Letting agent request for electricity supplier change

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 1:30pm #1

Hi All,

Terminating tenancy. Letting agent has a long list of requests which I can fulfill prior to moving out. However, one request is to ensure home is supplied with electricity by the same company as when we moved in originally.

I can't see anything in my lease to this effect. But want to know if this is reasonable. It makes zero sense to me. My supplier said I simply terminate my electricity contract on date of moving out and provide them with final meter reading. Then the land lord or new tenant can sign up with whoever they wish. In the interim, electricity will still be supplied to home.

For me to change over is hassle, also as soon as I switch I will have to cancel the new contract, more hassle. Otherwise it is my name is on a new bill. Seems an odd request to me.

I have already outlined this to them and they carbon copied the original request for me to change to original supplier.

Anyway do they have any reason to force this i.e. could it be used to withhold my damage deposit?

Cheers,
Dave

PS the mad thing is the other supplier is more expensive hence the change....

Michael D Not Higgins · 23-10-2014 4:02pm

No that's not reasonable. Close your account with the current supplier and let the letting agent sort out who the supplier should be. You can't set up a supplier for another person so it would be firmly in their own remit.

They can only withold deposit for damage or unpaid bills. If you pay the bill to the current meter reading they have no entitlement to deduct anything from it. If they try any funny business, open a PRTB dispute and they will likely back down quick enough.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 4:31pm

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

No that's not reasonable. Close your account with the current supplier and let the letting agent sort out who the supplier should be. You can't set up a supplier for another person so it would be firmly in their own remit.

They can only withold deposit for damage or unpaid bills. If you pay the bill to the current meter reading they have no entitlement to deduct anything from it. If they try any funny business, open a PRTB dispute and they will likely back down quick enough.

Press the nuke button for no reason. If a tenant took that time with me I'd withhold the deposit until the claim was resolved with the prtb. How long would that take ?? A year maybe more.

Op it's probably just a junior in the office who has made a mistake. Give them a ring and tell them you will close the account but that they will have to open the new account themselves as you can't open it in their name yourself.You can offer to meet them when your moving out to confirm the meter reading and to close your account and to allow them to open the new account.

L1011 · 23-10-2014 4:46pm

gordongekko wrote: »

Press the nuke button for no reason. If a tenant took that time with me I'd withhold the deposit until the claim was resolved with the prtb. How long would that take ?? A year maybe more.

Op it's probably just a junior in the office who has made a mistake. Give them a ring and tell them you will close the account but that they will have to open the new account themselves as you can't open it in their name yourself.You can offer to meet them when your moving out to confirm the meter reading and to close your account and to allow them to open the new account.

So, you'd willingly go to the PRTB with your sole justification translating as "I wanted to teach them a lesson". I'd prefer not to have such a childish landlord myself...

Michael D Not Higgins · 23-10-2014 5:01pm

gordongekko wrote: »

Press the nuke button for no reason. If a tenant took that time with me I'd withhold the deposit until the claim was resolved with the prtb. How long would that take ?? A year maybe more.

Op it's probably just a junior in the office who has made a mistake. Give them a ring and tell them you will close the account but that they will have to open the new account themselves as you can't open it in their name yourself.You can offer to meet them when your moving out to confirm the meter reading and to close your account and to allow them to open the new account.

I didn't say that. Only if they tried doing something stupid like witholding the deposit if the OP doesn't do the impossible. Expect a fine in the PRTB judgement for acting like a spoilt child.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 5:13pm

MYOB wrote: »

So, you'd willingly go to the PRTB with your sole justification translating as "I wanted to teach them a lesson". I'd prefer not to have such a childish landlord myself...

The tenant opening an unjustified claim with the prtb is the childish one. Easy enough to pick up the phone to the agent rather than jumping off the deep end and calling the prtb for no reason.

