I had a tenant who left a rental property without paying the energy bill. As a landlord with a formal contract, one that states the tenant is responsible for all utility bills. Under current law, as a landlord I am not liable for any areas. How do i ensure Ovo accept this legal right?
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Landlord who's tenant left an unpaid bill- How do I get OVO to accept I'm not liable
Best answer by Nukecad
You are correct that a Landlord has no legal responsibility for their tenants utility accounts.
If the accounts are in the tenants name then they are nothing to do with the landlord.
Has the tenancy been ended, either by agreement or eviction, or have they done a runner?
Your post doesn’t make that clear.
If you are sure that the tenancy has ended, - if they have done a runner that doesn’t end the tenancy**, then:
You need to inform OVO that the tenant is no longer renting the property from you and that you now need a new account for the supply in your name.
Give them the meter reading(s), preferably from the date that the ex-tenant left, and preferably with a photo of them particularly if it isn't a smart meter.
You are then liable for future use after that reading.
Your ex-tenant is liable for the usage before that reading and OVO will set debt collectors to chase them for what they owe if needed*.
If you have a forwarding address for your ex-tenant then let OVO have that too*.
That's all standard practice for a landord when a tenancy ends and the tenant leaves, so there should be no problem..
*Note that if they do have to chase the ex-tenant for their debt and don't have a forwarding address for them, then to get a court order against the ex-tenant for that debt they will send letters to the property addressed either to the ex-tenant or more usually to 'The occupier'.
That can be slightly annoying/worrying but they are not doing it to chase you, or any new tenant, to pay. It's just a part of the legal process that has to be gone through before they can go to court and get a debt order against the ex-tenant. Certain letters have to be sent to the ‘Last known address’ for them.
**If they have done a runner then as said that does not end their tenancy, the tenancy is ongoing with rent arrears, and you need to take legal steps yourself to end it, ie. eviction in their absence.
Technically because they are still legally your tenants their liability for the utility bills is also ongoing,
You cannot legally take posession of the property and/or re-let the property until the existing, ongoing, tenancy has been ended.
- Plan Zero Hero
- 760 replies
- Answer
You are correct that a Landlord has no legal responsibility for their tenants utility accounts.
If the accounts are in the tenants name then they are nothing to do with the landlord.
Has the tenancy been ended, either by agreement or eviction, or have they done a runner?
Your post doesn’t make that clear.
If you are sure that the tenancy has ended, - if they have done a runner that doesn’t end the tenancy**, then:
You need to inform OVO that the tenant is no longer renting the property from you and that you now need a new account for the supply in your name.
Give them the meter reading(s), preferably from the date that the ex-tenant left, and preferably with a photo of them particularly if it isn't a smart meter.
You are then liable for future use after that reading.
Your ex-tenant is liable for the usage before that reading and OVO will set debt collectors to chase them for what they owe if needed*.
If you have a forwarding address for your ex-tenant then let OVO have that too*.
That's all standard practice for a landord when a tenancy ends and the tenant leaves, so there should be no problem..
*Note that if they do have to chase the ex-tenant for their debt and don't have a forwarding address for them, then to get a court order against the ex-tenant for that debt they will send letters to the property addressed either to the ex-tenant or more usually to 'The occupier'.
That can be slightly annoying/worrying but they are not doing it to chase you, or any new tenant, to pay. It's just a part of the legal process that has to be gone through before they can go to court and get a debt order against the ex-tenant. Certain letters have to be sent to the ‘Last known address’ for them.
**If they have done a runner then as said that does not end their tenancy, the tenancy is ongoing with rent arrears, and you need to take legal steps yourself to end it, ie. eviction in their absence.
Technically because they are still legally your tenants their liability for the utility bills is also ongoing,
You cannot legally take posession of the property and/or re-let the property until the existing, ongoing, tenancy has been ended.
My tenant did a runner and it was 3 months later that I was legally allowed to enter my own property due to court proceedings that were started
although he left property on 7th August and contacted OVO, he did not submit keys to letting agent therefore tenancy was still active until 15th October when I was legally allowed in
OVO will not accept the word of my letting agents on the end of tenancy , which is ridiculous as it’s a fully managed property
what can I do
- Plan Zero Hero
- 760 replies
Hi
Simply send them a copy of the Possession Order that allowed you to take legal posession and appoint bailiffs to ‘evict’ the tenants if needed. (Yes I know they had already gone so bailiffs were not needed).
That PO is proof that the tenants still had an ongoing tenancy, one which had to be ended in court, and so they were still liable for any billing.
Only once the tenants have gone and you have legal posession do the bills became your responsibility again.
It would be pretty ridiculous of any supplier trying to argue with the date of a court posession order as being the earliest date date that you became responsible for utilities.
In reality it’s when you actually evict the tenant and take posession - not the date when the PO itself was granted - but as in this case no eviction was needed then the PO date would most probably stand as the date that you took posession and became responsible for billing.
Thank you for taking the time to reply and you’re absolutely right but it didn’t get that far as I asked for property inspection and they found that keys were posted through letterbox so that was deemed as end of tenancy , the court order was then cancelled
- Plan Zero Hero
- 760 replies
Mmm, I’m sure you know that a tenant being ‘absent’ does not legally end their tenancy.
So as things stand you just have a set of keys that the tenant left in the property, you do not have anything that has legally ended the tenancy.
You have to be careful in assuming that if they have posted the keys then they have surrendered the tenancy, it isn’t always that clear cut if tenants have ‘done a runner’ or not.
For instance - What would you do if they turn up tomorrow and let themselves in using another set of keys claiming that they are still tenants, have been on holiday or caring for a relative, and are just in arrears with their rent?
With nothing in writing that surrenders the tenancy, and no PO from the courts, then you would have to accept that story or risk being accused of an illegal eviction (which is a criminal offence).
OK, that’s not going to happen here, not least because they have obviously told the Utility companies that they have left on a certain date.
As you don’t have a PO or any kind of surrender document then as far as the supplier is concerned it’s your (agents) word against your ex-tenants..
If you want to dispute what the supplier decides is the date of change then you will need to make a formal complaint to the supplier, and then to the Ombudsman if you can’t come to an agreement.
PS. Surely we are not talking about a fortune here? If the property has been standing empty then just a couple of months worth of standing charges.
I’d suggest that if you are going to be chasing you ex-tenants for arrears then pay the bill for the SC’s and simply add the amount to their arrears.
It's cold outside. Are Friends Electric?
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