Community Utilities

Horrible! Would give one star if I could. Tariff far above price cap, with no customer service or assistance. Harassing debt recovery team, impossible to deal with. Changed how much I supposedly owed on a monthly basis with no ability to provide proof of a ledger. Absolutely horrible experience. Avoid at all costs.

If I could give no stars I would, it’s a horrible company that robs people. I’ve dealt with them on 2 separate occasions and it’s been issues with billing each time and with me being over charged. The company is a joke and should be shut down!!

If you are looking at renting from a building that uses Community Utilities, turn and run. They charge an unfathomably high service charge on top of your utility price and only get away with it because they're not technically billing a utility by Ofgem's definition (because it's a communal heating system). They charge us nearly £1 per DAY on top of the actual energy cost, which they also overcharge for (they use a "industry standard" Heat Efficiency Factor calculated 50 years ago based on buildings of that age). I'm not qualified to comment on the HEF calculation, but I think it's clear that things have changed in 50 years, and regardless the service charge is the real issue as it dwarfs our energy costs. Their billing system is constantly down for maintenance; the billing system is impossible to use and their invoices are confusing and misleading. They do the absolute bare minimum (arguably below, considering the number of times they messed up our bill in the year I've used them) and charge an obscene amount for the privilege. They are so far behind even the worst actual utility companies, who are at least subject to consumer protection and regulation. Shame on them, and shame on neglectful landlords who use them -- particularly Legal and General in our case who you would expect better from.

Dreadful company. Invoices two weeks late almost every month. Billing errors, no direct debit option. terrible custumer service. AVOID. would give zero if possible.

This company is trying to exploit a loophole that they know are borderline illegal, and if I take them to court I would definitely win, I just don't have the time to. (And it's only a matter of time before someone else does) Collating from my own experience and other reviews, they dish out meaningless price increases and surcharges, makes no effort to communicate the electric bills (which violate OFGEM rules), and then hit tenants of apartment buildings with a large bill at an awkward time. They also offer no alternatives other than themselves, which means no valid consent was given to them to act as the "billing agent". I myself had been billed with >£1k in bill AFTER moving out, without any warning. After calling (and calls not going through) and then being ignored and poorly handled by many different agents, I have finally decided that their business practise was unethical, wasting my time, threatening my health and wellbeing by wasting my energy. On the bright side, they didn't even bother to keep track of my previous communications and whether or not I have logged into my account to view the bills, so they actually can't say that they've given me sufficient notice, or have billed me correctly, because they haven't given me any evidence that my meter reading was the "actual meter reading" taken by their staff. Everytime they send me a "reminder" email to pay my bills, I just ignore them, or send them an angry email in reply. In the end, they can't send me to debt collections (they don't have my address), nor does it affect my credit score (they are terrible at keeping records, and even if they have the record, I'm happy to take them to court/ tell my bank that they're scamming and that I didn't sign a contract to pay them, so I don't owe them anything). And just remember: you only need to ignore then for a year and you're scot free: (from Ofgem website)"You can't be charged for gas or electricity used more than 12 months ago if you have not been correctly billed for it, or informed about it via a statement of account, before." In conclusion: Ask to see a copy of the contract & terms of conditions with YOUR signature on it, and see how they shriek and tremble in terror upon realizing that they have no legal grounds to charge you.

ABSOLUTE SCAMMERS!! We were charged £200 for one month in a one bed apartment and we have never used the heating or dishwasher. Now that we have left community utilities our bills are less than £100 a month. Absolute joke of a company!!! Our entire apartment complex had the same issues. They basically send you an invoice for a random ridiculous amount each month and hope you pay it. STAY AWAY!!

I’d give it zero if I could. Enough said.

This is not an energy company, it's a broker. They're an absolute sham of a company and charge ridiculous prices. They often make mistakes and charge through the roof. If you're moving into a property that uses this as the energy provider avoid like the plague! They're awful

I’ve been with community utilities for over 2 years and the service has been very good. Quick response to queries and swift correction of any errors.

This company has made multiple invoice mistakes, attempting to charge me extra when they actually owed me money. I have to spend extra time going through every unit charge on every invoice just to make sure I’m not being financially robbed. I do not trust this company or their competency or their customer service.

This company is beyond greedy and is absolutely morally bankrupted. It charges ridiculous amount of money with fictional numbers on our bills instead of the actual consumption record and try to get away with lie after lie after lie. (1) It overcharged 40% more of our actual heat consumption, and it's not an occasional error, it's three years in a row. (2) More than 50% of the bill is from the so-called "metering" charge, which amounts over £600 a year for a tiny studio. And they never produce a single correct bill based on real meter readings that we kept records on all the time. (3) Customer service is appalling if exists at all - they either hired the extremely incompetent and morally bankrupted or have tuned themselves into such caliber. The existence of this company is a myth. Moved out of the building a while ago and our energy bill reduced to one third of what we have been charged living there. Avoid this company, and landlord agencies binding with this company at all cost - it's a scam chain.

I lived at Moda Angel Gardens in Manchester where they picked this s**T show of a company as the energy provider, they will try charge you over £500pm for utilities, I WAS LIVING IN A 3 BEDROOM APARTMENT!!! I now live in a 4 bedroom detached house and use way more gas/electric and my energy bills are literally half of what this disgusting company were charging me, A friend in the same building lived in a studio apartment and his utilities were still £400pm, some others in the building reported bills over £700pm and some even higher, absolute scam of a company, ran by incompetent greedy f**ks. I could go on all day about how awful they are, just avoid Community Utilities like the plague, SCUMBAGS!!!!!!

