agreed to this on the condition that he takes full responsibility for it and pays the invoice which he agreed to. He finally drew up a contract with sky for 18 months. But now that he is leaving I have asked him to settle any outstanding debt with the company and provide me with a proof that he has no outstanding debt with them. He has agreed to do this but only if I return to him his £500 deposit now as he does not have enough money to pay for the bills. When I explained this would not be possible and the deposit will be returned to him only when he leaves the flat he said he will not pay the bill.
I want to know if I am at any point responsible for this bill if he does not pay it and if so what actions can I take against him as he is leaving to go back to Turkey.
asked if I could return his deposit of £500

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Jools 29th March, 2010 @ 13:55

If you did not sign the contract you are not responsible for the debt.

Tell him you will forward his deposit on to his home address (I hope you have secured it properly) and if Sky come a knocking give them the address so they can chase him in Turkey.

Jools

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Bahar 29th March, 2010 @ 18:14

Thank you very much for your help Jools.

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Vianca 22nd July, 2011 @ 12:40

Pin my tail and call me a dokeny, that really helped.

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Henna 16th October, 2011 @ 19:11

Yes my scum bag tenants have done the same,they actually set up the utility bills in my name and then defaulted them and then set them up in fake names. I have done the same and sent the tenancy agreement to the the suppliers explaining what happened. I am also thinking of checking with the credit agreement agencies to see what else they have been taking out in my name.

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Laura 20th July, 2012 @ 20:00

I received a letter from a credit company saying that there was an outstanding water bill on a flat I moved out of 3.5 years ago. It turned out that the period for which this applies was from the day AFTER I moved out. I had cleared the outstanding balance but the subsequent tenants didn't contact the utilities company so they reopened the account under my name despite my having vacated the property.

I've been asked to provide evidence to disprove my responsibility for the debt however I don't have tenancy agreements for this period(I moved a lot during this time and rented through Gumtree so didn't always have documentation for each property).

The landlord of the property has been unhelpful and only sends part of what I ask from him so I'm at the point of giving up. Would anyone be able to give me any advice on this? I've got documents with the names of the subsequent tenants and contact details for the landlord. Surely the utilities company could make contact with the landlord or do a search on the tenant who is responsible?

Many thanks!

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Steph 30th August, 2012 @ 08:39

Hi,

I have this problem of not knowing whether I can live with someone and still work,apply for NHS etc... Right now im living in a student accomodation but I will soon have to vacate as the contract expires in 2weeks. If i move somewhere were the tenancy agreemenet is not set in my name, how can i show proof of address for bank accounts, job applications etc?

Thqnks so much.

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Jeremy 30th August, 2012 @ 22:27

Hello Steph,

1 - Why would you want to live in a place where you were not on the rent agreement. This is foolhardy.
2 - Bt if you must, then what about getting your name on the utility bills?

Hope this helps.

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Jamie heslop 28th November, 2012 @ 16:14

I signed Garantore for my uncles cafe which I also invested 4000 pound into after 7 month of not receiving any investment back I upped the pressure on him and asked for my things I bought out of the cafe which he's reply was if you think you can do better have the cafe sp I have done this !
Taken full reign of the cafe and after putting all bills and bank details in my own name have come across he owes 7 month arrears with rent which is 4800 pound !
Am I responsible to pay this as the letting agency did not inform me and still had no intentions until I approached them?

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Jeremy 28th November, 2012 @ 21:00

Hello Jamie,

I'm sorry to say you probably are. Did you do "due diligance" when you took over? If you did and you approached the agency and they said it as up to date, you can rely upon this misrepresentation to say the debt is void. If you did not, you could be stuck. Also check the wording of your guarantor agreement: Is the agent legally obligated to inform you of rent arrears? If they have ommitted, you could rely upon this to say the debt is legally avoidable.

Please let us know how you get on.

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Gail Fox 31st July, 2013 @ 20:11

I signed my lease in September last year and wrote to UTW to advise that I would be moving into the property in the October and I wanted the account for gas and electric moved to another supplier. On the 24 of June this year they removed my electricity meter stating that the previous occupier of the house had not paid and until I paid the bill I would not get my electricity re connected. The gas and electricity account I thought had be moved to the new supplier. UTW say that I owe them about £500 for what electricity I have used. I have agreed to pay but they wont send me a bill. I have made a complaint to the Ombudsman but still have no power. My health is not good and they are aware of that. UTW stands for UTILITY WAREHOUSE avoid them like the plague.