L1011 · 23-10-2014 5:20pm

gordongekko wrote: »

The tenant opening an unjustified claim with the prtb is the childish one. Easy enough to pick up the phone to the agent rather than jumping off the deep end and calling the prtb for no reason.

Eh. Once you start retaining it at all, its very much a valid claim.

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 6:00pm

Hi All,

thanks for the fast responses. TBH I don't want to go down the road of threatening to contact PRTB. I really just want to know if this is a reasonable request, if anyone else has had a request like it themselves? If it would be a legitimate reason to withhold my deposit.

Of course pending advice, if I do just close my current electricity account and move out, and they don't return my deposit for this reason I would then go to the PRTB.

To reconfirm I called the electricity supplier,
1) I close account on the day I move out and provide a final meter reading, a forwarding address for final bill.
2) The new tenant/landlord opens a new account with any electricity supplier they like and there are no hidden charges.

- The only caveat is that if someone does not open an account the electricity may be disconnected after 2-3weeks. However, my current supplier would call the letting agency reminding them of pending disconnection.

- If it ends up being disconnected then the new tenant/letting agency/landlord would have to pay €170 reconnection fee. I am not liable for anything once I close the account.

Based on all above, closing account is the sensible way to go, I feel the agency wishes me to have an active account for the property, in the event they do not rent it out within 2 weeks. It is still beyond me that they require it to be an active account with a specific supplier. In either case I will not leave it active, if I did change it over I would still close that account, electricity would still be cut off after 2 weeks if no one opens a new account.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 6:01pm

MYOB wrote: »

Eh. Once you start retaining it at all, its very much a valid claim.

Where has the agent said they are withholding the deposit? All they did was ask for a few issues to be sorted. Instead of advising the op to ring the prtb it would be much easier to tell them to ring the agent to clarify things.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 6:05pm

dave da rave wrote: »

Based on all above, closing account is the sensible way to go, I feel the agency wishes me to have an active account for the property, in the event they do not rent it out within 2 weeks. It is still beyond me that they require it to be an active account with a specific supplier. In either case I will not leave it active, if I did change it over I would still close that account, electricity would still be cut off after 2 weeks if no one opens a new account.

A quick call to the agent will probably resolve the issue. They probably want an active account with the original supplier in their name not yours.

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 6:12pm

Ah ha,

"supplier 1" = original electricity supplier
"Supplier 2" = current electricity supplier

I think I may have figured it out:
- I phoned "supplier 1" and they said I can transfer the account from "supplier 2" and then close it but I should give them 7-days between the transfer and close action.
- Still not understanding WHY I should or would want to do this, I found out that the original account with "supplier 1" has a landlord agreement included. Whereby should no one move in within 2-3 weeks the electric bill and account will automatically be sent to the landlord.

So in essence they wish me to change it back for their convenience. it will only cost me €25 ("supplier 2") to make the transfer, but I don't know why the letting agent couldn't have explained this, and also inform us of this when we moved in.

I still don't believe this is a lease REQUIREMENT but I may just do it to save a pain in the fArse!

Thoughts?

gordongekko wrote: »

Op it's probably just a junior in the office who has made a mistake.

No its not a junior, but they are not very personable.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 6:17pm

Why is it costing €25

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 6:18pm

gordongekko wrote: »

A quick call to the agent will probably resolve the issue. They probably want an active account with the original supplier in their name not yours.

Yep, exactly. I don't know why they didn't state this in the email. I gave other options and they just copied and pasted the original request. No further explanation.

supplier 2 is 30% cheaper, and has offered a further 20% discount if the new tenant/landlord signs up with them. This offer and savings will be lost if it is transferred to "supplier 1". Not my concern though but it makes sense to me to save, especially since there is no central heating only electric heaters and we are coming into the winter!

