Gas bill not paid

Somersaultbudda

Somersaultbudda

Hi,

I recently had a tenant who I rented a property to through a real estate agent.

The tenant stayed for 1 year, from Jan 2010 to Jan 2011. During the time the tenant was renting the property, they did not put the gas bill into their own name from the period of Jan 2010 to Oct 2010. Then in Nov 2010 they put the gas bill in their name and when moving out in Jan 2011 removed their name from the bill. So he only paid gas from the period of Nov 2010 to Jan 2011.

Currently the property is vacant. The gas company has since sent a letter seeking the money for the gas used from Jan 2010 to Oct 2010. The total amount is $650. The bill is addressed to the occupier of the unit only and not the tenant who has just moved out. Apparently he received gas for approximately 10 months without putting his name on the gas bill before deciding to call up the gas company and tell them he had just moved in.

I am wondering what my options are here. The agent is reluctant to take the tenant to the tribunal to apply to have him listed on the bad tenants list. They claim the matter does not concern them as it is fraud, therefore, it's a matter for the police. I only have about three days left before the 30 day period is up to make a claim against him.

Any ideas what to do in this situation would be greatly appreciated.
 
G'Day ssb

Welcome to the Forum

A tenant did exactly the same with my Daughter's unit, except that it was electricity and the bill came to $720

Quite simple:

Contact the Gas supply company. Make a note of the date, who you spoke to and get a Dealing number

Fax through a copy of the lease signed by the Tenant showing the date they legally occupied the property (and which will include Agent's details for verification). Include a covering sheet with the Dealing Number, your contact details and a summary of the information as you have it

Request that the Gas co provide a receipt of the Fax

That should be the end of it as far as you are concerned

Hope this helps

Kristine
 
So who connected the gas in the first place?

Sounds strange that the gas company would connect the gas without a name.

We got the gas connected at a house so we could do a reno but rang them after 1 week of the tenant moving in to check that it was transferred to them. It wasn't so a quick phone call to the agent sorted it out.
 
I agree with Kristine; if they're happy to provide unsecured credit to "the occupier", then they can figure out who that person is and chase them up. You didn't open an account, use the gas, or agree to pay it, so it's nothing to do with you.
 
travelbug said:
So who connected the gas in the first place?

Sounds strange that the gas company would connect the gas without a name.

We got the gas connected at a house so we could do a reno but rang them after 1 week of the tenant moving in to check that it was transferred to them. It wasn't so a quick phone call to the agent sorted it out.
Click to expand...

It is rare for a utility to actually disconnect services - rather you find it turned off at the point entering the property.
 
I had this happen to with the account being sent to "Occupier" or something like that when a tenant moved out. I called the gas company to ensure that there was no possibility of them seeking the money from me (owner).

They were very keen for me to give them the name and current whereabouts of the tenant. I had already asked them if this tenant had set up the account, so they had his name, but when they asked if I could give them his current address I said (very nicely) that considering the privacy laws and that they could not give me any personal information about anybody else apart from "me" (not even my husband's information will be discussed with me), then why was it reasonable for me to pass on my previous tenant's private information?????

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. They want tight privacy laws, it must work both ways.

I have no idea how this tenant was able to organise a gas account/connection without giving his name, and he had been there for two years.
 
Gas and electricity companies usually don’t turn off the supply.
When they’re notified of someone moving out, they make a reading to close the account.
Whoever moves in next will pay from the last reading, irrespective of when they opened an account.

We’ve had a unit’s electricity switch turned off and the meter and switch sealed with sticky tape because nobody was going to move in there again.
Ten days later, the electricity company sent a letter to ‘the occupant’ to say that the electricity was connected, and would they please open an account.

I’ve had another instance of not getting electricity bills for four years because they said that the electricity had been disconnected and the account closed.
I gave them meter readings to the contrary, but they said that they couldn’t take them.
After four years, they left a card to come disconnecting because ‘someone was living there’.
I opened an account and they reconnected where it wasn’t disconnected, and I paid from the reading on reconnection day.
Four years of free electricity went down well. :cool:
 
Last edited:
The Mop said:
Gas and electricity companies usually don’t turn off the supply.
When they’re notified of someone moving out, they make a reading to close the account.
Whoever moves in next will pay from the last reading, irrespective of when they opened an account.

We’ve had a unit’s electricity switch turned off and the meter and switch sealed with sticky tape because nobody was going to move in there again.
Ten days later, the electricity company sent a letter to ‘the occupant’ to say that the electricity was connected, and would they please open an account.

I’ve had another instance of not getting electricity bills for four years because they said that the electricity had been disconnected and the account closed.
I gave them meter readings to the contrary, but they said that they couldn’t take them.
After four years, they left a card to come disconnecting because ‘someone was living there’.
I opened an account and they reconnected where it wasn’t disconnected, and I paid from the reading on reconnection day.
Four years of free electricity went down well. :cool:
Click to expand...

lol. Slightly different circumstance but had a very similar experience in Sydney. Long story short only ended up paying for 2 months of electricity during whole tenancy because for the 14 months prior the electricity companies couldnt agree who looked after the area the house was in. :)
 
Lovely ! :)

There’s also a rule where if they haven’t sent bills for more than 9 or 12 months depending on the state, they have to forfeit the amount clocked up prior to that time.
That’s to prevent them from doing nothing, then arrive with big bills.