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Marky Mark 14th October, 2013 @ 09:07

The frst thing any landlord should when a new tenant moves in is call their Electricity/Gas/etc and state a tenant is moving in and give their entry date. The companies will send out transfer forms and your responsibility/liability for paying will end then and there whatever happens! You'll also need to call back on entry day with readings etc. Never keep the bills in your name - it can be a disaster waiting to happen. Switch everything over to them - it's the safest route.

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paula laydon 30th December, 2013 @ 06:03

As a landlord am i responsible if my tenant had a land line inter net sky tv etc and hasent canceled when he has left , and if i am how do i find out ?i have informed gas electric council tax and going to let water know . he has left without a forwarding address 1 month upaid rent and damage to property exceeding the deposit , the agent has said that the tenant agreed to release the deposit .

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JBrennanfapplefan@ya 15th March, 2014 @ 07:33

I live in a multi occupancy household (3 people). We only pay landlord rent and tennancy agreement states tennants are responsible for bills. As I've been there longest, landlord put me down as lead tenant and I agreed (because we never had bill problems before) that it'd be fine to have bills on my name as eon, anglian water, sky need a name for credit check purposes. Another tennant in a contract Nov 2013 until June 2014 has decided to move out end of Feb 2014. Landlord was not happy, she didnt get a letter of ending notice from him him, just a text and kept his deposit to cover his rent for notice period in March until a new tenant is found. He told her and us in person and via text he will pay his share of bills up until his use at end of Feb. My other housemate and I have paid our shares and he still hasn't. The landlord sats it's "not her problem" and I'm being chased up by these companies. I really think the landlord should step in as her the contract states upon termination, all arrears should be brought up to date. This situation is causing me manh sleepless nights and I want to terminate my agreement early but I feel the landlord will not agree to it even if I fill my room. Where do I stand on this matter? Thanks for reading!

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Mr marky mark 15th March, 2014 @ 08:04

Jb - I would say the landlords responsibility ends with the rent in your case, and they have taken measures to protect that, but it would be reasonable to ask for help as a deposit is also designed for this, especially if it's taken from each individual. Since it's not a joint tenancy and solely in your name, you have responsibility for the collection of bills from other tenants. Not an ideal situation if the tenants aren't known to you or you aren't part of the vetting process. This is something you should either change when renewing or make changes to help protect yourself from this risk - i.e. also take deposits or agree your portion from the landlords, take bill advances, or put specific bills in other peoples name to balance it out and share the risk.

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Andrew 26th May, 2014 @ 06:13

My son lives in a house rented out to 8 university students. Unfortunately one or two of the students have not paid their share of the utilities bill, ie electric/gas. A letter has been received saying I believe that the balilifs are going to paying a visit. Can they cut the gas/ electric of, what about the rest of the tenants who have paid their share of the bill?

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Mario 29th May, 2014 @ 21:37

Andrew,

1- if your sons name on the bill then he is liable to pay.
2- If the bill has all the names on it then all has responsibility and your son has to prove that he has paid his share.
3- if the bill is not in your sons name, then your son has to prove that he lives at that address and your son has paid his shares and direct the bailiff to the room of that person who has not paid the shares and the bailiff can only take valuable for that person not others. However it is all about to prove that you have paid shares for the bill. I hope this helps.

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mercedes 1st October, 2014 @ 18:53

Hi I have a question, I am a tenant who has lived on property with other tenants who were not paying rent and my landlord wanted them gone. Our water got cut off and before the landlord had a chance to go pay it, the unhappy tenant who were going to be evicted cared less about anyone else and tampered with the water meter not only once but twice and the city put a lock on the meter and charged the account with 2 tampering fees and the bill is now 1300.00 and my landlord refuses to pay it.the non rent paying tenants just ditched out with no say or where they were going so now I am the only tenant living on the property and haven't had water for 2 months cause I cant pay 1300.00 and my landlord could care less about the water being on cause he doesn't really want the property anymore but he is still allowing us to live on it. How can I go about with getting the water on without having to pay 1300.00 out of !y pocket in which I am not responsible for? Can I get the water on in my name instead and the landlord be responsible for that bill

