Hi again all, another quickie hopefully!
A tenant moves into a property with an LPG tank for the gas supply. The landlord arranges topping up the gas, and bills the tenant accordingly. The AST states that the tank must be left full upon leaving. On moving in, the landlord tops up the tank, and invoices the tenant for this top up. The tenant refuses to pay this bill, on the basis that they have to leave the tank full, so they should not have to pay for it being full. The landlord is now refusing to get gas supplied until this invoice is paid. Other points of note: tenant has paid every other LPG bill, just not the initial one, and the tenant is also in rent arrears.
Questions:
- What is the legality, generally, of withholding the gas supply in this way due to arrears(whether disputed or not) of the gas?
- Presumably, the gas cannot be withheld due to the rent arrears alone?
- Am I right in my personal thinking that they should pay the bill, as the term making them top the tank up prior to vacating is unenforceable? And the gas they will be paying for is, after all, gas they will be using?
A tenant moves into a property with an LPG tank for the gas supply. The landlord arranges topping up the gas, and bills the tenant accordingly. The AST states that the tank must be left full upon leaving. On moving in, the landlord tops up the tank, and invoices the tenant for this top up. The tenant refuses to pay this bill, on the basis that they have to leave the tank full, so they should not have to pay for it being full. The landlord is now refusing to get gas supplied until this invoice is paid. Other points of note: tenant has paid every other LPG bill, just not the initial one, and the tenant is also in rent arrears.
Questions:
- What is the legality, generally, of withholding the gas supply in this way due to arrears(whether disputed or not) of the gas?
- Presumably, the gas cannot be withheld due to the rent arrears alone?
- Am I right in my personal thinking that they should pay the bill, as the term making them top the tank up prior to vacating is unenforceable? And the gas they will be paying for is, after all, gas they will be using?
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