Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent energy companies from attempting to recover debt that customers have inherited from previous tenants.

Residential tenants are responsible for paying energy bills from the start date of their tenancy only. Incoming tenants will not be responsible for any unpaid energy bills from a previous tenancy and can request a new bill from their supplier to reflect this if they have been billed incorrectly.

With regard to non-domestic tenants, Ofgem's recent non-domestic market review found some issues with changing of tenancies, including debt repayment issues from previous tenants. The Retail Energy Code Company is working on new rules in this area and aims to publish a solution overview and draft legal text by early December.