Landlords lose the Zero Tariff with the energy companies

Landlords lose the Zero Tariff with the energy companies

8:10 AM, 30th October 2013, About 11 years ago 4

Text Size

Most savvy landlords will have negotiated with their energy providers, so that in between tenants the tariff automatically reverts to a zero tariff. This was not advertised widely for obvious reasons. It avoids annoying bills for 46p (or even £2.46!) to cover standing charges for a couple of days. It also means that if you are renovating for a couple of weeks you pay just for the energy that you use whilst you are doing that. Some companies overlook small amounts anyway – but not all and in any event it can take an extra ten minutes on the phone whilst organising the changeover of tenants. Landlords lose the Zero Tariff with the energy companies

I have just discovered that two of the providers that I use SWALEC and British Gas are abandoning this tariff, even for landlords, even for short periods, because of the new legislation. If I can find one provider who will continue with this then I will transfer all of my accounts across my whole portfolio, as it is just such a pain. It is not just the money, as the smaller the amount the more irritating it becomes, wasting paper, postage and time etc

I recently put up a BTL property for sale and if this had been in place it would have cost for every week that it was on the market. The other option would have been to cut off all the supplies, leaving the new owner (or tenant if applying it to void periods) to pay a huge re-connection fee.

I think it is disgusting that over the last few years the rules have changed so that we now have to pay for Water Rates, Council Tax and the latest – energy bills – when the place is unoccupied and even, in some cases, uninhabitable. I can’t see that this battle has been fought and it cannot be right. Can it?

Has anyone found a company that will continue to overlook small amounts between tenancies or who will continue with the zero tariff?

If one of them chooses to do this then I think it will be a winner.

Regards

Gilly


Share This Article


Comments

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

8:12 AM, 30th October 2013, About 11 years ago

Hi Gilly

Perhaps I'm not as savvy as I should be LOL

Seriously, I've missed this trick.

I will be very interested in the outcome of this discussion though as those tiny bills are an admin nightmare.
.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

9:30 AM, 30th October 2013, About 11 years ago

Seems I am not the only fool in the village after all LOL


.

Neil Patterson

17:18 PM, 31st October 2013, About 11 years ago

There is going to be a lot of Political pressure on the energy companies in the next few weeks so it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Jay James

20:12 PM, 31st October 2013, About 11 years ago

Ebico Limited
https://www.ebico.org.uk/

One tariff for all.
No standing charges.
Single unit charge for each of gas and electric, two for economy seven.
No recovery of standing charges through two tier unit charges.
Method of payment makes zero difference to charges.
One unit charge for electric per region.
One unit charge for gas for whole country.

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now