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Barbara 7th October, 2014 @ 02:07

I have a nennant in my rental now , he paid his deposit to turn on water but then has run up a 1200 water bill with water supply co and hasn't paid so they shut off his water and said if he moves out now I will be responsible for it he has since turned it on himself so what the heck I'm going to have to pay major out my butt if he never pays it ? Don't seem like they can do that to me , but who knows its a small town

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tony 9th October, 2014 @ 16:15

i have just had a tenant leave my house and in doing so she owed me 3 months rent, destroyed the house, left the bills unpaid and stole good from the house. i will never do it again and as for the law, it stinks. she broke the rule by not paying the rent and took money from the DHSS for housing benifit and didnt use it for rent, the same people (DHSS) protected her and told her how to not pay me and stay in the house till she found another mug to steal off. love to put her name up here.. lieing scum she is.

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VASEEM 9th December, 2014 @ 12:44

I had a property on rent since 2009, when letting out this property i gave a copy of the tenancy agreement to the council with a covering letter. In the letter and the tenancy agreement it clearly stated that the tenant has been informed that he/she will be responsible for all utility bills inc council tax.

The tenant paid the gas & electric because they were on prepayment meters but failed to pay council tax 2009-2014, The council have now back into their records and now chasing myself for my tenants arrears which is over 5k, my questions are

1, Can the council do this ?
2, Why didn't the council chase this earlier?
3, Will the debt be written off if i have no forwarding address or do i still need to
pay ?

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Davie Orr 13th May, 2015 @ 21:20

Hi guys, I had a tenant who put the gas and electricity in his name, and has not paid the final bill. Now there is a debt recovery agency looking for him.Will I have to pay his debt or will he be the one that has to pay it? He is an "ex" friend, and I know where he works, should I inform the debt recovery agents where he works.

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Rashda Khan 13th May, 2015 @ 22:49

To Davie Orr,

If the bills were in your tenants name then you don't have to settle them. You can give the forwarding address to the utility companies. My tenant switched all the bills to my name even though I had written to the utility companies about the change of name I still didn't have to pay because the error was on their part.

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Dheeraj 29th September, 2015 @ 17:59

My tenants have not settled the electricity bill which comes out to be £900 (Whole one year they have not paid). They are now asking for deposit and they are saying that they will settle the bills with that deposit money. I have two options now
1) I release the deposit and hope that they pay the bill
2) I inform them that either you pay the bill and i will release the deposit or I myself will settle the account with deposit money if they do not pay within two weeks?

Which option is best?

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The Landlord 29th September, 2015 @ 20:38

@Dheeraj

Whether they pay the bill or not has no reflection on you. For example, if you give the deposit back and they don't pay the bill, the service provider won't go after you or the property, they will chase your tenant (assuming the account is definitely under their name).

In my opinion, you actually have no reason to hold the deposit. I don't even think you have rights to hold it under the circumstances, purely because the outstanding bill has nothing to do with you.

What you could do is talk to the deposit scheme and see what they say, just for ease of mind. You could also get confirmation from your service provider that your tenants are 100% liable for the bill (but I wouldn't mention the deposit).

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Dheeraj 30th September, 2015 @ 09:29

Thanks for the advice but one of the agents advised me that service provider can blacklist the house as they become unsure about the tenants of that house. Is that correct?

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Mark 3rd October, 2015 @ 06:54

If the bill is in your name (bad practice) then do the 2nd (without the wait) and state that reason on release of deposit for deduction (no reason tennants can dispute it), if not 1st because they are liable and it doesnt affect you. At the end of the day can you really trust them to pay if they havent up until now? I wouldnt.

You cant really worry about blacklisting as a landlord, but it can be undone if it happens. Money first.

