Landlord created an account in my name without my permission 23 days after I moved ou

AhDam

I was renting in the Dublin area. Issues between myself and the landlord resulted in me moving out of the house. I received my deposit back and left the house on July 31st. 
  On August 23rd I was notified by the landlord that there was an outstanding bill of 600 euro and that he had created an account in my name and that I now owe Electric Ireland the money.
 A month has passed by now seven phone calls and an email explaining the same story over and over and nothing has been done to resolve the situation. It has become painfully obvious that the landlord acted under falsified information and in a fraudulent manor to shift this issue onto me.
 I want to know where it says that a landlord can create an account in a tenants name without their inclusion in the call or their signature to backup the landlords claim. I have been told time and time again that its not Electric Irelands problem and that I need to speak with the landlord when in reality it is Electric Irelands problem and its an issue that needs to be resolved between them and the landlord.

Electric Ireland: Brige N

Hi AhDam,

We're sorry to read of your unhappiness with your customer experience.

It is part of Electric Ireland's policy to allow property owners and letting agents to register tenants as responsible for the electricity (and gas) supply at a property. This is in order to ensure that the supply remains at the property, unhindered, once a new occupant has taken over the premises. However, the property owner or letting agent must advise Electric Ireland that the tenant has authorised them to complete this action.

Property owners and letting agents are also not permitted to register tenants for a contract, so that the tenant can then register for savings with the supplier of their choice.

Could you advise if the property owner registered you as responsible for the electricity supply after you had moved-out of the property? Could you also advise if the property owner registered the premises in your name without your authorisation?

If so, could you please provide us with the following details by private message?

• Your full name
• Your Electric Ireland account number (if possible)
• The address of the property
• Your contact number and date of birth
• Confirmation you are the registered account holder (a sentence stating this is sufficient)

We can then look into this matter further for you.

Thanks,
Brige

________

goldenhoarde

The last point in bold I would be careful about as the landlord signed you up without discussing it with you, you are claiming.  Also there should be no Date of Birth on the account unless you gave it to the landlord.

[*]Your full name
[*]Your Electric Ireland account number (if possible)
[*]The address of the property
[*]Your contact number and date of birth
[*]Confirmation you are the registered account holder (a sentence stating this is sufficient)


When you moved in did you get a meter reading taken or not? When you left did you take one? if you have that then that's you libability and the rest is the new tenents.

Walter2016

The first thing to do is to read your lease in full - every sentence! And see where the utility part is and what it says. Most standard leases will state that the LL will sign the tenant up to Electric Ireland or similar and the tenant is responsible for the bill. A tenant does not need to put the signature to anything, but if the LL signed you up AFTER you left, then there's an issue for teh LL..  

Also, what electricity did you pay in the time you were there?

If you do not have a proper lease, then you may be able to open a dispute with the PTRB.

AhDam

Walter2016 wrote: »

The first thing to do is to read your lease in full - every sentence! And see where the utility part is and what it says. Most standard leases will state that the LL will sign the tenant up to Electric Ireland or similar and the tenant is responsible for the bill. A tenant does not need to put the signature to anything, but if the LL signed you up AFTER you left, then there's an issue for teh LL..  

Also, what electricity did you pay in the time you were there?

If you do not have a proper lease, then you may be able to open a dispute with the PTRB.

No it stated nothing on my lease about registering me, a tenant moved out before November of last year, she had the bill in her name. She then transferred it into the landlords name and from there bills arrived in his name. As for the bills what I was told happened was a technical issue came about on the account that caused issues with the actual amount that was being charged in each bill. This is a clear issue between Electric Ireland not bringing it to the landlords attention. I then moved out as I said and received my deposit back and it was only after this that the landlord realized the issue but by that time I was no longer responsible for the house, instead of contacting me to say inform me of the issue and that there is a bill of 600 that needed to be payed off between myself and the two other tenants he just created the account and put the outstanding bill into it and said it was my problem.

bigpink

Data Protection Laws

AhDam

Electric Ireland: Brige wrote: »

Hi AhDam,

We're sorry to read of your unhappiness with your customer experience.

It is part of Electric Ireland's policy to allow property owners and letting agents to register tenants as responsible for the electricity (and gas) supply at a property. This is in order to ensure that the supply remains at the property, unhindered, once a new occupant has taken over the premises. However, the property owner or letting agent must advise Electric Ireland that the tenant has authorised them to complete this action.

