Your Rights As a Tenant to Access Electricity Meter—Explained

Are you aware of your rights as a tenant regarding energy supply? Your rights as a tenant include choosing your energy supplier if you're the one paying. Most energy suppliers enter into a contract with their customers. However, defining a customer is the first step to determining if you can file a complaint or a subsequent lawsuit in case of a breach of agreement—in this case, refusal of access to your electricity meter.

The doctrine of privy stipulates that a contract can only impose rights and obligations on the parties to the contract. Once you establish yourself as a party to the contract, you can attempt to defend your tenant's right to access electricity meters within your rental property.

DoNotPay can help you brush over the finer details to establish your . Read below to find out how you can access the electricity meter.

Can You Access the Electricity Meter?

if you are paying the electricity bills. When looking around the property before the start of your tenancy, you can request to be shown the location of the meters since they can be hidden in some odd locations.

Most landlords tend to argue that they are in contract with the energy providers and, as such, access to electricity meters should be restricted to them. However, since most landlords give up payment of energy suppliers to their tenants upon signing the tenancy agreement, it is only logical that they should allow full access to meters for individual readings.

Who Can Grant You Access to Electricity Meters?

Typical building management provides services to either the landlord or the building owner. In most cases, the building management doesn't usually owe anything to tenants directly. Regardless, your first point of contact regarding any matters concerning your life in the apartments is the landlord.

A landlord can tell the building management what to do directly (if they also own the building) or via the building owner. Therefore, if a tenant cares to keep their tenants happy, they can convince the building management directly or indirectly to allow you access to the electricity meters. Once you enter a new property as a tenant, ensure you make it known that you have every intention to access the electricity.

Tips on Asking Your Landlord for Access to Electricity Meter

Here are a few tips on how to ask your landlord for access to your electricity meter:

Be specific about the problem	Your landlord is more likely to take you seriously if you can articulate the problem. Include as many details as possible, such as how it affects your daily life and how it will affect your decisions.
Put it in writing	It can be helpful to put your request in writing, either via email or snail mail. This way, you have a paper trail of your communications with your landlord.
Be polite	Even if you're frustrated, it's important to remain polite when dealing with your landlord. Remember, they have the power to evict you if they so choose. So try to keep the anger out of your voice and avoid making demands.
Give them a reasonable timeframe	Allow time for your landlord to organise things. It might take preparation to provide you access to the electricity meter.

What Should You Do if You Are Denied Access to Electricity Meter?

If you have been denied access to the electricity meter, you can file a complaint with whoever claims to be in charge of accessing the meter on behalf of the tenants. If access is still denied, consult a legal adviser on the best way to demand access to the electricity meter. However, for a more effective approach, reach out to DoNotPay to help you claim your tenant's right to access the electricity meter.

DoNotPay Can Help Demand Your Right to Access the Electricity Meter

As a tenant, you require access to every amenity at your disposal within the rental property. Accessing your electricity meter is your right, especially since doing so can help you make fundamental decisions within the said property.

Fortunately, you don't have to handle the pressures of a back and forth correspondence with your landlord or energy provider on your right to access the electricity meter. Here is how DoNotPay can help you solve the issue.

Search for and open the Landlord Protection product on DoNotPay.
Select which issue applies to you.
Answer a simple set of questions so our chatbot can collect the necessary information to create your demand letter.
Choose whether you want DoNotPay to send the demand letter to your landlord or roommate on your behalf. If you already tried sending a demand letter and it didn't work, we can help you start the small claims court process.

Sign up with DoNotPay to help you determine and demand your access levels to amenities and tools within the rental property.

Why Use DoNotPay to Solve Any Landlord Tenancy Issues?

There are many reasons to use DoNotPay, but there’s an overview. DoNotPay is:

Fast. You don't have to spend hours or days following up with your demand.
Easy. You don't have to fill in any forms or keep track of every request and application you make.
Successful. DoNotPay is an effective solution to your landlord tenancy challenges.

DoNotPay Provides Multiple Solutions and Services

DoNotPay is an expert Robo lawyer with expertise and experience in providing full-package landlord protection. Regardless of any tenancy or landlord situation, DoNotPay can fix it. These include, but are not limited to:

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

Providing landlord protection services isn't the only thing DoNotPay can help you with. Additional services you can request from DoNotPay include:

If you have any trouble accessing your electricity meter or any other amenities, DoNotPay has got you sorted. Sign up with DoNotPay to define and defend your right to access your electricity meter.