£3,600 heating bill - landlord liable or tenants/agent at fault?

Landlord Discussion Repairs & Maintenance
1

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice from anyone who has dealt with utilities billing issues.

I own a leasehold flat through a limited company and have just been hit with a £3,600 bill from the heating company.

The property has been continuously tenanted since I purchased it in 2020 and bills have only ever been sent to the property address (not to me / my company address) so I’ve only just become aware of this situation.

The property is fully managed by a letting agent. However, it appears that the heating company have not been notified of any change of tenancies since 2023 and so the account was apparently moved into my company name at that point and remained in my company name the whole time since then. They say they only have one tenant on record which ended in January 2023 and no one has paid a heating bill since then.

They’ve told me that under their Heat Supply Agreement, I (as landlord) am ultimately responsible for any unpaid charges, and that I need to recover the money from tenants myself. However, I never signed this Heat Supply Agreement. I found a copy from when I purchased the property but it was never signed/returned. I have had no contact with them at all.

My letting agent was managing the property throughout since purchase. The heating company have confirmed they were in contact with the letting agent up to 2023 (including emails from the branch manager), but say they stopped responding and “the case was closed” whatever that means. So it seems no change of tenancy forms have been submitted to the heating company for the multiple tenancies since 2023 and no one has contacted me about this until now.

My questions:

1. Has anyone dealt with utilities companies where they try to hold the landlord fully liable when the tenants haven’t changed the names on the account?

2. Do these companies actually re-allocate charges to tenants when they receive the details and tenancy agreements etc, or do they always push it back to the landlord?

3. Has anyone successfully recovered costs from a letting agent where they failed to notify utility providers / submit tenancy changes?

4. Any tips on best way to handle this. Should I push back on the heating company or focus on recovering the money myself from the tenants or via the letting agent?

I’ve already provided the heating company with the tenancy timelines and tenants names but not the tenancy agreements yet, and I have contacted the letting agent to understand what happened on their side.

Appreciate any advice as this is a bit of a mess.

Thanks.

2

If a utility company is given the occupiers details then whether they pay or not, the landlord should not be liable for the debt. If the bill was put in your name and not updated, you would lilely be liable.

Keep all the evidence that this was due to errors on the part of the agent and ask the agent to cover the costs. If they dont, write a formal complaint to them and then escalate it to whichever redress scheme they belong to. That scheme should be able to get you compensation if the case is strong enough.

1 Like
3

Can you confirm that the tenancy agreements the letting agent has issued state that the tenants are liable for the utilities?

4

@james777

Ask citizens advice, trading standards and ofgem (tho they will likely refer you to the utility company complaints procedure).

Likely the ast said tenants responsible if that’s how it was advertised and what you expected but check with agents and look at the TAs. If so the former tenants are liable so just direct utility Co to them.

A lawyer should be able to advise but if you haven’t signed a contract with them it’s hard for them to claim you’ve breached it. The fact they supplied for a long time without cutting off or trying to establish who the occupiers were was their choice not yours.

If tenants were responsible it’s for utility Co to chase them not for you to pay then recover from tenants. Tenants won’t have any liability to you for the heating as you didn’t supply it and it won’t have been a chargeable service/extra as part of the tenancy agreement.

Check whatever agreement/contract you have with a freeholder or managing agent tho in case that says you are responsible

Good luck

Ps unless an account was set up.in your name covering the period concerned with your consent (possibly if the agents did this on your behalf) and therefore the bill is in your name , you should not be liable, at least according to

Are Landlords Liable For Tenants’ Unpaid Bills? | A Guide ?

Similarly if tenants have left unpaid bills it’s for utility Co to chase the tenants according to

Unpaid Utility Bills: Who Pays, Landlord or Tenant? - homes2let Unpaid Utility Bills: Who Pays, Landlord or Tenant? - homes2let

5

@David240 that guide you have linked to also says…

To conclude and clarify, if you’re still wondering, ‘Are landlords liable for tenants’ unpaid bills?’ the answer is generally no—landlords are not usually liable for a tenant’s unpaid bills. However, you can still get caught out if you haven’t taken care of transferring utility bills correctly between tenancies.

The OP has not done this.

6

@Karl11

Well we don’t really know.

If the LL (and their agents) advertised not saying bills included, and specified in the tenancy agreement that the tenants were responsible for the bills, its clear the tenants have to contact the utility Co and set up an account just like with council tax.

Personally I always tell the utilities when there’s a change, have meter readings taken as part of a move in inventory, provide the utility Co with details of the meter readings and the new tenants, and tell the tenants who the utility companies are (its easy enough to find out either from outgoing tenants or online). I would expect full management by an agent to include such basic tasks. I can’t actually set up new accounts for tenants (needs their financial details) and ‘transfer’ them - it is always up to tenant to set up the account.

LL.or agents on LL behalf may have been rather lax. But they didn’t consume the heating and have no contract with utility supplier.

If a LL were shown to deliberately allow tenants to not pay utilities I expect a judge would find them liable. But not clear cut in this case as we don’t know what the agents did or were supposed to have done

Ps do you get tenants to provide copies of utility bills to prove they have been registered and are staying up to date? As part of inspection visits?

Best