Property owners and letting agents are also not permitted to register tenants for a contract, so that the tenant can then register for savings with the supplier of their choice.

Could you advise if the property owner registered you as responsible for the electricity supply after you had moved-out of the property? Could you also advise if the property owner registered the premises in your name without your authorisation?

If so, could you please provide us with the following details by private message?

• Your full name
• Your Electric Ireland account number (if possible)
• The address of the property
• Your contact number and date of birth
• Confirmation you are the registered account holder (a sentence stating this is sufficient)
  
  

[*]
We can then look into this matter further for you.

Thanks,
Brige

________

[*]
I provided Electric Ireland with this information already. A month has passed by from me calling and explaining the situation, if a landlord or letting agent can speak for a tenant then surely he or she must be able to produce evidence that the tenant agreed to the creation of the account. Something my old landlord doesn't have, when I questioned him he actually stated that he did not have to speak on my behalf or provide the authorization for me and that it was a simple phone call. Also there are two other tenants in the house. My point is he set up up under falsified conditions in a fraudulent manner to shift a large bill into my name 23 days after I left the house. 
He is well aware that I am no longer responsible for any issues in the house and he stated that he made a mistake by giving back my deposit as well
       Checklist for the return of the security deposit The following checklist may be useful when returning or seeking the return of a security deposit. ▪ Has the correct notice of termination been provided in writing? 
▪ Has the rent been paid in full? 
▪ Have meter readings of the utilities been taken and arranged for final payment? 
▪ Have all belongings been removed? 
▪ Has the property been returned in a similar condition in which it was provided apart from normal wear and tear? 
▪ Has the property been cleaned? 
▪ Has the signed-off inventory agreed at check-in been checked to ensure that all items are present and not damaged? 
▪ Has all the rubbish been removed? 
▪ Have you taken photographs at the start and end of the tenancy?
The landlord knew for a month that I was moving out and it was almost a further month before he bothered to look into the electric bill issue 

Electric Ireland: Brige N

Hi AhDam,

We understand your frustration and we would like to look into this for you, however without the requested details we would be unable to look into this matter.

We would require that information in order to confirm when the account was set up, as well as any information regarding to billing that may be useful in resolving your query for you.

Thanks,
Brige

________

Satriale

Electric Ireland: Brige wrote: »

However, the property owner or letting agent must advise Electric Ireland that the tenant has authorised them to complete this action.

What happens if the tenant did not authorise them to do this?

Electric Ireland: Una

Hi Satriale,

Thank you for getting in touch.

This would be investigated, commencing with the call(s) being listened to.

If you have any further questions, do let us know.

Una

________

Satriale

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

Hi Satriale,

Thank you for getting in touch.

This would be investigated, commencing with the call(s) being listened to.

If you have any further questions, do let us know.

Una

________

Hi Una,

Yea, i know, but that's not really what i asked. What would be the outcome of a landlord lying to you? You listen to the tape of the landlord lying, their tenant says he hadnt permission. What's the outcome?

I'd be a bit nervous that you'd allow anybody to set up an account in my name without some kind of tangible authorisation from me personally. If i called you this minute i'd have to jump through hoops to even discuss my account.

Electric Ireland: Brige N

Hi Satriale,

Thanks for your message.

Landlords and letting agents can register a tenant however, as part of the registration request, Electric Ireland need to confirm that the landlord or letting agent has the authority to register the account on the tenant’s behalf. Once this confirmation is received, we can proceed with the registration.

Electric Ireland take instruction from a landlord in good faith that the correct information is being given at the time of registration and would have no reason to believe a landlord was giving false information.

Should the occupant advise that this authorisation was not provided, we would then be able to look into this further for the tenant. We can then provide further information on a case-by-case basis.

We must advise that while the property owner or letting agent may register a tenant at a property where Electric Ireland is already the supplier, they cannot complete a change of supplier on behalf of the occupant, and they cannot enter the occupant into a contract for any length of time.

Once the account has been registered in the tenant's name, the tenant may then choose to register for savings with Electric Ireland, if they wish, or select the supplier of their choice. Should there be a number of occupants at the premises, the registered account holder can also close their account, and have the desired occupant register as responsible for the supply instead.

Once the account is opened the property owner or letting agent can have no further access to the account, and would not be privy to any details on the account. The only action a landlord could take on the account would be to close the account in order to register the premises to themselves, or the next occupant.

We hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,
Brige

________