Landlord responsibility for Tenants unpaid Electric Ireland Bill

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fgrogers

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Hi there, (first post!).. I rented an apartment to a tenant. After 3 years Tennant informed Electric Ireland that they were moving out. Electric Ireland transferred the account back to me as the landlord but neither the Tennant nor Electric Ireland informed me. Tennant remained on at the property for a number of months and then Tenant told me that they were moving on and they confirmed that they had paid their bills. Now Electric Ireland are chasing me to pay Tennant outstanding bill but i have no contract with Electric Ireland so how can I be liable for a tenant bill ? So do i have any liability here ?

Electric Ireland won't tell me as landlord if the tenant has given them notice - The won't say if the tenant has paid bill or not and so even if I wanted to help Electric Ireland they won't provide the info claiming that to disclose any info on the tenant would be in breach of GDPR.
 
Obviously don't pay them. Get the bill transferred into your name untl next tenant arrives.
 
- where were the bills sent?
- How did the tenant transfer to you if you didn't sign for it
- What exact written correspondence have you from Electric Ireland, how did they find you, can you scan up the letter with no deails of your name, amount or property amount
- when did you take a meter reading to transfer the electric to you
- forget about the tenant, unless you know where he works, come back to me if you do
 
Thanks bronte.. bills were sent to the property addressed to the tennant or even online...i was not involved.. I didnt see or sign anything with EI. However it is interesting that on their public website.. they state that the landlord is responsible for unpaid bills.
See electricireland.ie/residential/helpful-links/terms-conditions/landlord-agreement

But i didnt see nor sign up to any such t&c in advance. I can post the correspindance tomoro.

@Setanta thanks for reading post however your suggestion does not resolve tbe unpaid bill. A new tennant will afresh with electricity provider EI or other.
 
From Electric Ireland's Landlord Agreement -

"The utility service will automatically be transferred from the tenant’s name into the landlord’s name with effect from the time a tenant advises us of a move out. Please be aware that you remain liable for any utility service costs at the premises for any periods during which a tenant is not registered as the customer."

However, if you didn't enter into a Landlord Agreement I don't see how you could be responsible for the unpaid bills.
 
Condition 2 of the
"We will contact you 7 days after a move out by the tenant, advising you of the move out and that the account will be put back into your name "

If you did in fact have a landlord agreement, they should have contacted you within 7 days of the tenant informing them that they were moving out. This would have giving you ample time to get a meter reading.

However, if you never had a landlord agreement then I think you will have to pay it and take it as a lesson learned. You should have confirmed the meter readings/balance owed and retained it in the deposit. How long was the intervening period? As the owner, you risk being disconnected if you do not pay it and then the cost of reconnection. I would just pay it for simplicity and then lodge a formal complaint with EI if you feel you have been wronged. It is likely a combination of EI/your tenant who were at fault
 
fgrogers said:
Tenant told me that they were moving on and they confirmed that they had paid their bills.
Click to expand...
You really needed to check this at the time prior to deposit return or keys handed back. It appears that your tenant found a flaw in the system in his favour. I suspect that there were bills going to the address but with LL name on them rather than his so he just pottered on.
 
Are tenant's allowed to pick their provider. If the OP signed nothing I can't see how he's liable. Something as a contractual term on a website is meaningless.
 
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