Landlord witholding electricity bill

fatwarren

hi,

i want to the get the electricity bill for my apartment transferred into my name. the landlord has been stone walling me every time i mention it and i suspect he is planning to deduct the electricity charge from my deposit at the end of term which i am definitly not in favour of. if my suspicions are correct, why is he insisting on doing this?

what are my rights?

ProudDUB

Call the ESB asap. Start up an account in your own name as of today. Give them a current meter reading so that you know where you stand as of today. Pay your own ESB bills. Whatever is owned between when you moved in and today are the landlords problem & not yours, if he is not playing fair with you as to what is going on.

If you feel that you have a moral obligation to pay for the electricity that you have used, take a reading of your meter today. Take another reading in a week. That is your usage for a week in winter. Multiply that by how many weeks that you have been in residence up to now. Call up the ESB and ask what is the cost of using X number of units of electricity. That is what you owe the landlord, give or take a few bob for winter versus autumn usage if this has been going on for a long time.

Keep good records of all this, and let the landlord know that you are doing so. Hopefully he will get the message that you mean business and will not be messed around. That is what I had to do when a former landlord dragged his feet in letting me get the ESB account out of his name, a former tenants name, and into mine.

I have an aunt who spends 3 months a year in Connemara. It's not really worth her while to start up an ESB account in her own name. So she and her landlady take a meter reading on movie in day, they take another meter reading on move out day, and my aunt pays what the ESB says she owes for that time period. It's not rocket science, and its a system that works well for a lot of people, if there is good communication and trust between landlord and tenant. Your landlord may plan on doing something similar, but if he is not taking the time to communicate that to you, then you need to do what is best for you.

Ray Palmer

ProudDUB wrote: »

Call the ESB asap. Start up an account in your own name as of today. .

You can't do that. The landlord has to sign off on the bill being changed to the tenant's name.

As there is a charge to change the name many LL don't like to change the name as it is an extra expense.

OP Insist on a bill and take the readings now so you can at least figure out what you are spending.

markpb

Ray Palmer wrote: »

As there is a charge to change the name many LL don't like to change the name as it is an extra expense.

I don't think that's true. The person taking on the account may have to provide a deposit to ESB if they're not paying by direct debit but that's nothing to do with the landlord.

BostonB

Their can be a number of reasons for this. Ranging from he wants to track it as hes been stiffed before on it, he can get it cut off if rent isn't paid. (illegal). Or a range of other reasons. he may simply be lazy about transferring it. Of course if its in his name and you run up a bill on it, he is legally responsible for it. AFAIK.

D3PO

no bill no payment simple.

watch his attitude change when he hears your not going to pay the bill

Ray Palmer

markpb wrote: »

I don't think that's true. The person taking on the account may have to provide a deposit to ESB if they're not paying by direct debit but that's nothing to do with the landlord.

There was a charge unless they have done a away with it in the last year

djimi

Ray Palmer wrote: »

You can't do that. The landlord has to sign off on the bill being changed to the tenant's name.

As there is a charge to change the name many LL don't like to change the name as it is an extra expense.

OP Insist on a bill and take the readings now so you can at least figure out what you are spending.

I dont this is the case tbh. I know of a couple of situations where people have moved into new accomodation where the previous tenants didnt sign off on the ESB, and the new tenant was able to just start their own account from when they moved in. Same situation here only the "previous tenant" is the landlord. Im not sure what the repercussions are for the previous tenant/landlord but thats not really your problem.

dearg lady

There is no charge to change a bill into your name. I'm not 100% sure on putting it in your name if it's already in someone elses name. Ring ESB and check if you can change it to your name.

Ray Palmer

djimi wrote: »

I dont this is the case tbh. I know of a couple of situations where people have moved into new accomodation where the previous tenants didnt sign off on the ESB, and the new tenant was able to just start their own account from when they moved in..

You are able to do this if the LL signs off. They may have changed it but I still have the bills by flat number becasue it was a big problem before and had costs. It could easily be why the LL is doing this too.

ProudDUB

When I moved into my apt, I was able to start up an EBS account in my name. When I called up to do so, I was told that there was 20 quid owing for for the time period between me moving in and the last tenant moving out. I agreed with the landlord that I would pay the amount owing, and deduct it from my first rental payment.

Prior to our coming to that agreement, the ESB told me that in the case of an outstanding balance at an address (that the landlord or former tenants won't pay) they will let a new resident start up an account if they can prove their residency there. It would have meant me having to send in a copy of my lease to the ESB which would have been a bit of a pain in the neck, but I still would have been able to eventually set up my account with them in my name.

Raladic

Ray Palmer wrote: »

There was a charge unless they have done a away with it in the last year

There was no charge was I changed it over to another person in August.

Ray Palmer

Raladic wrote: »

There was no charge was I changed it over to another person in August.

Fair enough but the LL may still be under the impression the old system remains. It could really be that simple

dearg lady

AFAIK there has never been a charge to change name on an electricity bill, I have never had to pay such.