He purchased a flat with a tenant in situ in 2023. The AST agreement between the tenant and the previous owner stated that bills were included, as the electricity was believed to be covered by the service charge. Based on this, my friend extended the same AST after purchasing the property.
This morning, the tenant handed my friend a warning letter from a debt collection agency, stating that ‘someone’ at the flat owes a big amount to the suppliers for electricity. The letter does not specify a name but uses the word ‘#NAME’. When my friend contacted the supplier, he was informed that the account in question was a business account rather than a personal account, so the supplier refused to provide further details beyond the billing period.
Additionally, my friend checked with the management company (which replaced the previous one in mid-2024) and confirmed that the service charge never covered electricity bills.
He now has several concerns:
Since the debt is not in his name, is he legally obligated to pay it, or could it potentially be written off?
If the debt remains unpaid, is there a risk that electricity to the flat will be cut off?
The charge appears to be based on an estimate. Is there a way to reduce it by submitting a meter reading? When he bought the flat, he believed there was no individual meter in the building.
That is an Excel function error. l therefore don’t think it’s a simply a placeholder due to them not knowing the name of the person responsible (although it’s possible). Your friend should contact the utility company asap to find who they do consider to be liable.
Write to the complaints department of the supplier
Threaten them with the ombudsman ( they will deal with it to avoid penalties to the ombudsman)
Ask if this an estimated or accurate bill
I was in a similar situation for £20 k with eon when npower were taken over
Flat out refuse to pay it
Document you think it’s a meter fault
Change the account to domestic vs business it’s a lower tariff
You are not liable for anything before you bought the property
I had evidence the property was empty and put up a fight and ended up paying the standing charge from purchase
Which was a few hundred pounds
They closed the account down then kept sending letters for debt
I threatened the ombudsman and never heard from them again
Just stand your ground they will only take it if you let them
This isn’t very clear, but as it was the tenant (who is the original tenant in-situ) giving you this debt collection letter, then does the tenant deny having anything to do with this debt? Are they saying it belongs to a previous tenant who has since left the property, or who ran a business from the property?
I would say your friend is liable. If AST states bills included it is clear tenants aren’t liable and if it isn’t included in service charge then the landlord is responsible.
Potentially they could complain to conveyancer who dealt with purchase as arguably this should have been picked up then. Your friend would have taken over the responsibilities of the AST in place at time of purchase which conveyancer should have advised on.
he called the supplier and was told that account was established before the date he purchased the flat, but the supplier refused to provide any further information.
The letter is sent to the bill payer, based on what you have said that is your friend.
Your friend should have contacted power company in 2023 when he bought property to set up account in their name. They thought they weren’t liable for bill but that isn’t likely to be accepted as a defence.
The bill is probably for 2 years energy plus a lot of penalty charges. Your friendvshould contact provider say they have been responsible for bill since 2023 and ask for breakdown of bill.
If your friend does nothing those penalty charges will pile up, clearly power company will track friend down in the end.
You should check with the solicitor who did the conveyancing as this should have come up, and maybe there was some correspondence at that time. They would have reviewed the AST and noticed it was bills included.
No issue; I had this issue with a tenant who I chucked out (legally if course!) I was getting many over due large bills for her for over a year after. I just got in touch with her companies and explained. They cannot cut off due to a former tenant. Alternatively you could swap provider.
1 you had readings on day of purchase i trust??? The vendor is responsible till completion
2 take a picture of meter each month to establish usage
3 contact ombudsman, you should request a letter from supplier saying you cannot resolve. At least request that. There is a legal term which i forget
4 good luck and try and stay detached, may i suggest dont jump on replies but sleep on any responses