Community Utilities  Reviews 103

Rip off company which massively over-charges.

Is it true that you have made staff redundant and aren’t honouring their wages or redundancy ??????

In my experience, this has been one of the most frustrating billing companies I have dealt with.
I received a final bill of £184.45 for just six weeks, despite working seven days a week and not using the heating. The bill shows high heating and hot water consumption, yet I was previously informed that there are no individual physical meter readings and that charges are calculated based on information provided by building management.
There is a serious lack of transparency regarding how these kWh figures are calculated. The starting reading is marked as “Estimated”, yet specific consumption numbers are shown without a clear explanation of the methodology.
Customers should not have to chase basic information about how their bills are calculated. I have formally requested clarification and am awaiting a proper explanation.
Very disappointing experience.

I am a resident at a Vertus building (Newfoundland Place) and have had a very frustrating experience with Community Utilities.

Despite giving clear, written notice of my move-out date and confirming when I would cease occupation, Community Utilities attempted to delay closing my account by claiming they needed “site team confirmation” before acting. This is not how utility liability works. Once keys are handed back and access ends, the outgoing resident is no longer liable — internal processes are not the customer’s problem.

What makes this worse is the pricing. Community Utilities’ tariffs are approximately double what mainstream UK providers charge for equivalent gas and electricity. As a Vertus resident, you effectively have no choice of supplier, which makes the lack of flexibility, slow administration, and poor understanding of customer liability even more disappointing.

Biggest scam, we pay double for their service in a one bedroom flat compared to a two bedroom terraced house. Can’t afford to heat the 3 year old flat as it’s extortionate.
This company is also deceptive as it’s in a L&G building and the owner has ties with L&G.
Also you have no chance of finding alternatives as you have to use only their services.

They are full of scam. Even if you pay your all bills in time they are charging extremely high prices end of your tenancy.

Hidden fees and inflated margins everywhere.
You end up paying close to £300 a month for a studio flat — even if you haven’t stayed there for the entire month.

The tired excuse of “we’re just a billing agent” doesn’t hold water.

From what I can see, the only “service” this company provides is a Stripe payment link — while charging excessive rates for the privilege.

If I could give zero stars on Trustpilot, I absolutely would.

I've been forced to use these guys for the past two years (no idea how this is legal) by my landlord, Vertus. They are constantly adjusting pricing upwards, the fees are ridiculous and I have no right to switch from them. They are basically a middleman jacking up the rate and screwing the resident while giving a kickback to the landlord. AVOID IF YOU CAN.

I have just moved into a new home, and I was shocked to receive an electricity bill of £400 right after moving in. When I called the company to dispute this, they reduced the bill to £272 – which is still far too high for a single person living alone. This is only my second month in this property, and once again I was charged incorrectly. Each time I have to call, explain the situation, and request a corrected bill.

Although the customer service team on the community utility phone line is polite and tries to be helpful, the company itself is extremely disappointing. I have never seen a utility provider charge such unreasonably high amounts. As a student, these prices are completely unaffordable.

Have you been charged a surcharge on your bill for Moda? This is likely illegal, and CU should be prosecuted for this.

Their customer service is non existant. When we moved out and received our final invoice it was way too elevated compared to our usual monthly invoices, and it was in no way possible that we had used various utilities for that amount. I raised this issue with the customer service twice and received no response. Utterly unprofessional company, you will never be able to get in contact with them. My advice is stay as far away as you possibly can.

I am a single individual living alone in a one-bedroom flat, using electricity extremely moderately. I barely turn on the lights and avoid high-energy appliances entirely. So, when I received a £250 electricity bill in my first month, I was absolutely stunned. It defies logic—even large families in London with higher tariffs than in Scotland pay less than I’ve been charged as a single person.

My flat has a Heat Interface Unit (HIU) to heat water. Though I have an electric heater, I’m charged separately for electricity and heating. Despite using the heater sparingly, my bills reported usage of over 1,000 kWh per month—that’s 20 to 40 kWh per day, which is completely disproportionate. When I requested daily meter readings, I discovered that the meter showed excessive consumption even when I wasn’t home and had all appliances, including the heater, completely switched off. This strongly suggests a faulty or tampered meter.

Whenever the HIU or heater is used, the charges skyrocket. Although there must be regulatory guidelines around such systems, these charges seem excessive and unregulated. Unlike traditional gas suppliers, this setup lacks transparency and oversight.

To make matters worse, my accommodation provider—Holland Park and Community Utilities—has failed to provide proof of any gas supplier or receipts for the charges they claim to pay. There is zero transparency in the billing process. It increasingly feels like a coordinated scheme targeting residents, particularly international students, who may be less familiar with UK laws and utility systems.

This situation has seriously affected my mental and physical health. The financial strain and psychological stress left me unwell for over three weeks. Even after avoiding the heater entirely and being away for half the month, I still received a £100 bill—which is simply outrageous.

