Landlord withheld % of deposit for bill - bill not paid

[siasia]

Hi all,

 

New to the forum, but hope that someone may be able to offer some advice.

 

I find myself in a dificult situation, where I beleive that my old landlord has withheld a percentage of my deposit to pay an electricity bill, that was never paid.

 

My story is almost over a year old, and my flatmate of the time has disappeard. But this is essentially what I know -

 

I moved out of my flat, and my deposit was withheld in its entirity to pay an outstanding electricity bill.

 

Part of the deposit (around 70%) was used to pay the bill - as it was so long ago, I simply do not remember the specifics.

 

The rest of the deposit was returned to myself and my old flatmate (via my old flatmate).

 

Almost a year later, the electricity company have 'caught up' with me, saying that the bill our withheld deposit should have covered, was never paid, and it has been passed on to a debt collection agency.

 

I contacted the 'My Deposit' scheme who managed my deposit, who confirmed that our deposit was returned to the landlord in full, but as so long has passed, they can not confirm numbers.

 

I've tried to contact the landlord, but he is playing dumb.. and I do not know what to do! I am really angry that this has happened, but am in a hard place, as my flatmate has moved away, and I can not ask her to confirm things, as she dealt with almost everything. I now have a £600 bill to pay, when it should already have been paid..

 

Does anyone have any advice they can offer?

 

Thank you for reading, sorry about my own War & Peace story..

 

 

Siasia.

[mariner51]

Since utility co contacted you, it suggests bill was in Ts name and their liability, not LLs.

IF elec co pursued LL for unpaid bill, he has every right to to refuse payment if account in Ts name.

You cannot assume LL will use deposit to pay for legally enforceable utility bills against Ts.

I suggest deposit deductions were for other other damages/rent arrears unless you can provide evidence to contrary.

[Steve__M]

where I beleive that my old landlord has withheld a percentage of my deposit to pay an electricity bill, that was never paid.

 

It does sound like you are very uncertain about what the deposit was withheld for.

 

If it was a case of your LL withholding the deposit and you thinking that you had nothing to lose because the LL would be forced to pay the electricity bill, then you are mistaken for reasons given above.

 

It may be that the LL has scãmmed you. Your problem is proving it though.

 

Without good evidence I think you have a problem because most people will realise that a) the landlord would not be responsible for the electricity bill and b) if what you say is true, most people would have checked back with the electricity company to confirm that the bill was in fact settled.

[Ed999]

The starting point is this: what does your tenancy agreement say?

 

Take it to a Solicitor and obtain his advice as to who is liable to pay the electricity bills under the terms agreed.

 

If the tenancy agreement makes the tenant liable to pay the bill for electricity, then the landlord can not have deducted money from your rent deposit in order to pay an electricity bill. If he is not liable for payment, the electricity company will have sent the bills to you, not to him, so he would not even know about any unpaid charges that you owe.

 

So, in that situation, what you are suggesting does not make sense. If you were getting the bills, he could not have known about the amount of any arrears.

 

And that is the usual situation. The tenant is normally the one on whom the letting agreement imposes the duty to pay all outgoings, such as electricity.

 

Only if all payments are pre-paid by cash, in an electricity meter, will a tenancy agreement not need to impose on the tenant a duty to pay.