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 6:19pm

gordongekko wrote: »

Why is it costing €25

I recently signed up to a 1 year contract with supplier 2. if i move out and close the account it wont cost anything. transferring it to supplier 1 breaks the contract and costs €25 or so I was told. I saved that and more by switching and knew that when I made the switch.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 6:21pm

dave da rave wrote: »

I recently signed up to a 1 year contract with supplier 2. if i move out and close the account it wont cost anything. transferring it to supplier 1 breaks the contract and costs €25 or so I was told. I saved that and more by switching and knew that when I made the switch.

Why should the agent pay because you decided to break your contract?

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 6:24pm

gordongekko wrote: »

Why should the agent pay because you decided to break your contract?

I think we are on the same page. I will pay. I didn't state they would pay.

and so there is no further confusion, the "contract" is with the electricity supplier, not talking about my lease here.

El_Duderino 09 · 23-10-2014 6:29pm

Hey OP,

This sounds like a really unusual request from the EA/LL. If it is in the lease agreement then you have already agreed to do it so best to suck it up, pay the E25 account transfer fee and move on. If it is not in the lease agreement then you should view it as a request on their behalf and feel in no way obliged to carry out their request.

There may be a third option which you could propose. Since they are asking you to do the account transfer for them as a favour, they could pay the transfer fee and any other associated charges.

If you are going to have the account in your name for a week when you are no longer a tenant and wont be in control of the house and the electricity used then I would just decline their request (politely of course).

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 6:38pm

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Hey OP,

This sounds like a really unusual request from the EA/LL. If it is in the lease agreement then you have already agreed to do it so best to suck it up, pay the E25 account transfer fee and move on. If it is not in the lease agreement then you should view it as a request on their behalf and feel in no way obliged to carry out their request.

There may be a third option which you could propose. Since they are asking you to do the account transfer for them as a favour, they could pay the transfer fee and any other associated charges.

If you are going to have the account in your name for a week when you are no longer a tenant and wont be in control of the house and the electricity used then I would just decline their request (politely of course).

I've decided to cut my losses. They have been obliging in other ways so I'm just going to pay and transfer it.

Supplier 1 said that I simply record the meter on the day I move out. In this case I will be there 7 days so no issue, however for future people reading this: you can take the meter reading as you move out and call 7 days later backdating the final bill to that date, i.e. in that case you would have a bill of zero/very little. In my case I will have a bill for 1 week with supplier 1 again.

Sorted, Thanks all for your inputs. But yes it is an odd request, and no it is not in my lease but there you go...

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 6:49pm

I don't get why you think your at a loss. You signed up to a one year contract with the new supplier and are breaking your contract. It's nothing to do with the agent. They just want the property back as they got it. Ie electricity in the original suppliers name. The €25 is your fault for breaking a contract not the agents fault.

SpaceTime · 23-10-2014 6:55pm

There is no "default electricity supplier" any more. The rental agent doesn't understand how it works. If you opened a new account the original supplier you'd quite possibly end up in new minimum term contract.

The landlord just need the MPRN and they can deal with whoever their preferred supplier is.

All you need to do is contact your supplier with the final meter reading and explain that you're moving out, you'll get a final bill and that's it.

I'd always suggest photographing the meter too so you've a visual record of the final reading.

If you've a minimum contract you can usually exit it very cheaply with electricity suppliers or move the account to a new address.

L1011 · 23-10-2014 7:35pm

gordongekko wrote: »

Where has the agent said they are withholding the deposit? All they did was ask for a few issues to be sorted. Instead of advising the op to ring the prtb it would be much easier to tell them to ring the agent to clarify things.

The entire (hypothetical) scenario you came in to saying you'd withhold until the hearing was based on the deposit being withheld!

El_Duderino 09 · 23-10-2014 7:45pm

gordongekko wrote: »

I don't get why you think your at a loss. You signed up to a one year contract with the new supplier and are breaking your contract. It's nothing to do with the agent. They just want the property back as they got it. Ie electricity in the original suppliers name. The €25 is your fault for breaking a contract not the agents fault.