Unprofessional, scam of a company. State have not been receiving meter readings for the building even though they have. As a result, they have been 'estimating' usage amounting to hundreds of pounds of bills. Additionally metering outrageous metering charges. 58-pound bill and 48-pound meter charge? Unacceptable. No wonder they are not part of Ofgem. AVOID.

TLDR: Avoid any place that uses this company, they charge whatever they want and when you question it they just say deal with it or we'll get the debt collectors. Honestly one of the most incompetent companies I've ever worked with. CU provided utilities for my last apartment and I could hear from other people how bad they were and the apartment block acknowledging the difficulties with them. Moved in Feb, tried about 10 times to register via their portal and phone with no avail. Eventually in June got a bill which I paid off, paid off the July bill and was told I was up to date. Moved out start of August, got a bill in september for the full month of August. Rang and they acknowledge they were having issues with taking people off the system but it would be sorted. Got further emails stating I hadn't paid and they were adding late payment and would contact debt collectors if not paid. Rang and they told me to ignore till final bill. Then in November got the final bill and although they said that I was up to date at the end of July, I somehow had to pay £180 for the 8 days I was there in August (4 day of which I didn't live there). Contacted CU and they said it was because the new bill was going off actual readings. I pointed out that the others were noted to actual readings and they didn't know what to say. Also the new bills were for random periods and had me down as paying in April even though I didn't get a bill till June. The actual reading figures were all different as well so who knows were they get these figures from. The person at CU was lovely and admitted they couldn't work out the bills either as they were confusing but would get back to me to explain all the discrepancies by that evening. They did get back but their reasoning was "My senior says its correct so its correct". And that if I don't pay the bill I would have to pay late payments fees and risk debt collectors. Honestly I think they pull the figures out of their heads and then have no reason when you question them. You also have no way to complain as they aren't regulated and the only way to question this is legally. Top tip: If you're moving into a new apartment, ask what utilities provider they use and if they say Community Utilities then don't do it no matter how good the apartment is. In my apartment block they wanted £1250 a month from some people for a one bed. Finally, I can see from the other reviews that if they reply they'll say please contact us to discuss this further but as you can see contacting them only gets oh we don't know how that is or "the senior says it's correct" so is pointless.

Randomly send me an email 9 MONTHS after I've moved out of my apartment to demand payment. No readings given and not one single bit of communication during the whole 12-months I was living at the residence. Having read all the other reviews I'm surprised that they're even still in business! Total joke of a company who should be ashamed of themselves! No wonder they don't respond to any of the reviews left about them either as they know exactly what they are...disgraceful!

Community Utilities are at best an incompetent company, at worst daylight robbers. As they fall into the grey area of utility resourcing companies they can also not be reported to an Ombudsman and appear to be operating unregulated which explains a lot. The company that owns my apartment building ceased using them after a year due to various issues and I would strongly avoid any apartment that still uses them. They incorrectly billed me when I moved in, incorrectly billed me when I moved out and didn’t make me aware that at some point I had a faulty meter. I made sure to settle all bills when I moved apartment and had an email from them confirming everything was settled and there was nothing outstanding, only for them to contact me over a year later and demand money with no bill attached to justify it. It then transpired that at some point they discovered the meter in my apartment was faulty and re-set it without informing me at any point (this also involved illegal access to my apartment which my apartment company are liable for). In spite of the fact that the meter had been faulty they insisted the amount they were requesting was correct. I argued with them for months to the point where it was handed to a debt recovery company. At this point I settled the debt in order to move on with my life and so I would never have to deal with them again. This was in March 2023. Yesterday (26th October) around 7 months since the debt was paid and 2 years after moving out of the apartment, I received an email requesting payment of the outstanding debt. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the most incompetent, unreliable and disorganised company I have ever had the dissatisfaction of dealing with. Avoid at all costs or it will cost you.

I initially rated the company very high but since my bills have doubled after already being considerably higher than everywhere else I am absolutely shocked. For one person in a studio flat my water and electric has gone from £80-90 to £200. The majority of this is through meter charges which are often higher than my usage. Even with being away for 10/11 days on a multiple occasions my bill has only reduced by £20/30 which does not add up at all.

Shocking company! Flat has been empty for two months with no heating or electricity being used and they’re still charging for something which they can’t prove. They also keep slapping on charges every week that I don’t pay whilst trying to sort out! RUDE AND HORRIBLE COMPANY!!

If I could put 0 stars I really would. This company consistently told me the incorrect information. Claiming I owed them 3 x the amount even after they confirmed all bills had been cleared. Their customer support is non-existent, they either don't respond for months or don't do any investigation work and tell you the same nonsense. After 3+ months of stress and constant back and fourths they finally admitted fault and suddenly the £1,600 they were threatening legal action with miraculously reduced. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!

I live in Thames Quarter, Reading and Community Utilities are the utilities provider for the building on behalf of the landlord. They are the worse company I have had to deal with ever in my entire life! They send incorrect bills. They have been adding additional fees with no explanation. They change prices without any prior warning. I cannot trust them. They are so bad, that anything associated with them I now avoid. I no longer trust Stripe, the payment processor (which they use). I will be moving from Thames Quarter, because of the poor experience with Community Utilities – if I stayed it would drive me mad!