Initially, I was on a £87 monthly subscription. Without any notice or consent, £250 was suddenly withdrawn from my account. When I questioned this, I was told the tariffs had changed and that I was notified by email—an email I never received. Taking large sums without notice or consent is not just unethical—it feels criminal. On top of that, there’s a 5% penalty fee to cancel the subscription, making it even harder to leave an exploitative system.

Frankly, Community Utilities should be investigated and disbanded. Their billing practices are unregulated, their meters are likely inaccurate, and their entire model appears predatory. Despite numerous complaints from residents, properties like Holland Park continue to work with them. One can’t help but question—are they profiting from this too?

Community Utilities prey on vulnerable residents, especially international tenants, knowing they may be less likely to challenge unlawful practices. Complaints are ignored, buried, and dismissed.

Avoid this company at all costs.

I will resonate the comments of fellow reviewers in this platform regarding Community Utilities. I was registered with them automatically when I moved in my development (Dandi) and CU is a company managing all the bills, supposedly to facilitate tenants by issuing one bill for energy, water etc., rather than multiple ones. However, all I have been faced is overpriced bills and blatant ignoring of my questions. Specifically, instead of taking an accurate meter reading when I moved in the flat in April 2024, they estimated charges for April and May. When they took actual readings in June, the charge was 7 times higher than my regular energy consumption. I have been constantly emailing then asking for resolution since July 2024, but they are "still investigating" the issue. I was told that it might have been a meter error and the meter was changed in October; I was also promised that even with the new meter they would be able to calibrate and receive the accurate readings for June and adapt my charges accordingly. We are now in March, nearly a year into my tenancy and the issue has still not been addressed or resolved.
I sent an email threatening with a formal complaint, to which I received an automatic response that the complaint will be dealt with within 8 weeks and I would be getting updates on progress every 10 days. At the 10-day mark, I received another automatic response stating that they are "still investigating" and there are no updates for me. Any email I send is met with silence and the customer services team has limited access to the complaint so they are not able to support either. As someone has mentioned in the comments, as CU is a bills management company and not an energy provider, they are not part of the Energy Ombudsman scheme, so they are not able to support either. I wish I had mentioned the word "complaint" in my communications much earlier, as this would have started the process much earlier than my move-out date. As the 8 week deadline is after I will have moved out of the property, I am concerned that I will lose access to my account and will never get a refund for having been overcharged.

Most useless company ever, call centre agents don’t have a fkn clue wish I had choice cause I’d 1000% choose untied utilities

I never chose to sign up with this company but was forced to when my previous rental company (Quintain Living) outsourced their utility services to them.
Despite moving out of the property more than six months, this company continues to send me utility bills for the months after I left.

I have repeatedly informed them that I moved out, yet they ignore this information. Every time I reach out, I am contacted by a different agent (how many agents do they have?) who gives the same generic response: that they will “look into it and get back to me soon.” But they never do. Instead, I just receive yet another invoice the following month, forcing me to start the communication all over again.

This company’s lack of organisation and accountability is appalling. I feel trapped in a cycle of unproductive communication, and they have made no real effort to resolve this issue. Avoid this company if you can.

Useless, awful company. I found out 2 years into my tenancy that my account was in credit balance - so I requested a refund for the extra balance. I was told they couldn't refund me, because they had been estimating (!!) my readings the entire time and hadn't bothered to tell me the actuator which was supposed to be sending the meter reads had been broken the whole time. I asked them to sort it out and for months we went back and forth, with them claiming they were unable to contact the management of my building, despite me providing a number of contact details and having management get in touch with them. They have been charging me almost £70 a month for the heating of a small apartment, despite me never turning the heating on and using hot water infrequently. My building has now switched to another supplier and I have no idea what state my bill is in, and whether I'll get the money back I overpaid. When I contacted Community Utilities about this, they just essentially said 'the other company will sort this out'. DO NOT RENT AN APARTMENT IF THE ONLY OPTION FOR A UTILITY PROVIDER IS COMMUNITY UTILITIES. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

I have just had the best customer service by Saaliga, nothing was too much for her, she talked me through all my questions and explained everything thoroughly. Making my experience that much easier.

Well first of all you might want to change your statement in this box 'what went wrong this time' this suggest you have many complaints! I seem to have similar issues to others.....even though we sent readings for both heating and water, we continued to get estimated bills! We pay £56.00 pm and recently heard that they now wanted to charge us £298 pm .....this now being sorted out by the building manager, CU have ignored multiple emails, phone calls......is this honest enough for you! I haven't included dates as it has been over the last 8 months

The worst company ever .. You cant even complain to an ombudsman as they aren't in that category and can only complain through their complaints service.. Which explains alot! Not getting their tariff right for 3 yrs ..then giving residents a huge bill for their cock up .. taking extra money from your account when already agreeing on an amount, Estimated bills when it's all smart metres ..
Customers stuck with this company because the landlords they rent from won't change suppliers All to happy to take your money in a flash but weeks to get a refund ! I feel sorry for the staff on the phone.. Disgusting