6 tenant billing challenges and solutions
As Christmas draws near, and the weather gets colder, electricity and heating bills are likely to rise. Alongside this, billing challenges will likely increase as well. To help you have a peaceful, stress-free holiday season, we have put together six of the most common tenant billing challenges and some simple solutions you can use if they come up this winter.
By Josh Ellison
1. Billing disputes
Billing disputes are one of the biggest tenant billing challenges for property managers. Largely the result of unclear or inaccurate billing. The reasons for those vary from ineffective metering technology to human error. However, an automatic meter reading (AMR) set-up can help reduce the likelihood of this occurring2.Old, inefficient meters
On the subject of AMR and smart meters, it is important to take regular stock of their age and resulting efficiency. Property owners and managers often inherit such equipment from the last owner of a site. That means the same equipment can often stagnate as it moves from owner to owner without being properly maintained or, better still, upgraded. Once again, check your meters and invest in replacing them if necessary.3. Historic debt
Historic debt is a particularly difficult challenge to overcome since it exists within the scope of ex-residents who can be difficult to contact – particularly if they’re aware of the outstanding bills. While rare, some services will offer to get in touch with previous property owners and perform historic data gathering. Welcome Energy has a similar service and, although we cannot assist with resolution in a legal context, our data finding can support such a resolution.
4. Late payments
Late payments can come as a result of billing disputes or from simple mistakes. Hiring an outside service to take over the billing part of your enterprise means that you’ll only need to worry about when those bills will arrive rather than if. Welcome Energy guarantees that our clients will receive these funds within a month of us having obtained them from residents.
5. Consistent record keeping
The integrity of your records rests on reliable metering technology, it is also subject to human and technical errors. Geriatric equipment like old wiring or plant-room machinery can lead to power outages that create holes in your records. This calls for a holistic view of billing and utilities use on your sites, treating each piece of equipment as part of a larger machine. An audit of your equipment is an excellent first step in taking these issues in hand.
6. Plant room miscalculations
Plant rooms are a contentious issue since they provide an excellent service but are often undermined by miscalculations. Specifically, projected running costs often do not reflect reality. Unit rates, set incorrectly, are the primary cause of this. However, a tariff check can resolve this and Welcome Energy offers that as a free service to our billing customers.
Welcome Energy specialises in providing a simple, stress-free tenant billing service along with other supporting services to make sure we can give you the best performance possible for your money. We offer guidance and insights on metering solutions and upgrades as well as providing quick and comprehensive billing to complement such hardware.
To find out how we can help you, get in touch.
