oil query when renting room

C

ccmurf

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Hi I am renting out a room in my house under the rent a room scheme. The person is moving out at the end of the month and when he moved in I asked him for €100 towards the oil. He asked me if I would be returning him some of the oil money when he moves out as he claims that he did not burn €100 worth of oil. Any advice . Really do not know what to do.
 
How long were they in the house for?

How much oil was used over that time?

Did they use any of the common areas of the house or hot water (if the oil is used for hot water heating)?

You could be pedantic and estimate how much radiated heat goes into the room they were renting!

Work out a pro-rate price based on their usage of the whole house; if you have even had more than one fill of oil in the time they were there, it will be far more than €100. Present them with the bill and say, well actually, you owe me.
 
Thanks for your help. I just got a fill of oil when he moved in of €280 of which he paid €100. He is claiming that the heating was not turned on alot over the summer. He moved in at the start of May. I can see his point but how do you decide how much oil he used . I think it is very difficult to quantify. He is a bit of a stickler and the kind of person that I certainly don't want to rub up the wrong way. Lets just say that I will be glad to be rid of him. I was away on holidays for 5 weeks so how do I know how much oil he really used.
 
dip the tank with a stick to measure how mch is used was the tank filled at the 280 if so should be easy quantify
 
How much oil did you use in the previous year over the May to August period - might give you an idea of how much you used.
 

If he is free to adjust his own radiator himself at any time, I think his personal oil usage would be very difficult to calculate.

On the off-chance though, if radiators are reasonably new, settings are not adjusted and burner/boiler is working efficiently, it should be possible to make a reasonable estimate based on radiator's output.

A long shot I know.
 
...or ask him how much he used and give him back the difference (and be glad to see the back of him)
 
Normally when people share a house and split bills ,its not based on actual usage ,electricity ,gas etc is just split evenly.

Unless you told him when taking the 100 that you had some way of measuring the oil usage tell him where to go.
I am presuming he was able to turn the heat on when he liked and wasn't freezing over the summer ?
 

Sounds like he could give her hassle. On second thoughts, have a male friend around when you tell him what to do with his e100
 
I think its fair to say that he paid for a 3rd of the tank, so he should receive a refund equal to a 3rd of currently value of oil left in the tank (regardless of who used what)

I assume you knew how high the tank was filled at the time and can see where its at now - a rough estimate should be easy enough.

Another way of looking at it is duration - when you asked for €100 in May - did you expect that to be for the year? he only lived with you for 4 months - so 4/12 = 0.333 x£100 = €33 - he would be due a refund of €77

I would have thouight just pay him €50 euro and be done with it - do you have a problem or issue repaying him?
 
breathnach1 said:
dip the tank with a stick to measure how mch is used was the tank filled at the 280 if so should be easy quantify
Click to expand...

Get a refill and see what the quantity is, apply the fuel rate at date of orginal fill and half the cost.

Jaid
 
Thanks everybody for your advice. I really appreciate it .The house is less than a year old so I cant compare the bill with last years. He was suppossed to be staying until November and has given me a weeks notice as he got a new job. Part of me feels that I should'nt have to give him the money back and the other part of me thinks just get rid of him. Predicament.
 
Given that he has not given the required months notice then you could withold the 3wks rent and then give him back what is a fair amount for what he has used. say 50 euro. by the sounds of things you are lucky to be rid of him but business is business and you wont forget it too quickly if you allow him to walk all over you. If you act like a mat he will use you as one!! Stand firm tell him he is lucky you are not keeping his 3 wks rent as you are entitled to in order to find a new tenant(that is if you are going to let him off with this).
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but does he actually have to give a month's notice under the rent a room scheme?
 
Thanks again. I am going to stand my ground and see what happpens. If he starts causing hassle I'm just gona ask him what does he expect and take it from there. I'l let you know how it goes if I'm still alive !
 
Do you think he used up €100 worth of oil? If not then you should give him something back. You'll still be able to use the oil when he's gone.
 
Unless he was actually obliged to give you 1 month's notice, I don't see how the fact he only gave you 1 week's notice is relevant.

As previous posters said, estimate roughly how much oil was actually used, and charge him a third of that. If that's less than €100, give him back the difference.
 
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