WE MAKE IT HAPPEN. A CASE STUDY.

We often talk about the bigger and wider issues involved in managing a residential block. Yet alongside the overall building maintenance and repair, service charge management and day to day running of each place, are other essential costs that need to be managed and monitored.

It was therefore of interest to us when we came across a large discrepancy in electrical billing when taking over a new client’s building. The building itself is not huge covering only 7 flats – where some of our residences have 100+ tenants. It is easy to believe that nothing of significance could occur for accommodation of this size. But as you will see, this is far from the case.

SERIOUS ELECTRICAL BILLING DISCREPANCY – FOR A LONDON BLOCK

When we took over the building in question, there was a huge and disproportionate outstanding electrical bill that was causing a big headache for all concerned. We set about reviewing the available data, tracing the metering all the way back to installation in 2015.

Track forward to 2026 and the outstanding sum for this modest building’s shared electricity supply for the communal areas had reached a startling £40K. This sum was immediately unjustifiable and unfathomable – and clearly a major red flag. The records we were able to acquire showed that in the course of the earlier years, the billing had been a relatively small and predictable amount. Meantime, the managing agent had changed hands as did the electricity supplier. It is during these cross overs that things got out of phase.

MIH working in conjunction with our own preferred utilities supplier, analysed the billing and were able to extrapolate a more feasible outstanding sum. This, taking into account the maximum possible billing for such a small usage. This information was shared with the electrical supplier making the demand, who by now had set the bailiffs upon the matter.

After some hesitant negotiations and ignored emails, MIH finally referred the matter to the Ombudsman detailing the original annual billings, the expected billing in the period in question and the extortionate bill that had been issued.
In the course of the confusion, incorrect estimated readings had been passed from one electrical supplier to the next. The incoming supplier made further assumptions based on the incorrect one and presumed that the meter must have rolled over and started again from zero.

This meant that an additional 65,590 units of usage has been invoiced which equates to a mind-boggling £23,000.
Woe betide anyone who should trigger the hall lights when returning home from work, every single footstep would incur a fee. Fortunately, with MIH the driving force behind the wheel, the case went in our client’s favour.

THE OUTCOME – REFUND AGREED

The net result is that the Ombudsman agreed with our assessment and the outstanding fee will be reduced considerably and returned to the usual expected annual billing. Although there is an outstanding debt to be squared with the services fees, nevertheless, the situation is now firmly back in control and will be monitored as per MIH’s standard process to ensure it cannot occur again. This is just one of the many tasks that our team handles on a regular basis as we manage our portfolio of block residences.

MIH – ALWAYS HERE

We are diligent, we are watchful and we take good care of all of the properties under our umbrella, large and small. If things do crop up, we’re ready to take action and resolve the matter ASAP. We are an independent agency, not part of a large sprawling chain.

Our team are multi-skilled and highly experienced, and we’re all based here on-site, together. In this way we put our heads together to find the fastest and most efficient solutions. This gives us a huge competitive advantage over our more disparate competitors.