It’s so strange to get no electricity bills in Queensland because the only purpose of attracting people to Qld is to send them electricity bills.
 
The Mop said:
Gas and electricity companies usually don’t turn off the supply.
When they’re notified of someone moving out, they make a reading to close the account.
Whoever moves in next will pay from the last reading, irrespective of when they opened an account.

We’ve had a unit’s electricity switch turned off and the meter and switch sealed with sticky tape because nobody was going to move in there again.
Ten days later, the electricity company sent a letter to ‘the occupant’ to say that the electricity was connected, and would they please open an account.

I’ve had another instance of not getting electricity bills for four years because they said that the electricity had been disconnected and the account closed.
I gave them meter readings to the contrary, but they said that they couldn’t take them.
After four years, they left a card to come disconnecting because ‘someone was living there’.
I opened an account and they reconnected where it wasn’t disconnected, and I paid from the reading on reconnection day.
Four years of free electricity went down well. :cool:
Click to expand...

Really!! I've bought unoccupied houses and I've had to arrange to get the power connected as there was none. I assumed gas was the same. This is in NSW. Maybe different?
 
travelbug said:
Really!! I've bought unoccupied houses and I've had to arrange to get the power connected as there was none. I assumed gas was the same. This is in NSW. Maybe different?
Click to expand...

Power - yes - they actually disconnect the circuit from the mains.

Gas and Water - no - too much hassle for the utilities (usually turns off entire neighbourhood).

The Y-man
 
unoccupied houses and I've had to arrange to get the power connected
Click to expand...
These were two duplexes with single common wires to the meters, with always at least one unit occupied.
Single unoccupied houses get unhooked from the street as per the Y-man’s post to prevent reconnection by switching back on at the meter box switch.
There’s also that this is Queensland, where improvising is quite common despite having rules.
 
Again this is different from state to state. But I had a similar experience years ago. A tenant refused to pay the gas bill. After the owner moved in (he used to be my client) the WA gas supplier disconnected the gas. My ex client then contacted me and I tried to help him as his English was not too good. To cut the story short, there was a law that allowed the gas supplier to get the arrears from the owner. He had to pay and then they reconnected the gas.
The same applies to water consumption.
 
Advice Needed

Hi Guys,

Here is the situation: We moved into our old investment property in mid 2009. We had not received a gas bill until recent, where we received 3 gas bills all in one hit from the past 9 months from the gas company. The only gas we use is for our hot water system.

Here is what the cover letter of the bill says:

"When our previous customer at your premises moved, their account was closed but supply was not disconnected and the meter readings show you've been using the gas supply. This means you are already in a new occupant supply arrangement with AGL"

The letter is addressed to Dear Customer and not in our name as we have never setup an account with them, yet their is an account number on the bill.
Can we legally be contracted to a new occupant supply arrangement when we haven't set up an account ? I thought it was standard practice to cut off gas supply like power if a bill is not paid.

We have no problem paying the bills but legally where do we stand if do not pay the bills & move gas companies ?

Kind Regards,
 
Gryphon said:
Can we legally be contracted to a new occupant supply arrangement when we haven't set up an account ?
Click to expand...
I'd suggest they looked into this, and as they aren't in the business of supplying free gas, my guess would be yes.
Gryphon said:
We have no problem paying the bills
Click to expand...
Good...
Gryphon said:
but legally where do we stand if do not pay the bills & move gas companies ?
Click to expand...
I would guess "headed for a credit default" and possible legal action. Personally, since you have used the gas, I wouldn't want to find out.
 
we are in a different situation. We put the electricity on when we moved in, then after a while I started thinking I should be getting a bill. Theowner then rang up and said all the services were in her name and she had got the bills (they own the front unit) I duly rang AGL to try and sort it out and they just said they had been supplying me elect since we moved in and I would be getting the bill soon. Owner then told me she was getting the gas bill also and I have to admit because AGL did both and the gas was on when we moved in, I just assumed they had signed me up for both. I have since received a bill for gas, but come to think of it, havent received a bill for elect. Havent heard anything from the owner who reckoned she was going to call the authorities about all this. Figure it is her problem to sort out, why should I spend hours I dont have on the phone sorting it all out. I dont know why all this was in their name anyway as it was a brand new unit
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Could this be true
Replies
2
Views
1K
vaughan
V
T
As a dual tenant am i liable for household bills not in my name?
Replies
8
Views
1K
Colin Rice
Colin Rice
D
Pm is using tradesman 45min away. huge bill?
Replies
8
Views
1K
Sez
S
C
Who pays?
Replies
17
Views
2K
Salvatore1
S
B
Replacing Gas Heater with Electric Heaters - is this OK?
Replies
17
Views
3K
Perp
Perp
Back
Top