Key topic - Utility bills
Award
£1000
Resolved by
Early resolution
What happened?
The complainant tenant said:
- all five tenants signed a joint tenancy agreement back in May that had conflicting clauses in it
- they sent an email asking for an explanation which was before the move in date
- the agent insisted bills were not included and if they did not agree to set up a direct debit they would lose the house
- the agent then sent an email saying a third party was taking ownership and they were not responsible for bills and asking the tenants to sign an attached addendum
- they were unlikely to find alternative accommodation at this late stage, so moved in but still believe they are not responsible for paying utility bills, which would add approximately £5000 more to the tenancy costs
The agent responded, saying:
- the agreements are created manually and there was an error on the original agreement signed by the tenants
- the addendum was sent to the tenants three days later which they signed, accepting the original mistake
- the addendum said that the tenants would be responsible for paying all utility bills and an outstanding amount is now growing
What evidence was provided?
Tenancy agreement, tenancy agreement addendum, website advertisement, communications
What was decided and why?
- The body of the tenancy agreement says that the tenants are responsible for paying all water, gas, electric, light and power
- An additional ‘extra’ condition excluded gas, electric, water, broadband and TV licence, saying a third-party company would be managing this
- The tenant emailed the agent, querying the conflicting clauses and the following communications show that the agent reaffirmed their position, saying that bills were not included in the rent and if they did not agree to pay, they would lose the house
- Two days later, the agent sent an email advising that they had made a mistake and confirming that bills were included in the rent, asking all five tenants to sign and return the attached addendum
- When the tenants raised the issue again, three months later, producing the agent’s email saying that bills were included in the rent as evidence, the agent did not respond
- The agent was found to have fallen short of their duty of care and had acted unreasonably because:
- they had advertised and marketed the property with ‘all bills included’ which was misleading and incorrect in the circumstances and all other evidence
- the tenancy agreement contained conflicting clauses and was only discovered when the tenants queried them
- the email with the addendum attachment also said that ‘all bills are included’
- Had the agent not provided misleading and conflicting material information with their marketing materials and tenancy agreement, the tenant may have made a different decision to rent the property. With the lack of clarity and poor service, the tenants were entitled to £1000 compensation.
How can you avoid this happening in future?
- Marketing must include all relevant material information, be accurate and not misleading
- All documents should be proofread and double checked for accuracy before sending to tenants
- A duty of care is owed to both the agent’s landlord client and the tenant
- All communication should be clear and transparent, with responses to any queries sent in a reasonable time