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Matt 2nd December, 2016 @ 22:42

I'm currently a tenant and have a prepaid meter that was already installed when I moved into the property. Unbeknownst to me I have been paying off the previous tenants arrears. The utility bill is in the landlords name so should they be responsible for the previous debt on the account. I feel it is very unfair that it has been laid at my feet

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Ashley 10th December, 2016 @ 15:48

Hi,
I had bought a property and it was empty for 2 years and until than it was unoccupied and completely empty.Eon was electricity provider.
Now it is rented out. The electricity bill has been changed and registered with new tenant.
However I have now recieved a letter from payment recovery for outstanding debt of £1695/- for 2 years. I cannot believe when no one has live in tht property for that long.
I wanted to find out if I have to pay this bill as I wont be paying at all if I havent lived.
Request if someone can find me a solution to give a reason to get away

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Istvan 20th March, 2017 @ 15:09

Hi. I am a tenant. The gas and electricity is on my name. But i share the house. The other tenant left the property whiteout paying hes bill, £200 . My landlord released the deposit because he didn't know the tenants still have outstanding payment. After the deposit get released, the landlord can he still hold till the bills get payed out? or is to late? how can i get payed the bills from them.

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gareth 13th April, 2017 @ 13:24

I had a tenant move into my property in may 2016 who paid one month in advance and a security deposit.

shortly after moving in I started to receive numerous complaints over his behaviour,even though rent was paid at this point on time up to October 2016 I became increasingly upset with his behaviour and served him a section 8 and provided jmy reasons for eviction, at which point rent was then not paid. After contacting him in November 2016 and verbally agreeing to offset his security deposit against rent for November I was assured December would be paid, come December he failed to pay, in January 2017 he failed to pay and moved out later that month, leaving me with damages to the property totalling £294.00
He then sued me for his security deposit as I niavely failed to secure it which I have now paid to him.Now I want to know if I am entitled to rightfully sue him for two months lost rent plus the damages

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diane bull 21st May, 2017 @ 23:42

Hi
Im just wingeing. But i had a tenant leave with only one weeks notice. left the place absolutely filthy which the cost of cleaning I tried to deduct from the deposit held with the DPS. But failed. Apparently they believed that it was worse when he moved in. And now, I have been handed over 22 letters in the tenants name. And from looking at the return addresses, I believe they are the utility bills left unpaid and other creditors, even a CCJ from a debt from 2012. So many. His reference was his accountant. Pretty miffed that he gave him a glowing reference despite all of this debt history. I dont know whether to open all the letters and contact them all using his personal details (Account numbers etc) Or just put in the postbox saying return to sender. Why do people think they can run up debt and not pay it......winge over!!!

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Gordon 6th July, 2017 @ 22:14

I have had a similar issue with some tenants but the problem I have is, I have moved up to Scotland from England. And my tenants did a runner leaving me £2000 in back rent + £1000 in damage to the property.Plus a gas bill of nearly £450. But I can't find a copy of the tenancy agreement and I had to take the property management company to the property ombudsman, for not doing the required checks on the tenant. Luckily I was awarded £1250 in compensation and the property management company was given a black mark/warning. But I can't ask them for a copy of the tenancy as all communication broke down. However, I have been informed by the company who are trying to recover the debt, if I can prove that I have paid council tax for the current property on the dates they are looking at, this will also act as proof that I am not liable also I have got proof that I am on the electoral register for my current address. And you can't legally be registered at 2 properties. So I am sending in my council tax bills for the time they are looking at I am also sending proof of my electoral register and a copy of my TV licence payments over the period they are asking for. I am not sure of anything else I can send them but if you have any suggestions then I would be more than grateful. I have never had this problem before, but the letting agent let me down big time. Any help or advice please.

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sunita 6th May, 2018 @ 03:41

hi,please give me advise, I temporary rented out my residential property by agent and agency Bancroft they closed agency office and tenet left house without pay edf bills. unfortunately i lost agreement paper. edf they saying i will have to pay bills. but when i move on then i cancel my edf account and i give to them also my last meter reading as well and when i come back to my property after one year then i call edf then again i open my account. so suddenly after two year come to me latter by edf. they are asking me pay for 1400 pound edf bill. i tell them i did not live on that time why i should pay bill. now i have only proof when my agent pay me direct rent in my account and where l lived for one year for rent that land lord write latter for me i was on that time his tenet.is it enough proof . if not please advise me. kind regards sunita

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Rich 11th April, 2019 @ 20:06

