Park home resident being charged 69p a unit for elec!

kez1322

Parents live in a park home- elec/water bill gone from £145 to £380 and site owner now saying unit rate for elec is 69p! says the price cap has ended so gone up. Looking online at average business rates this 69p is double!. 69p seems very very expensive. Her neighbor has been round in tears and all residents are 65+... does this 69p seem too high and any advice on finding out what he actually pays? I know by law they cannot charge residents more than they pay for it? thanks

Hannah_Alumni

Hello @kez1322

Welcome to the community! This is unfortunately not my area of expertise but Scope has a Disability Energy Support service. I think reaching out to them would help your query  

MW123

Hello Kez1322

Your post does not specify the frequency at which your parents have to pay their service charge demand whether it is yearly, half-yearly, or quarterly. I agree with you that the increase in price from £145 to £380 for electricity and water bills is indeed significant. The claim made by the site owner that the unit rate for electricity is 69p, which is double the average business rates you found on-line, does seem unusually high. However, it's important to consider that electricity prices can vary depending on factors such as location and the type of contract. 

I was surprised to read your question about whether there is a way to find out how much the site owner pays. The residents should request an itemised bill from the site owner that clearly breaks down the charges for electricity and water. This will help them understand the basis for the increase and ensure transparency. The site owner is legally obligated to provide this information upon request and cannot charge for providing it.

 

rebel11

That is ridiculous, do some investigating, see if you can find out what residents of other sites are paying. Contact the Council, see what they suggest, it's not as if you can shop around.

https://www.nacoservices.com/blog/holiday-parks-energy-bill-relief-scheme

https://www.gov.uk/park-mobile-homes/charges

2oldcodgers

rebel11 said:

That is ridiculous, do some investigating, see if you can find out what residents of other sites are paying. Contact the Council, see what they suggest, it's not as if you can shop around.

It all depends on whether the water and electricity is being billed direct to the resident from the main supplier or that the park home owners are 'buying' it direct themselves and then billing the residents. If the latter then the argument you have is with the park owners as they can charge what they want.

kez1322

they pay the park owner...he has business tariff and so they then have to have the business tariff even though the live in a "residential" park home. its not as though the site has a club house/business premises..the site is solely residential park homes. they are sent a bill with readings as each park home has a meter connected to the park supply and the  park owner reads this then sends them  bill. he bills them every 3 months...they knew there would be increases but 69p is extortion...I have told them to ask what the tariff is as if fixed its even worse as energy prices seem to be coming down 

2oldcodgers

kez1322 said:

they pay the park owner...he has business tariff and so they then have to have the business tariff even though the live in a "residential" park home. its not as though the site has a club house/business premises..the site is solely residential park homes. they are sent a bill with readings as each park home has a meter connected to the park supply and the  park owner reads this then sends them  bill. he bills them every 3 months...they knew there would be increases but 69p is extortion...I have told them to ask what the tariff is as if fixed its even worse as energy prices seem to be coming down 

So what you are doing is compensating the park owner for what he/she has paid on your behalf to the supplier. You don't have a supply agreement with the power/water company - you pay what you use at the same rate (if you are lucky and the park owner does not add a service/management charge on top of what the owner pays).
Whether you are a residential owner on a residential site if your park owner has to pay at a business rate then so must you.

chiarieds

I live in a residential Park Home, & our electricity price has almost doubled, but from 28 to 49p per unit. It will all depend on the contract the site owner has, but he must resell at the tariff that he pays, & no more. We were forewarned of the price increase as soon as he knew, & asked him how long the contract was for; this is a short one as he's hoping prices come down. It might be worthwhile for your parents to ask how long their site owner's contract is for.

2oldcodgers

chiarieds said:

I live in a residential Park Home, & our electricity price has almost doubled, but from 28 to 49p per unit. It will all depend on the contract the site owner has, but he must resell at the tariff that he pays, & no more. We were forewarned of the price increase as soon as he knew, & asked him how long the contract was for; this is a short one as he's hoping prices come down. It might be worthwhile for your parents to ask how long their site owner's contract is for. 

The devil will be in the detail as to how much you pay the site owner. Most simply want to just recover what they have paid on your behalf. However if the  contract you have with the site owner states that they are to charge a management fee to cover their costs in collecting and administering the money then they can put an add on to the bill.