Have the utility bill checked: Who can I contact if the bill is wrong?

Created: 12/30/2022, 10:00 am

In times of the energy crisis, the billing of ancillary costs is often an unpleasant topic.

This is how you check whether the invoice is really correct.

Everything is getting more expensive, including electricity and gas.

In times of the energy crisis, it is more worthwhile than ever to take a closer look at your own utility bills.

Since everything is also becoming more expensive for the landlords, but they cannot pass the price increase on to the tenants as easily as they would like, tricks are sometimes used.

So that you are not one of those tenants who are being ripped off by your landlord, you can have your utility bills checked.

If an error has actually crept in, whether intentional or not, consumer protection will take effect and you can assert your rights.

Consumer centers and tenants' associations can help.

Ancillary cost statement (symbol image) © IMAGO/Sascha Steinach

Consumer center or tenant association: When should you contact the experts?

There can be various reasons for checking the service charge statement.

Skepticism on the part of the tenant is just one of many reasons.

It can also happen that an invoice was issued too late, that individual amounts or invoice items appear vague or unclear, that additional payments are demanded that were not agreed in the rental agreement, or that an honest mistake has simply happened.

Consumer protection can help in all of these cases, because tenants also have rights.

These rights and obligations of tenants and landlords are laid down in the German Civil Code (BGB) and the lawyers and experts in tenancy law who work for consumer centers and tenants' associations are very familiar with these laws. 

If your service charge statement seems strange to you, you should first contact your landlord.

This is required by law to make the ancillary cost accounting transparent.

However, if the landlord does not provide the necessary information, does not want to change the billing or the tenant has a bad feeling in some other way, it is worth calling in the experts.

However, this service is not entirely free unless you are already a member of a tenants' association.

If not, both consumer centers and associations can incur costs of around 60 to 80 euros per hour for extensive advice.

The best thing to do is to contact the relevant authorities in your own municipality.

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Billing details to watch out for: when consumer protection kicks in

The first detail renters should pay attention to is the billing date.

By law, landlords are obliged to send the tenant the statement no later than the twelfth month after the end of the billing period.

That means: The utility bill for 2021 must be available to the tenant by December 31, 2022 at the latest.

If the settlement comes later, the landlord no longer has the right to make any additional claims.

This regulation is intended to protect the tenant from delayed claims.

Conversely, the tenant’s credit does not expire after 12 months on this date and must still be paid out afterwards.

Exceptions: If the delay in the utility bill is demonstrably not the fault of the landlord (but, for example, that of the post office), this can be asserted under certain circumstances.

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In addition, the tenancy law experts check the utility bill for any inconsistencies.

Depending on the case, they look at the statement as a whole and at the individual items on the invoice.

These include, for example, the water supply and sewage, garbage disposal, street and house cleaning, elevator, liability, property tax, garden maintenance, winter service and costs for chimney sweeps and caretakers.

If the house has central heating, the heating costs are also part of these running costs.

The experts assess the ancillary cost billing based on the Operating Costs Ordinance (BetrKV) and can also help the tenant to take legal action if the landlord should actually have violated one of the regulations.

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Additional costs in the energy crisis: Don't fall into these billing traps

Especially in times of the energy crisis, the topic of ancillary costs is a painful one.

Gas and electricity prices are skyrocketing and are being passed on by providers to landlords, who in turn want to pass them on to tenants.

But it's not that simple.

First of all, the landlord is obliged to look for the best possible deal for his tenants.

Simply increasing the costs without further research is therefore not permitted.

But if your landlord is a trickster, he can try to compensate for the increased energy costs in other ways.

Make sure that there are no "other" or "general operating costs" listed on your utility bill in addition to the ones already mentioned.

The landlord is obliged to make the cost centers transparent and general formulations have no place on utility bills.

You should also keep a close eye on excessive "personal contributions by the landlord" as well as "repairs and maintenance".

From 2023, landlords will also have to contribute to the CO2 tax for heating and thus pay part of the additional costs.