Landlords face paying tenants’ unpaid energy bills

Reply to the comment left by David at 01/11/2026 – 17:28
all respect to Mick for building his mega portfolio. but is that a good thing? if no landlords took HB would there been less scroungers and benefits abusers?

Reply to the comment left by David at 01/11/2026 – 17:27
MY BETTER HALF DOES THIS AND SHE SAYS NO DIFFICULTIES. SHE TELLS THE UTILITY THAT WE ARE NOW RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BILLS AND THEY TAKE THE OPENING READING (WHICH IS THE TENANTS CLOSING READING).

Has no one got smart meters? The energy companies know exactly what the reading is every 30 minutes. Lots of them are capable of having multiple accounts on one app. I currently use Octopus, Fuse and E.on Next and they can all deal with multiple properties.

If an energy company allows a tenant to build up a big debt that’s their problem. Their slack management. How can they then hold the landlord in any way responsible if they haven’t either warned the landlord there’s a problem or done anything to address the problem themselves? When I change utility provider they usually carry out a credit check. I was even forced to pay 4 months up front by one company (PFP Energy) a few years ago even though I had a perfect credit score and a big credit balance on another account with them. How are these rogue tenants passing these initial checks?
I don’t know why prepayment meters aren’t used far more often. The current top up options are so much more convenient than they used to be. One of my tenants got a low balance alert while I was with him one day and it was simply tap, tap, tap on his phone to top it up. No having to walk round to the local shop in the rain only to find the top up machine is out of order.
Maybe the solution is for all of us to get smart meters in our rental properties next time we have a change of tenant and ask for them to be set up as PAYG. If the utility company then allows the tenant to switch to a credit account that would presumably be totally at their risk? I can understand the controversy of forcing entry to fit prepayment meters for customers already severely in arrears but for new tenancies what’s the problem? On a standard credit contract the utility companies take loads of money up front. I’m between £200 and £450 in credit on all of my Octopus and Eon accounts at the moment. What difference does it make if a tenant simply tops up at whatever interval they choose? Why should they be allowed to use energy they have no intention of paying for? Actually knowing how much heating costs per day would probably make many of them realise an extra jumper or a heated blanket is a cost effective option. Octopus even give them the electric blanket.

ACTUALLY OCTOPUS STATE:
Our heated throws scheme is there to support customers most in need, particularly people with really specific vulnerabilities and medical needs. To make sure the blankets are getting into the right hands, we’ll be prioritising those customers.

If you are struggling with your bills, please do contact us, as there are other ways we can help.

Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 01/11/2026 – 19:38

That’s maybe the main problem. Benefit tenants who’s doing a bunk, their reading & dates are not to be believed & that’s where the time process starts.

Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 01/11/2026 – 19:38
As yet we are not responsible for tenant’s debts and if they refuse to take readings that’s their problem.

Reply to the comment left by David at 02/11/2026 – 11:39
This is correct…but what the first line of the post at the top of this article says is “Landlords COULD become liable for their tenants’ gas and electricity bills if energy suppliers are left without ACCURATE DETAILS when occupants move”.

And what this means is that landlords and their agents need to be taking ACCURATE DETAILS from tenants now if they were not already doing it. The truth is that Labour’s Renters Rights Act has significantly increased landlords’ risks anyway if they aren’t already doing much more stringent credit-referencing checks and also retaining sufficient tenant identification details to be able to pursue a claim via Money Claims Online.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 02/11/2026 – 11:56
Moneyclaim is a very useful facility for giving a Tennant a CCJ. It is useless for recovering money.

Reply to the comment left by The_Maluka at 02/11/2026 – 12:25
And whether using Money Claim Online or a debt collector, to have some chance of getting unpaid rent back landlords are going to need National Insurance number and accurate identification details (solicitor-validated copies of passport, driving licence, recent telephone contract from a non-burner phone, recent bank statements, statements from HMRC). Clearly if some tenants are falsely using landlord details on their utility bills then recent utility bills aren’t going to be much use to validate identification anymore. Money Claim Online (or the threat of using it) may become more relevant and useful if tenants abusing the system start to realise that their sins will find them out and they won’t be able to find anywhere to live anymore if they don’t pay their bills.

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 05:42
It’s why the landlord/agent must take readings on the date the tenant vacates. I did that the day my tenant was evicted and sent it to the energy supplier.