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AIBU?

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Original poster

Landlord says this is my bill to pay?? Photo attached

119 replies

LJM29 · 04/05/2024 22:29

I moved out of the house in mid April. Landlord has sent a very passive aggressive email with this bill attached that he’s received today. It’s in his name. He says I owe this bill and need to arrange paying it out of my bond that he sent me back. He says he doesn’t expect these bills. Looking at the dates it’s a yearly water bill charge for April 2024-March 2025 but I’ve moved out. How can it me that’s liable for this charge? I can’t make sense of it? Who is right??

Landlord says this is my bill to pay?? Photo attached
OP posts:
Diamondglintsonsnow · 04/05/2024 22:31

From what I can tell that isn’t your water bill if it’s for charges since you have left. Can you provide him with evidence that you have paid up until you left?

LIZS · 04/05/2024 22:31

Tell him you will pay two week's worth. Who paid last year's?

MarmitePizza · 04/05/2024 22:34

Did you pay a year’s water bill shortly after you moved in? Because if not it probably is yours really. It depends on how long you’ve lived there and how much and when you’ve paid for water so far.

wutheringkites · 04/05/2024 22:35

You are right. If you were there for half of April then you could offer £20 to cover it.

LaurieFairyCake · 04/05/2024 22:37

I'd feign ignorance and email back saying this is the next tenants bill

Original poster
LJM29 · 04/05/2024 22:37

I lived there 3 years and paid in Instalments which were all paid up till the end of March. Sorry should have said in OP. Tenancy ended 17th April but I did move out a bit earlier which landlord agreed too

OP posts:
Dareisayiseethesunshine · 04/05/2024 22:37

That's a prediction bill for 24 to 25...not 23 to 24...
He is a cf chancer...
Have you paid 23 to 24 though? Was it included in rent?

DancingintheSpoonlight · 04/05/2024 22:40

Contact the company and they’ll charge you up until you left and no further.

If the property is empty, no one has to pay. If he’s doing maintenance, he has to. If he’s that bothered he should get a water meter.

I do the recalculations day in and day out and can tell you, if you emailed me with this I’d not expect you to pay anything towards someone else’s bill. If you don’t pay, the debt recovery will be in his name.

Tell him to give them a call so they can sort it for him.

Original poster
LJM29 · 04/05/2024 22:40

Dareisayiseethesunshine · 04/05/2024 22:37

That's a prediction bill for 24 to 25...not 23 to 24...
He is a cf chancer...
Have you paid 23 to 24 though? Was it included in rent?

It wasn’t included in rent but is all paid up as I paid by a water card and have sent proof but he still thinks this is my charges

OP posts:
AnxiousRabbit · 04/05/2024 22:41

Was the bill never in your name?
When you moved out you should have called and informed the water Company and paid the pro-rata charge.
It would make more sense for the LL to have a meter tbh

MrsMoastyToasty · 04/05/2024 22:42

When I worked in the water industry we used to tell customers to
A. Check the tenancy agreement to see who pays for utilities (there's no "one solution fits all")
B. Send proof of the date your tenancy started and ended (even if the day of physically moving your belongings in/out is different. It just proves when you were legally responsible for bills, if that's what your tenancy said). The water company can send you an apportioned bill.
C. Bills will be the responsibility of the owner during periods when the property is untenanted and the water company can find out from Land Registry who is the legal owner. So he cannot escape paying if it's proved you are not responsible.

Dareisayiseethesunshine · 04/05/2024 22:42

Just ignore and block. If he persues it you have proof you made the relevant payments..

Rattai · 04/05/2024 22:42

Does he agree/ recognise that this bill is for the next 12 months??? And he knows you no longer live there?

Spirallingdownwards · 04/05/2024 22:42

Tell him you will contact the water board and let them know you need a bill for between end of March and the date you moved out and that you will ask them to send him a bill for that date onwards and he can do the same when new tenants move in.

Original poster
LJM29 · 04/05/2024 22:44

AnxiousRabbit · 04/05/2024 22:41

Was the bill never in your name?
When you moved out you should have called and informed the water Company and paid the pro-rata charge.
It would make more sense for the LL to have a meter tbh

The bills were always in my name but I informed the water company straight away of my move out date and new address. Bills are back in the landlords name now which he says he’s not happy about and is asking why is he receiving’my’ bills. He’s adamant it’s me who is to pay this

OP posts:
MrsMoastyToasty · 04/05/2024 22:46

Your bill should be 17/364 of £464.26. Which by my calculations is £21.68.

Bearbookagainandagain · 04/05/2024 22:47

Tbh I would assume he just got the dates wrong...

MrsMoastyToasty · 04/05/2024 22:52

Actually I realised they are billing for 365 days not 364 so it's 17/365 of 464.26 which is £21.62.

daffodilflowers · 04/05/2024 22:53

Contact the water company. They should have invoiced you from 1st April to end of tenancy, then landlord from that date forward. Don’t pay the whole year for him. Your share is about £20 !

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 04/05/2024 23:01

Have you pointed out to him that it is the bill for the next twelve months, in the future, for water that no one has used yet?

Being charitable, he's maybe misread it and thinks it's to March 2024? Otherwise he's a complete dipstick, it's his house, it's empty, of course he's going to have bills!

Is it on a meter? If it is, he won't have to pay for water because he's not using any. If not, maybe he should look into it to save himself some money, otherwise he'll have to pay the water rates even if he uses nothing.

Eta - I assumes when you said you gave the move out date to the water Co, that it was the date the tenancy ended, if that's not right you do need to pay the actual cost of the water used between moving out and tenancy ending (if on a meter, and hopefully 0) or the water rated for that small interim period.

k1233 · 05/05/2024 02:16

Circle the dates for the invoicing period and send back to him saying you are not paying a bill for a period in which you are not a tenant. Spell out the bill is for April 24 to March 25 and is not your responsibility. At best divide the total by 365 days and pay for the number of days you were there in April. Apart from that, not your problem.

Crispsandcola · 05/05/2024 02:18

This bill is for the year ahead and you don't actually live there. The bill is in his name, it's his property and it's dated for the year ahead. Tell him that he is welcome to take the matter to the county court if he feels he is able to provide sufficient evidence of liability.

K0OLA1D · 05/05/2024 03:24

Yeah to echo others. This is next year's bill. And as you'd moved out before April there would be no way I'd even offer 20 quid

HAF1119 · 05/05/2024 03:28

'Dear landlord - the bill clearly shows this is for 1st April 24 to 31 March 25, I vacated the property before this period and am not legally expected to pay bills on a property I already left. Please don't contact on this issue again asking for money'

Then ignore

mathanxiety · 05/05/2024 04:12

LJM29 · 04/05/2024 22:44

The bills were always in my name but I informed the water company straight away of my move out date and new address. Bills are back in the landlords name now which he says he’s not happy about and is asking why is he receiving’my’ bills. He’s adamant it’s me who is to pay this

Show quote history

He clearly can't read and doesn't understand that you are not responsible for the water bill for a property you no longer live in.

You don't owe this money.