ESB Bill issues - my last rental hangover

Chris_5339762

Originally I posted this in Accom/Property but they said there wasnt really that much I could do apart from go the office of consumer affairs. Now that I've realised this forum exists, I'd like to post this thread to ask what the Electric Ireland rep thinks of this mess.

Hi folks, I'm an apartment owner now and am delighted, but I wonder if you could all give me a bit of advice on whether there is anything I can do about the ESB bill at the place I rented at last. I've let it drag on for too long and that may be an issue in itself but its still worth fighting I think.

Rather than go through it all, here is the correspondence between me and the ESB. I was perhaps a little demanding but I was in that sort of mood after reading on this very forum to be a little demanding!

I live in Apartment 14 now, and the original address was The Mews. (Names and numbers changed!!)

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Account number xx


I am writing to you today to inform you of the full details of a payment issue that relates to the above account and to request your immediate assistance in resolving it.

I lived at the above address for one year, between August 2010 and 02 August 2011. I have my lease agreement with LETTING AGENT to back these dates up. The meter was read by myself on moveout day as 10306 and the letting agent was to close the account, at which point I would pay the balance owed.

I moved to Apartment 14, and set up an account with yourselves at that address [Acc no xxxx], with a different tenant moving into The Mews. All was well until mid October, at which point I noticed that a direct debit had been taken out of my account relating to The Mews. As I was not living at the address anymore, this struck me as strange. A meter reading of 11322 had been measured on 20/10/2011 and I had been charged, despite the account being in my view, closed.

I got in contact with the letting agent who worked to resolve the issue; however she was unable to help as the account had been set up (by her) in my name so under Data Protection, I was the only person ESB could deal with for this issue. I contacted yourselves at ESB, who informed me that they would not refund the full amount as I was trying to claim back more than a certain number of days. This was despite me having documentation to hand proving my moveout date, and having meter readings taken in good faith on that date. In any case, I made sure the account was closed and calculated the amount owed to me (attached).

ESB refunded me €92.08 in the form of a cheque. This was the maximum number of days that they informed me they would refund. I was asked to get in contact with the current tenants and the letting agent to resolve the balance. This struck me as a bit of a fob-off. I duly did this however – the letting agent washed her hands of the affair by telling me to get in touch with the current tenant to obtain a refund directly from him – as presumably he had not paid electricity for this time. Unfortunately, it turns out he has. He had an account set up with Airtricity and had been paying all along since he moved into the property in August 2011.

Therefore, the electricity on The Mews has been double-paid. Once by the tenants, who are correctly paying to Airtricity, and once by me, who should never have been charged for the electricity between August 2nd and 20/10/2011. This has left me owed a balance of €106.94 which has been incorrectly taken by the ESB.

I am grateful that ESB has refunded €92.08, but this still leaves €106.94 that I am owed by yourselves. I do not accept that you cannot refund the rest of this money – I have documents proving my move-out date and have the meter readings written down in good faith from that day.

Therefore, I can only say that unless the outstanding money of €106.94 is refunded, in the form of a cheque within seven days, to myself at Apartment 14 <snip>, I will contact the office of consumer affairs and possibly my solicitor. I have been sent from pillar to post over this issue and the simple fact is that you have some of my money which you are not entitled to.

I trust you will give this matter your immediate attention.

Immediate attention they gave me ->

Good Afternoon Christopher,

Thank you for your email.

The onus is on the customer to close their account when they move out of a property. You did not contact us until the 9th November and unless someone else contacts us and agrees to take responsibility from a prior date, we can only backdate a move out by two months as explained to you. You did agree to your move out being processed with estimated readings.

This property was with Electric Ireland until November 2011 and charges for the property for the period till then were only charged once.

In regards to the disputed amount this is between yourself and the new tenant.

I regret any inconvenience caused to you by this matter.

If you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will be happy to help.

My reply ->

In regards to the disputed amount: The new tenant set up an account with Airtricity from August so has been paying them for electricity. I have unfortunately also been paying ESB for electricity from August – October. That is the crux of the problem. Therefore, the dispute most certainly is not between myself and the new tenant. From his point of view he has done everything by the book and really should not be involved in this at all. It is between myself and yourselves; you have money belonging to me, charged for electricity that I did not use at an address I was not living in, that I want returned. The new tenant has been paying for electricity as normal.

