Is the landlord responsible?

joeyboy12345

Dear Sir / Madamme,

I am wondering could you inform me if a landlord will be held responsible for their tenants unpaid water bills after the tenants has moved out? In this case the tenants have been registered for the full duration of the tenancy and the bills are all in their names. Is there a case of having to pay a disconnection / reconnection fee in the event of the tenants not paying when they move out? Is there specific protection for landlords with regards to unpaid bills?

Kind regards

Irish Water: Daniel

Thanks for getting in touch.

If the tenants of a property have registered their details with Irish Water, they are responsible for any bills owed for the period of time they lived at the property. We would advise that tenants contact us up to 10 days prior to their moving date so that we can update all details accordingly.

As the landlord of a domestic property, you are obliged to contact Irish Water and provide the names of your tenants and the start date of the agreement you have with your tenants, to ensure that you are not held liable for water charges should your tenants remain unregistered with us. 


There is no disconnection / reconection fee in the event of a tenant moving out. 

I hope this helps, any further queries, please ask and I'll be happy to help. 


Thanks, 
Daniel

joeyboy12345

Irish Water: Daniel wrote:

There is no disconnection / reconection fee in the event of a tenant moving out.

Thank you for your prompt reply.
What i was worried about is if there would be a reconnection / disconnection fee due to the fact there is an unpaid bill against the property in the future? Could this bill be held against the sale of the property in future? As stated before the account has always been in the name of the tennant.

Thank you

Irish Water: Daniel

Hi joeyboy12345, 

You're very welcome.

If you were selling your property and there were outstanding bills owed by tenants, you can request a letter of non-liability from Irish Water. This letter will state that the liability does not lie with yourself regarding water charges at your property.

You can request this by emailing: section48requests@water.ie 

You can also send a written request to:

PO.Box,
South City Delivery Office, 
Cork City, 
Cork

There is more  information regarding selling a property available here: https://www.water.ie/for-home/selling-a-home/

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further queries. 

Thanks, 
Daniel

joeyboy12345

Thank you very much for your help!

Irish Water: Daniel

You're very welcome joeyboy12345, 

Please get in touch if you need any further help. 

Have a lovely day.

Thanks, 
Daniel