What should you know about the annual energy and utility calculation?
The beginning of the new year means, for owners and tenants of apartments and houses, among other things, the preparation of the annual energy and utility calculation. For both parties, this can be a demanding task – for first, how to prepare it correctly and for the other, how to understand it. We would like to summarize the basic rules that apply to both parties in the following article.
First, let's start with the most important thing, the annual billing of services related to the use of an apartment is governed by Act No. 67/2013 Coll., which, states that the service provider (landlord, SVJ, energy company, etc.) is obliged to calculate the actual amount of costs and advances payments for individual services to the recipient of services for the billing period (usually a calendar year). This must be delivered no later than 4 months from the end of the billing period, most often by April 30 of the following year. Any overpayments and underpayments that arise must be settled within 4 months of the delivery of the bill. The recipient has the right to complain about the bill, within 30 days. We recommend that all complaints be submitted in writing.
What should the calculation contain? Quite simply, it will state the amount of costs for individual services, the amount of advances payment received, the meter readings from the beginning and end of the period, and the overpayment or underpayment that arose. What services can the owner charge you? These are water, gas, electricity, heat, gas, waste, maintenance of common areas, specifically e.g. internet, etc. What the tenant cannot be charged is home insurance, repair fund or costs of mandatory inspections.
As the owner, we want sent the document to the tenant which will clearly show the prices per unit, their number and the total price of one service. If something is not clear to you as a tenant, can ask for an explanation and see the original invoices. We recommend sending these invoices as part of the bill automatically to avoid misunderstandings.
Finally, we would like to remind you of the difference between a flat-rate payment for services and energy and an advance payment. If you pay a flat-rate payment, the apartment owner is not obliged to provide you with a bill, it does not change according to consumption. The opposite is true for advance payments.
