Your landlord can only charge you for gas or electricity if your tenancy agreement says they can.

Check your tenancy agreement to find out if you have to pay your landlord for energy, and on what terms.

Your landlord can’t charge you for gas or electricity if you pay your supplier directly.

Your landlord can't charge you more than they’ve paid for gas and electricity - this is called the 'maximum resale price. This amount includes:

• the units of energy you've used (for example, the kilowatt hours you've used for electricity)
• your share of the standing charge (a flat fee charged on every energy contract)
• the VAT owed (5% for energy)

If your home doesn’t have an energy meter that records how much energy you’ve used, your landlord must estimate as accurately as possible how much you should pay. However, it’s rare that a home won’t have its own meter.

If you think your landlord has overcharged you, ask them for a copy of the bill and ask them to explain how they worked out the charges.

If they’ve charged you more than the maximum resale price, you can ask them to:

• lower the charge to the correct amount
• refund you the difference if you’ve already paid

If you can’t resolve the dispute, you can try to get the money by bringing a claim against your landlord in the small claims court for the amount you’ve been overcharged plus interest.

If you pay your energy bills, your supplier will usually need regular readings from your gas or electricity meter to work out your bills. If you don’t send them readings, they’ll estimate your usage. This means your bill might be too high or low.

Call your supplier to give them the readings - or check if you can submit one on their website or app.

You can find out more about how to read your meter here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-energy-meter/how-to-read-your-energy-meter/

It’s usually cheaper to pay your bills by direct debit. You should contact your energy supplier to find out how to set this up.

If you’re struggling to pay your energy bills, you should talk to your supplier to try to agree on a payment plan. You should try to negotiate a deal that works for you.

If you don’t contact them to negotiate a deal, they might threaten to disconnect your supply. If this happens to you, you should contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline, and ask to speak to the Energy Team:

0808 223 1133

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Lines are closed on bank holidays.

Tell your supplier that you want to pay off your debts in instalments as part of a payment plan.

You’ll pay fixed amounts over a set period of time, meaning you’ll pay what you can afford. The payment plan will cover what you owe plus an amount for your current use.

Your supplier must take into account:

• how much you can afford to pay - give them details about your income and outgoings, debts and personal circumstances
• how much energy you’ll use in future - they’ll estimate this based on your past usage, but give them regular meter readings to make this more accurate

You may also find it useful to speak to the Durham University Student Money Adviser, who can help you with budgeting, debt and other financial advice. To self-refer, email the following form to studentmoneyadviser@durham.ac.uk.