To think we have paid enough already.

[Bumblebee333]

My family (DH and DS) and I moved into a rented 2 bed cottage in feb. We decided we wanted to bring our gas and electricity supplier with us from our previous house as they are a really good company and very reasonably priced. So we agreed with the landlord that we would pay her the money for the gas and electric we used with the company already supplying the property for the month until my company took over. Anyway the bill came and it was £170 for gas and electric which i thought was very expensive for a month but we paid it and that was that.

Last week the landlord turned up at the door saying the old company had been in touch and were wanting another £43 as the first bill was an estimate that they had now got the meter reading from the new company so had produced a second final bill. the problem is with the gas not the electric. It get a bit more complicated because just before we moved in the prepayment meter was replaced with an invoice meter so should have been at more or less the start reading, so because of this i never took a meter reading when we first moved in (stupidly).

So in May the boiler burst. Me and hubby were on holiday at the time so it didn't really affect us as such as a new boiler was fitted within a day or two of us returning. My dad sorted it out while we were away and got one his friends round who is a engineer to look at it and also spoke to the landlord. The landlord told my dad that she suspected there was a problem with the boiler as something had been leaking in that area of the kitchen but she thought it was the washing machine.

God this is so long sorry. Anyway I want to know AIBU to say to the landlord we have already paid more than enough for a months energy and because of the boiler issue we suspect we could have over paid for that period as the boiler wasnt working properly as it is?

I'm a bit confused. You should be paying the energy bills from the date you moved in, and landlord should be paying for boiler repairs. Is this not what is happening?

Also the boiler hadn't been serviced for a few years too which i thought it had to have some kind of certificate to say it is safe.

This is a private landlord not through an estate agents.

Since we moved in we have also had a major ant problem (so bad we had to move out for a few days while we put the powder and traps and stuff down), the oven stopped working and it took three weeks to replace, and the fridge has an unexplained odour that doesn't go away regardless of how often i clean it and to be honest i have got to the point where i feel embarrassed bringing stuff that isn't right up with the landlord.

Well, the issue is that rather than us putting the bill in our name with the old company to leave them straight away, we left the bill in her name and agreed to pay her whatever the bill said before my supplier took over.

She paid for the boiler replacing as she should but my dad had the key to our house while we were away as they wanted to make it nice for when we got back from honeymoon, so he was the one that discovered the kitchen was flooded by the boiler breaking and so called in his mate to have a look.

I think it is possible that you have overpaid but as you agreed to pay I would pay it and learn the lesson of checking the meter first. I also rent and know where you are coming from with the constant maintenance probs. I often end up fixing lts of stuff ourselves as they make such a massive fuss about sorting anything out.

Ah, so you don't know what time period you are paying for with energy bills. You sound stuck

Thing is though if I pay the extra £40 then I will have paid £210 for a months G&E and if that is how much it is going to cost, then i can't afford to live here. March wasn't even that cold so it's not like i will have had my heating whacked up and this is a cottage, its quite small. I know people that live in 5 bedroom houses that pay less a month.

I gues i just think that if she han't serviced th boiler on a regular basis and suspected a problem in that area but didn't bother to investigate, I don't see why I should have to pay the extra cost for the energy.

All i know is that the new gas meter was fitted on 22/2/12 we moved in 4 days later.

The other thing is that I know for a fact from family memebers and from seeing it with my own eyes that she was in the house doing some bits in those four days and everytime i went past all the lights were on and the windows were wide open. this was in February so she won't have the windows open with the heating on otherwise she would have been freezing. I never quibbled about that and paid the bill even though it stated that it was from the 20th Feb because I didn't see the point in get my knickers in a twist over a few days use.

wow that is a lot for a month. i use about £40 electric a month and no gas i cant believe its that expensive for a month!!

I know Lora, I don't think it is that expensive. That's the problem. My friend works for the old supplier and she says it is ridiculas, i poke to my new company about it and they said the same. Even the landlord has admitted that it is a lot for a month.

Or i don't think it would have been that expensive with a fully functioning boiler should i say.

Did you actually see the bill and check the final reading was ok. Not when you moved in but when the landlord asked you to pay the bill? It sounds like they may have read the meter incorrectly? When we moved out of a rented place the company sent us a final bill for £1000 for 1 months electric in a 3 bed terrace! When we read the meter ourselves they had got I widley wrong! Obviously.

Widley = wildley

Yeah I read the meter on the 2nd April and it was a 259 units and that's the figure i gave the new supplier who then check this with the old supplier. As the old suppliers bill was based on an estimate of 173 units they then re billed based on the new reading of 259, hence the extra £43.

i think because you didn't check the meter reading you are stuck really. in terms of boiler she is required to get a safety certificate everyyear but isn't required to get it serviced.

Can you ask energy company to check if meter is set up correctly. Ours wasn't at an old property.

Susie - I bet that was a shock! See that is really obviously an error a £1000 anybody would look and that and think I didn't realise i was paying for the whole street! Mine is more difficult because it's borderline, it could be normal If it was a massive two bedroom house and i had had my heating on full all the time.

Thanks for that tomverlaine - I wasn't sure.

Forgive if I'm reading this wrong, but if the boiler hasn't been serviced for a few years, he's breaking the law.

Have you seen an actual copy of the bills? If so, check that you are only paying for a month's worth of power. I could be wrong but usually you only pay monthly if you have a direct debit set up, and even then it's based on an estimate of your usage.

The only time we've ever had individual bills has been when we've paid 3-monthly. Is it possible that the landlord has charged you for the full period rather than just the month when you first moved in?

Well its a new boiler now but yes my dads mate said it was last serviced in 09 and she confirmed this.

If previous bills were based on estimates and out was only final bill you were paying, then you'll have picked up any difference?

No the bill stated 20th feb -28 march. So a five week period but nobody was actually living in the property between the 20th and 26th apart from the usage by the landlord to do the cleaning and things. The new meter was fitted on the 22nd. I actually thought to myself when the bill arrived how much could she have used in a few days forget about it and just ay the bill, but now she has come back asking for more i just feel like saying no because something wasn't right with the boiler and you knew it wasn't right but rather than look into it and possibly have to pay to replace it you have run the risk of us paying higher bills, it blowing up or god knows what..

Yeah i think the bill is right now and the meter reading were right but my point is that I have already paid what was a ridiculas bill before the boiler went and its only now she has come back asking for more money and I know about the boiler issues that i'm thinking hang on you knew about this why should i give you anymore money when i have already clearly overpaid because of your negligence.