I'm Pretty sure the OP said it is not in his contract to return to the original electricity supplier, instead it is a request made by the EA/LL. He is taking care of closing the current account, setting up another account with the original supplier and taking the E25 hit to oblige the EA/LL because they have been good to him in the past, not because he is obliged to.

Fair play OP. If they have facilitated you in the past it's fair play.

SpaceTime · 23-10-2014 8:01pm

The EA/LL is totally unnecessarily tying themselves in knots with that stuff though!
All they need is the MPRN and they can do whatever they want with the supply.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 8:02pm

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I'm Pretty sure the OP said it is not in his contract to return to the original electricity supplier, instead it is a request made by the EA/LL. He is taking care of closing the current account, setting up another account with the original supplier and taking the E25 hit to oblige the EA/LL because they have been good to him in the past, not because he is obliged to.

Fair play OP. If they have facilitated you in the past it's fair play.

Closing the current account is the cause of the €25 not opening the new account. The op signed a contract with the current supplier and is breaking it. The agent are only asking for the electricity to be in the same form as when they gave it to the op. It seams a reasonable request to me.

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 8:08pm

gordongekko wrote: »

I don't get why you think your at a loss. You signed up to a one year contract with the new supplier and are breaking your contract. It's nothing to do with the agent. They just want the property back as they got it. Ie electricity in the original suppliers name. The €25 is your fault for breaking a contract not the agents fault.

Well this has grown legs. we are on the same page yet you seem to want to play devils advocate. "fault" its my choice to transfer or close. If I close it doesn't cost me anything, if I transfer it costs me €25. you seem to be under the impression I am trying to duck & jybe out of something. I was trying to find out if I closed the account, and walk away could the letting agent withhold some/all of my deposit. The €25 is irrelevant to the choice.

Had the letting agent provided a little more info as to the requirement for the switch back (I requested this) then I would have learned that the landlord has an agreement with "supplier 1" that defaults the bills to them if no one moves in after a few weeks. ie if no one ever moves in after me the landlord will be billed automatically for electricity by "supplier 1". I found this out by calling "supplier 1" and now knowing final inspection is pending I wish all to go smoothly, thus I am cutting my losses, giving them what they want and hoping final inspection will go all the smoother, vs digging my heals in on this matter and suffering a microscope final inspection.

SpaceTime wrote: »

There is no "default electricity supplier" any more. The rental agent doesn't understand how it works. If you opened a new account the original supplier you'd quite possibly end up in new minimum term contract.

The landlord just need the MPRN and they can deal with whoever their preferred supplier is.

All you need to do is contact your supplier with the final meter reading and explain that you're moving out, you'll get a final bill and that's it.

I'd always suggest photographing the meter too so you've a visual record of the final reading.

If you've a minimum contract you can usually exit it very cheaply with electricity suppliers or move the account to a new address.

100%. photo for sure. As said it will cost me €0.00 to close the account, or €25.00 to transfer. That's it. Sharing at new place so they have electricity already.

MYOB wrote: »

The entire (hypothetical) scenario you came in to saying you'd withhold until the hearing was based on the deposit being withheld!

I have decided to comply with their request after talking to "supplier 1" and finding out the real reason they would request such a switch: It is more convenient for them (albeit more expensive supply of electricity), if they it takes longer than expected to fill the apartment. And I still don't know; if I choose to close the account not switching as per their request, can they withhold the deposit? I see no mention of electricity supply in the lease.

So yes, I have decided what I am going to do. But the original post questioned if it was a reasonable request and if I did not comply with said request could I lose part/all of my deposit.

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 8:11pm

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I'm Pretty sure the OP said it is not in his contract to return to the original electricity supplier, instead it is a request made by the EA/LL. He is taking care of closing the current account, setting up another account with the original supplier and taking the E25 hit to oblige the EA/LL because they have been good to him in the past, not because he is obliged to.