The reason I did not contact you until the 9th November is because typically closing an account and sorting out a final bill has taken time for me in the past; when moving between rental properties I have often had to wait for a period of time before final bills were received by me. I have always paid them immediately. My August 23rd bill on this account I assumed was for closing of the account. The next bill was on the 29th October and was the one that shocked me. It was when I contacted you on the 9th November that I closed down the account as recommended by your (very helpful) customer service representative. I understood the two month backdate – this seemed reasonable at the time and I was lead to believe that although the bill was estimated, it would be a simple procedure to get the rest of the money refunded. I was told that the letting agent, being the person who I understood should have cancelled the account in the first place, would be able to get my money back quickly and easily as she was to take over the account. This of course has not happened leaving me out of pocket through something that I’m sure you’ll agree isn’t really my fault. Now I am being thrown from pillar to post and being told “sorry, you’ll have to get your money back off someone who has already paid their electricity for this period” is farcical to be honest and I’m sure you’ll see that if you look at this issue as an outsider you will agree . Of course the new tenant is not going to give me the outstanding €106.94 – they have already paid for their electricity through Airtricity!

I’m sorry to say that I am not at all satisfied with ESBs response to this matter. I will give you a further seven days to refund the money owed to me [€106.94] by way of a cheque. As I mentioned before, I will contact the office of consumer affairs if this is not done. I am again unsatisfied with your response I am afraid I will be forced to get my solicitor involved.

I felt like I was being reasonable in my plea. Their response.

As previously advised, Airtricity did not contact us regarding transferring this property until the 18th November and the transfer was completed from 22nd November. Until the 22nd November, the property was with Electric Ireland and the new tenant's account was with Electric Ireland for the period 10th September to 22nd November 2011.

When a final bill issues, it states that it is a final bill. The onus is on the customer to ensure that their account is closed and that a final bill is issued. If you have an issue with your Letting agent, then you will need to take it up with them directly.

As previously advised the amount of €106.94 is not due to you by Electric Ireland as this account was in your name until the 9th September 2011.

I hope that this clarifies the matter for you.

I then sent them another email through the website which unfortunately didnt save Their reply ->

Thank you for your email.

I have noted your comments on your account.

As previously stated, I am sorry but this is a matter between yourself and the Letting Agent / New tenant. I regret the inconvenience caused to you but we are unable to alter your account at this stage as previously explained.

My question is this. Do I have ANY leg to stand on here, regardless of the length of time this has been let lie for? When I moved in, the Letting Agent set up my account and led me to believe that they would close it again. The idea of transferring it to a new address was not mentioned and I set up a new account in the property I own. I feel like I'm the unlucky sod in this situation. I calculated the money owed from the unit prices on the bill with all statutory charges included.

Anyone any suggestions? Am I right? Are they right? Do I just write off the money?

Electric Ireland: David

Hi Chris_5339762,

This, unfortunately, is the crux of the matter:

Chris_5339762 wrote:

the Letting Agent set up my account and led me to believe that they would close it again

While this often happens without a problem, regrettably there are cases when the letting agent neglects to do so, leaving the customer in a position where they end up being liable for electricity they themselves have not used. It is the responsibility of the account holder to close his/her account.

Chris_5339762 wrote:

she was unable to help as the account had been set up (by her) in my name so under Data Protection, I was the only person ESB could deal with for this issue.

We are able to close an account when it involves opening a new account, but the letting agent would have been unable to discuss the sensitive details specific to your account (such as the account balance etc). Had she been opening a new account which led (indirectly) to closing yours that wouldn't have been a problem (which is why the email team wrote above "unless someone else contacts us and agrees to take responsibility from a prior date...").

I can understand your frustration, but our policy in this regard, in keeping with our terms and conditions, is that the customer's liability continues insofar as the account remains open in his/her name, "even if they leave the premises beforehand." (see condition 6b specifically)

I'm sorry that I can't be of more assistance to you here.

Regards,

David.