Hi there I moved out from a HMO where there were 4 bedrooms and about 6 tenants living in the building everyone had a separate tenancy agreement for each room in the property. The bills were always paid in the 7 years I was living at the address and we took responsibility for this however the contract was never in my name. The tenancy agreement stated that the tenants were responsible for an equal share of the utility bills and the landlord covered the council tax for the property. I moved out 5 years ago and have recently received letters from the Debt Collection agency as after I moved out the property the landlord received a bill and he had phoned the utility provider and put the bill into my name without my permission or consent and without my knowledge that this had been done. The landlord phoned and said that there was £400 outstanding a few months after I moved out and I said to him that I would be happy to pay my share but could not be responsible for the other tenants and sent him £100 transfer to his account with the reference NPOWER. I think it was after this that he changed the account responsibilities into my name. Is it legal for him to change the bills for the whole property into my name when the tenancy agreement states that I was only liable for an equal share of the bills and not the bills for the whole building? The bill now stands at £2100 so am quite concerned about this and I thought that I had settled this at the time when he accepted the payment from me. I never entered into a contract with the energy supplier and they do not even have my date of birth on file they only have my name and that I was living at the address.

Thanks very much for your advise

Rich

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laura 12th December, 2019 @ 12:51

hi, yes some energy suppliers do put the bill on landlords name without any permission, scottish power, british gas and powergen are some.

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Cheryl 22nd November, 2020 @ 19:15

Imy Tennant has done a bunk and vacated my property without a forward address. They have not paid any council tax however its in their names and there are a whole host of letters from credit agencies chasing debts. I have their guarantors address (her mother) do I contact the council and provide that address so all the debts can chase her there and not to my property?

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Eric 23rd November, 2020 @ 10:19

Cheryl, you don't need to provide a forwarding address (you can if you want), all you need to do is contact the creditors and notify them that the tenant has vacated and to stop sending you mail for them.

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Brandon Troy Denton 29th March, 2021 @ 12:13

Hi, I have a situation, I left my property that I was sharing with 2 other people and I gave meter readings to SSE to tell them I've left and are no longer living at the property yet the other tenats are still trying to make me pay for it?

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Gail herridge 29th March, 2021 @ 16:47

If you're dealing with Scottish power and your tenant/'s dont pay do be worried. Havin put my rental property on the market, accepted an offer and just about to complete the sale, I received a letter at my correspondence address advising me that a prepayment meter had been installed at the property to reclaim the debt. My estate agent and landlord were at the property the week before when the meter was installed and the paperwork handed to the buyer for some reason and the new keys given to the estate agent, who,didn't think,to,contact me at the time. This is despite having been in contact with Scottish power and having sent them copies of the tenancy agreements. Having spent hours trying to find where the keys to my property were due to,being told to,phone the nearest police station and then various companies before being informed my estate agent had them.

Understandably my buyer wants the debt sorted out and the meter returned to a smart meter. However as I have complained to Scottish power about what has happened they advise that they can't do anything until the complaint is sorted even though I've stated I'm ready to pay the standing charges that I owe for the past few months. Scottish power failed to phone when they said they would and then having missed two calls on two separate days due to being on the phone due to work when they called, and having rung them straight back I'm still waiting for them to resolve the issue nearly three weeks later and this is now threatening the sale of my property. I don't know what to do as there semi to be no way of esculating the complaint to Scottish power, who two weeks back told me the debt had been removed from the meter and that an email would be sent Confirming when the meter was returned to a smart meter and that I would be sent a cheque for £30 as a goodwill gesture, only to be told on Saturday that the customer service person who informed me of that had lied and the debt was still in my name.

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Allison 11th May, 2021 @ 23:50

I have received an £800 bill for a tenants unpaid council tax from 2013. I live a abroad and used agencies to manage the rental of my flat to a few different tenants. It seems that the council were not informed of the tenants details although this was part of the agents duty to do so. Am I liable or can I refer them to the agency who managed the property at that time?

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Nadia 1st February, 2023 @ 06:10

My tenants left without paying the last month's rent or moving any bills into my name. I have a tenancy agreement stating they're liable up to June 2022. That was enough for the water and council tax to be sorted. Unfortunately EDF won't talk to me or move the bills to my name for the vacant period. I am selling the flat and I want to pay the bills for the period that it has been my responsibility (untenanted). I don't know how to get EDF to deal with me. They just say we can't speak to landlords. It's very frustrating. They also blocked me moving to another provider because the tenants owed money on their bill prior to the end of the tenancy. Please can someone suggest something? I'm due to exchange soon and I don't want to hand over a poison chalice.

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