Fair play OP. If they have facilitated you in the past it's fair play.

yes this is exactly what I am doing

Greenmachine · 23-10-2014 8:15pm

dave da rave wrote: »

Well this has grown legs. we are on the same page yet you seem to want to play devils advocate. "fault" its my choice to transfer or close. If I close it doesn't cost me anything, if I transfer it costs me €25. you seem to be under the impression I am trying to duck & jybe out of something. I was trying to find out if I closed the account, and walk away could the letting agent withhold some/all of my deposit. The €25 is irrelevant to the choice.

Had the letting agent provided a little more info as to the requirement for the switch back (I requested this) then I would have learned that the landlord has and agreement with "supplier 1" that defaults the bills to them if no one moves in after a few weeks. ie if no one ever moves in after me the landlord will be billed automatically for electricity by "supplier 1". I found this out by calling "supplier 1" and now knowing final inspection is pending I wish all to go smoothly, thus I am cutting my losses, giving them what they want and hoping final inspection will go all the smoother, vs digging my heals in on this matter and suffering a microscope final inspection.

100%. photo for sure. As said it will cost me €0.00 to close the account, or €25.00 to transfer. That's it. Sharing at new place so they have electricity already.

I have decided to comply with their request after talking to "supplier 1" and finding out the real reason they would request such a switch: It is more convenient for them (albeit more expensive supply of electricity), if they it takes longer than expected to fill the apartment. And I still don't know; if I choose to close the account not switching as per their request, can they withhold the deposit? I see no mention of electricity supply in the lease.

So yes, I have decided what I am going to do. But the original post questioned if it was a reasonable request and if I did not comply with said request could I lose part/all of my deposit.

I do think it is an unreasonable request, assuming you have given all the required notice to the EA and have settled your bill in full. If you have agreed a date to move out, then the EA can always contact supplier 1 requesting the transfer. How ever you seem to have made your own decision now op.

gordongekko · 23-10-2014 8:18pm

I've never heard of a charge for switching supplier. In fact they will give you discount to change. The €25 is a charge for some contract issue.

dave da rave · 23-10-2014 8:26pm

gordongekko wrote: »

I've never heard of a charge for switching supplier. In fact they will give you discount to change. The €25 is a charge for some contract issue.

lol you need to get over this €25. You seem more upset about it than me! I suppose it is a few pints alright!

Yes, I signed up to a 1 year contract. The year is not up. If moving and closing account there is no charge, however switching it over to another supplier in my name, even for just 1 day costs me €25 due to break of contract.

I knew about this €25 when I made the switch. But the the current supplier was so much cheaper that I saved €25+ on the first bill, hence there was no hesitation to make the switch.

OP out, thanks for all the input. Feel free to discuss if this is a reasonable request. Definitely and odd request but I don't think they really have a leg to stand on if I didn't comply.

Shakespeare's Sister · 23-10-2014 9:14pm

So you're being asked to close your account with, say, Airtricity and then open an account with Electric Ireland briefly around the time you're moving out, and then close that account (under your name) again? Totally ridiculous. An error I'd say.

xper · 23-10-2014 10:39pm

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

So you're being asked to close your account with, say, Airtricity and then open an account with Electric Ireland briefly around the time you're moving out, and then close that account (under your name) again? Totally ridiculous. An error I'd say.

Yeah, I wouldn't be accommodating the agent in this respect at all. Despite all the assurances from the various suppliers and the energy regulator, the process of switching supplier does not always go smoothly and is virtually impossible to pinpoint to one date. When I moved earlier this year, I had no end of issues what with charges past the date of departure from the old place, bills from the previous supplier at the new place despite siging up with my suppliers of choice immediately, correspondence sent to my old address in error. It went on and on even though I had done everything by the letter at the correct time. Took weeks and endless calls to the various players' call centres to put right.

So, would I add an extra switch into this mix for an address I'll no longer be present at? Eh, no thanks. The agent is being paid by the landlord to mange the property, let them earn it.

Letting agent request for electricity supplier change

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