My landlord has 'paid' my electric bill and now wants £660 from me!!

[PadSpin]

I'm a tenant in a one-bedroomed flat on a 'utility-excluded' basis.

I've had a letter from my landlord saying that he has paid my electricity bill for the last year and that he now wants me to re-imburse him for £660, which seems extortionate to me!

He has sent me a copy of the bill for the whole house amounting to £2,000 and some illegibly scribbled calculations producing the magic figure of £660.

I have 2 queries:

1) Isn't the onus on him to prove my consumption rather than expecting me to pay a random figure.

2) Should I make him an offer to pay either half or a round figure of £400 as the amount that a 1-bed flat could reasonably expect to consume in a year?

All thoughts gratefully received...

[Conniff]

I wouldn't make him an offer, I would want to see the bill. Have you ever had a bill of your own, if not how do you come to the £400 figure?

Is there just the one meter for the whole building?

[ATD]

Assuming you have no individual meter to record consumption in your flat, then the landlord will need to apportion usage between everyone. There are a few ways in which he could do this, e.g. on a pro-rate basis based on floor space of each flat, or by the energy ratings of appliances in the flats.

He has to show that he has determined the apportioning of the bills in a fair way, and can not charge more per unit than he has actually paid.

You could have a look at this leaflet from OFGEM which explains it all in a much clearer way than I could! It's actually guidance for resellers, but gives some good examples of how to work out the "splitting" of the bill between tenants.