Landlord Electricity Charges

[JayPeeDee]

I've recently received an invoice from the landlord of my office premises relating to electricity charges. They date back to Sept 2012 (when we moved in) and in my opinion are about 3-4 times what I would have expected. To be honest, also not having received a breakdown of my service charges since the same date, I thought the electricity charges would have been taken from that.

I am one of four units and have asked for meter records for my unit, since they are all individually metered.

My questions are these:

1. Am I liable for the charges dating back nearly two years if they haven't been submitted in a timely manner?
2. If the consumption figures are correct, how would I have known that I was consuming at such a high rate if I've never received a bill? Is it unfair that I've not had the chance to correct over-consumption for nearly two years?

I am only a small two-person office and can't fathom why I'm consuming the equivalent of boiling a kettle constantly for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for the last two years, especially when we're only in there half the time...

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[NickGrogan]

I would assume the lease will confirm which charges are covered and which are not. If electricity is not covered, then you are probably liable.

In terms of the cost and usage, if you PM me details I can have a look at what you're paying and what the landlord is likely to be being charged.

Probably worth checking which meter you are being billed for, and making sure it's yours. The easiest way is to turn off everything in the office, and make sure the meter isn't moving. If it is, it may not be your meter, or it may be supplying another office or shared area.

Next turn on everything in the office, computers, kettles, heaters, etc. The meter should start turning - if it doesn't, you probably have the wrong meter.

If you still unsure, turn off the supply at the meter, and see what stops working. This should be the last option, and warn people first - you don't want to cut the power to someone's PC mid document.

If shared lights go out, or your office still has power you know where the issue is.

 

[JayPeeDee]

Thanks Nick, I've PMd you details.

Regarding the other matter, is there no time limit for submitting invoices?

 

[NickGrogan]

6 years for energy companies, not sure for landlords.

 

[nelioneil]

It looks like the landlord receives a bill for 5 meters. 4 for the units and 1 for the common parts electric. This can be common practice for office buildings.

They would recharge the unit meters in full to the occupiers, and your proportion would be recovered from the service charge.

As far as the cost, the bills have probably been estimated and not read for a long time. But please do check that the meter definitely relates to your unit first.

 

[JayPeeDee]

Well, I've read the meter and the last reading is correct, however I seem to have racked up a £180 bill for the last 10 days whilst I've only been there for half the time.... I doubt the 28-year-old meter is reading properly. Coincidentally a new meter is going in on Tuesday so we'll see how that goes.

Problem is the huge bill. No doubt I'm contesting it since having not seen a bill for two years to suddenly be presented with one has given me little chance to correct any issues before things got out of hand. Also, since the landlord also sent me my first service charge statement for two years at the same time, I can now see that they don't take the electricity charges from any overpayments into this fund. I consider it unfair and unreasonable for the matter to be handled this way. Anyone know a good way of progressing this matter?

 

[NickGrogan]

Jay

From what you've told me, I suspect the meter is setup incorrectly and is reading 10 units for every 1 unit used (meters have internal multiplier which can be set at various levels).

Once the new meter is fitted, if you see a sudden drop in your usage, then this is a good grounds to go back to the landlord and get him to appeal the bills as being incorrect. The energy company may then rebill the full two years, allowing the landlord to rebill you.

Do you have a copy of the lease, what does it say about electricity charges and service charges?

 

[JayPeeDee]

I agree about the factor of ten. One tenth the charge would seem correct.

 

[JayPeeDee]

OK, so they didn't fit a new meter to my unit, just the main supply coming in....

However, I did leave as much off as I could over the last 5 days and consumption was 2 units/day (i.e. enough for the fire alarm/emergency lighting). So that seemed ok. So if the readings are indeed correct it could all point to the electric boiler being a huge consumer of power, although I've switched that on this morning and it took the equivalent of 2kwh to heat the whole water tank, so I'm really unsure...

Anyway, my LEGAL question is: has the landlord been unreasonable in not issuing electricity bills in a timely manner such that I incur huge costs that I don't know about until its way to late to influence them? Have I got any grounds to challenge the charges from that angle?

 

[ethical PR]

Jay to get answer to your LEGAL question why not take your lease and paperwork to a commercial solicitor who can provide you with an initial hour of advice.

 

[MikeJ]

I doubt there's anything legal, but you could raise it as a complaint. However, when all is said and done, you've used the electricity and have to pay for it.

As there's a "whole building meter", have you checked that the individual meters add up to the total for the building?

 

[JayPeeDee]

Meters have come and gone so I don't know overall consumption.

Having been through the contract and other documentation relating to the lease, there are two notes relating to electricity supply:

"[The tenant will] pay the suppliers...[for services].." - the landlord has invoiced me, not the supplier, and;
"The electricity is on a shared meter and therefore [the landlord] will invoice you for your share when the bills come in."

The latter comment in a covering letter. Neither are true....