Thanks to everyone for the wealth of information on these boards.
I've secured a job and am moving to Warsaw at the end of the month. I have what checks out to be a decent salary but I'm trying to figure out my monthly budget so I can adjust my flat search.
Any idea what utilities for a single man (who doesn't use too much electricity) might be on average?
Sure it will depend, but any help would be appreicated.
Rent can be anywhere from 1200-2000zl, depending on the size of the flat.
I pay 118zl per month for electricity and every few months someone comes round to check the meter to see if I have paid too much or too less. (I haven't been here long so I haven't experienced it yet).
I pay about 102zl for water but there are 3 of us living in a flat, so your bill should be considerably less.
I have the internet and cable tv from the same company so it costs about 80zl. So in total it is about 300zl but varies from month to month.
We are a young couple living in Warsaw in a 80m2 apartment but most of the time we are not there and travel few times a month for business. Not to mention that most of the summer and winter holidays (total of 3 months) we are not at the apartment. And ever since our first half a year bill of over 2000 zl for electricity - we have reduced any electrical usage but for the living room and kitchen (when actual cooking is done).
However, our electricity bill just keeps going up. It has come to the point that we are now getting a daily reading of electricity (which is in itself ridiculous) from our landlord and quarterly bills of average around 1000 zl. We do not use electricity for any heating (that is done via gas).
Generally we don't think that is normal and it definitely is much higher than our bills in our country of origin in Western Europe.
We can't speak Polish and the bills that we get from our landlord, upon our tedious requests, seem to be facsimiles and very unclear. In addition, our landlord aggressively INSISTS that such electricity consumption is normal.
If anyone here has any advice as to how we can seek professional help on this matter - that would be great.
We have tried contacting the RWE - but they are not willing to talk to us.
We don't have access to the meter - we live in a building complex and for some reason we can't go ourselves to check the meter located in the building somewhere. When we make such request, the landlord insists on calling the RWE guys to check it themselves.
So, we are stuck with bills as facsimiles.
The whole thing is very dodgy, especially given the amount we have to pay. This is why we would like to find someone to look at our bills and see what is going on there.
So you're paying roughly the same amount (1000Zl a quarter) for electricity as I do in the Uk living in a large house. I think you must be being ripped off big time. If RWE won't talk to you (as you are not the customer) I suggest you ask a Polish friend if there is any consumer protection body you can complain to in Warsaw. Maybe you can get the name of such a body from your embassy/consulate.
Give me an e-mail at office@lindenia - I've had a friend with the exact same circumstance, and funnily enough, they refused to provide copies of the originals too.
My advice in this situation is simple - pay nothing until you receive original documents.
Lindenia, but I've given up with the business for now - teaching is just much, much more profitable in terms of effort vs reward. It's maybe not sustainable in the long run, but for the time being? Might as well do what earns the most ;)
(but I'm still helping people for free where it concerns injustice)
I install meters (podlicznik) from time to time and it is very uncommon to let apartment without its own meter. It costs about 200zł so even compared with bills it is worth to take the trouble to clear this strange situation.
It has come to the point that we are now getting a daily reading of electricity (which is in itself ridiculous) from our landlord
This sets off all sorts of alarm bells.
our landlord aggressively INSISTS that such electricity consumption is normal.
More alarm bells.
it is very uncommon to let apartment without its own meter
Yes. I have never seen a flat without one.
I would move as soon as possible. It seems you have a bad landlord. Reading the meter daily but not letting you see it sounds greedy and dishonest. Don't feel awkward about causing him problems through not sticking to notice periods etc - he deserves it. If he is ripping people off, it is only right that he gets ripped off himself.
In addition, our landlord aggressively INSISTS that such electricity consumption is normal.
They are not normal: he is very clearly lying to you and robbing you. I just happen to have my electricity bills for the last half year in front of me (one person living in a 50m flat but one who is often up late and not very good at cutting down energy use): they are for 169.28zl per two months. There is no way that your landlord thinks that 1000zl per quarter is normal in a flat which does not have electrical heating.
I strongly suggest that you ask to see original fakuras complete with the red bank form at the bottom. The amount you have to pay is in the box title "kwota". If those amounts are the same as he is asking for, you need to go with him to RWE (with a Polish speaker) and ask them to justify the amounts. If he refuses to show you originals or to go to RWE with you, write a list of the amounts you have paid and tell him that he must either refund those amounts or you will file formal notification of the suspicion that a crime has been committed (the crime being obtaining money through deception and/or false billing and/or forgery (use of falsified documents, i.e. the facsimiles), i.e. fraud). In addition to that, you will also file with the tax office a letter stating all the amounts which you have paid him since moving into his flat (I guarantee that he is not paying all the tax which he should on that money).
No matter what you do, you need to move and do it now: if he's happy to steal money from you and he's got a set of keys to your flat, why wouldn't he steal your property?
I just happen to have my electricity bills for the last half year in front of me (one person living in a 50m flat but one who is often up late and not very good at cutting down energy use): they are for 169.28zl per two months.
Got mine too - this is for two people living in a 65sqm flat, who run all sorts of electrical stuff and who don't pay any particular attention to energy usage. Two months - 271zl. And that's with several electrical things running 24/7, along with someone running a business from home - so all the usual things are on constantly, such as a printer and computer.
Thank you guys so much for all your help! Harry without your help - we wouldn't have been able to spot some huge discrepancies in the alleged bills we got so far.
I'll let you know guys how we have dealt with the situation - cause now it is likely a criminal matter as well.
For one month, try putting on all of your electric all of the time, buy brighter lights that use more electricity, keep all electric things on 24 hours a day for one month, then see what happens!
Hi all Requesting for an advice,we lives here in a 95msq apartment the landlord gave us a bill for the central heating for the entire year that too in the summer time were the central heating system itself was not working, she is telling here in Poland Warsaw it's like this central heating we need to pay for whole year and when we ask for the bill she told the billls will come next year only for the on going usage
It's not clear from your post whether your landlord is asking you to pay for central heating you've already used over the last year or central heating for the coming year. Obviously if you used it, you have to pay for it.
But anyway, here's how it works. At the beginning of the twelve month period, energy providers, gas or electric estimate the usage for the whole year and divide it by 12, so the same amount is payable each month (that's why there is a central heating bill for the summer). The person with the account (in this case I assume it's any your landlord) receives bills for the year in advance but they do not have to be paid immediately. Each bill covers a two month period and has a 'pay by' date. Near the end of the 12 month period the energy provider does a meter reading and an adjustment is made for the following year's bills so that any overpayment is returned and any underpayment is payable.
For the bills due over the next twelve months, you should ask your landlord to show you the estimated bills, make a note of their 'termin platnosci' date which is the date they must be paid by, and tell you landlord that you will pay the amounts to him/her as they fall due. You should not have to pay for a year's central heating in advance.
Be prepared, as utilities are going to get much more expensive this year. I actually negotiated to have the utilities included in our rent when I moved here many years ago, and with the increases in cost, I am very happy I did.
You are probably a very civilised lodger with zero trouble. I also haven`t increased the rent for the flat I let coz the lodger is calm and economical. I prefer to earn less than look for another lodger.
