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19th November 2018, 02:02 PM
#1
Massive Water Bills
Hi all,
I've been renting my current property for almost 3 years. The landlord used to be really good at sending through water bills each month. After a leak we didn't get one for months (to be fair it was in our favour because he paid the extra water and handled the refund etc). I chased him and received 6 months of bills in one hit.
I paid them, but told the landlord please send me bills monthly going forward, to avoid a large cost in one hit. That was April 2017. I have not received a bill since. I have emailed and text him multiple times to chase, he always apologises and says he will send them.
Now I am moving out of my property and he says he will get me all the overdue water bills. I do not want this to drag out or to risk my bond, but I feel it is unreasonable and unfair to lump us with 19 months of water bills when I have specifically asked to pay them as he receives them each month. On average we spend $20-40 per month, so we are looking at $600.
What would you do?
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19th November 2018, 05:19 PM
#2
I'd probably just pay them and move on, you used the water and knew that the bills were coming, even if he didn't forward them.
I want to say that it's a little strange that he didn't send the bills when you asked, but I haven't received the year-end breakdown of costs (including water!) for the flat that we rent in Germany for almost 4 years.
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19th November 2018, 05:28 PM
#3
I agree - pay for what you used. For the future if anything similar started happening, I would put the approximate amount in a savings account each month, to have it ready when needed, and get some interest.
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20th November 2018, 09:59 AM
#4
Hi all, thank you for your advice. Sound advice that we should have put money aside in preparation.
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20th November 2018, 11:17 AM
#5
Sorry it's too late to help with THIS time. I had a similar thing happen many years ago, and also learnt the hard way.
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21st November 2018, 09:34 PM
#6
Legally they can’t invoice you in arrears 19 months. I had a landlord try this after they failed to forward the water bills on for nearly 3 years. Took it to tenancy tribunal for recommendation and they said more than 6 months was excessive, real estate lawyer agreed, took it to my local ombudsman, they said 3 months... took this information to the landlord and settled on 3 months.
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