How to write an application for recalculation of utilities, sample

According to current legislation, in some cases citizens have the right to demand a recalculation of payments for utility services (light, water, heating, etc.). However, not everyone knows how to complete this procedure.

This article will help you find answers to the following questions:

In what cases can you expect a reduction in the cost of housing and communal services?
How to make an application correctly?
Where to file and what to do if the Criminal Code illegally rejects the request for recalculation?

How and where to write an application for recalculation of utility bills

Recalculation of the cost of utilities is carried out on the basis of a written application from the owner of the apartment or private household. At the same time, you can send it directly to the organization that provides housing and communal services or to the body that performs the functions of managing apartment buildings. The second of the mentioned options is preferable, start with it.

Housing and communal services or management company

Many citizens are often interested in where exactly to submit their application for recalculation. The answer to this question will mainly depend on the category of property in which the applicant resides. There are two possible options:

Apartment building - in this case, the application should be submitted to the organization that performs the functions of managing and maintaining the common property of apartment owners. This could be a management company (MC), a homeowners association (HOA), a housing cooperative, etc.
Private home ownership - an application for recalculation of payments for housing and communal services should be submitted directly to the supplier of the corresponding type of utility service (for example, to a water utility) or to SNT, DNP, etc. (if the owner of the house is a member of such associations).

Contacting supervisory organizations

As a rule, the need to contact supervisory authorities arises when a management company (housing association, housing complex, etc.) or a specific organization from the housing and communal services sector does not want to recalculate payments for utility services (provided that such a requirement in this case is legal).

In such a situation, the consumer has the right to complain to higher authorities. They may be:

The Housing Inspectorate (HHI) is a government body, one of the main functions of which is to monitor the activities of management companies. Within the framework of their powers, representatives of the State Housing Authority issue licenses to management companies, as well as prevent, identify and suppress violations in this area.
Rospotrebnadzor is an agency whose main purpose is to ensure and protect consumer rights, as well as implement the provisions of the Russian Federation Law “On ZPP”. Owners of apartments in MKDs are also consumers of services provided to them by management organizations (HOA, LCD). In this regard, in case of refusal to recalculate the cost of housing and communal services, residents can also file a complaint with Rospotrebnadzor.
The prosecutor's office is one of the last resorts to which a citizen who has been denied a lawful reduction in utility bills can complain. As a rule, people come here if all previous options have not brought the desired result.

Who is responsible for hot water?

It often happens that in order to receive a recalculation for domestic hot water, the consumer has to find out who is responsible for hot water, its temperature and quality.

It should be remembered that citizens make mutual payments with those organizations with whom they have a concluded agreement for heat and water supply.

Most often, management companies are responsible for delivering water to residents of apartment buildings, and heat supply organizations are responsible for the temperature and quality of water only up to the separation point (border) between the centralized system and the house system.

In what cases is such a statement written?

An entire section (VIII) of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354 is devoted to the procedure for recalculating payments for utility services.

Thus, within the framework of this regulatory document the following is described in detail:

When citizens have the right to claim a reduction in the amount accrued for housing and communal services.
The conditions that must be met for this and how a letter containing a request to receive such a preference is drawn up.

Did not reside temporarily

In accordance with clause 1 of Section VIII of the above-mentioned Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, citizens have the right to apply for a recalculation in the event of a temporary absence from the territory of the relevant living space. In this case, it is necessary to comply with the following conditions:

the period of absence from the residential premises is more than 5 calendar days;
the apartment should not be equipped with a device for metering the consumption of the corresponding utility resource due to the impossibility of installing it from a technical point of view (this circumstance must be confirmed in accordance with the procedure established in 2021).

If the consumer does not have documentary evidence of the impossibility of installing meters, or this equipment is in faulty condition, then he will not be provided with a recalculation of utility bills.

The only exception is the case when all residents were absent from a particular premises for reasons of force majeure (if there is documentary evidence of this fact). This is stated in paragraph. 2 clause 86 of section VIII of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354.

Death of the registered

One important point should be noted right away. Sometimes the relatives of the deceased (if he lived alone in the apartment) are of the opinion that in the situation, since he is no longer in a specific living space, then there is no need to make utility payments for him.

However, this is a very erroneous point of view, which contradicts paragraph 11 of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which states that non-residence in residential premises is not grounds for non-payment of utilities and rent. The only thing you can count on in the event of the death of someone registered is recalculation of housing and communal services.

At the same time, before proceeding with the registration of the claimed right, the relatives of the deceased must receive a full package of documents confirming the fact of death (certificate and death certificate), discharge the deceased and only after that submit an application for recalculation.

Other options

Also in practice, there are also other situations in which owners of apartments and private households have the right to count on a reduction in utility bills. You can learn more about these options in our other article.

Deadlines

As mentioned above, clause 59 indicates the period for which recalculation is possible.

If the premises have a meter, then for the first three months payment is calculated according to the average consumption rate. After this period - according to the standards of a particular region.
If the premises do not have a meter, the regional consumption rate applies.

Clause 59 provides that recalculation is made for a period of at least six months. After this period has expired, a company representative visits the premises and independently takes readings from the device.

Recalculation is made after the company compares utility payment receipts and meter readings.

Documents for recalculation of utility bills

As noted above, obtaining such a preference for utility bills is made on the basis of a written application from the consumer, to which the following documents are attached (paragraph 2 of clause 92 of Government Decree No. 354 of the Russian Federation):

Inspection report - in this paper, a special commission records the fact of the technical impossibility of installing individual or general meters to account for consumed resources in the housing and communal services sector.
Papers confirming the consumer’s temporary absence - clause 93 of the above-mentioned Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation lists a whole list of documents that can be used as evidence of the legality of the demand put forward. This includes the following:

travel certificate, administrative document (order from the head of the organization) about sending on a business trip or a corresponding certificate with attached travel tickets;
a certificate from a medical institution confirming treatment in a hospital or a voucher to a sanatorium;
receipts confirming accommodation in a hotel (dormitory) or the like;
a certificate from an organization providing services for private security of a residential building in which the citizen was temporarily absent;
paper confirming your presence in an educational institution, orphanage, etc.;
other documents.

All supporting documents (with the exception of travel tickets) must necessarily contain the signatures of the heads of the organizations on whose behalf they were issued and endorsed with the appropriate seals.

If any of the documents is drawn up in a foreign language, the applicant must first make a notarized translation into Russian.

How to recalculate water using a meter

The most common situation that requires recalculation of accrued amounts for cold water or hot water supply is incorrectly transmitted readings to the resource supply organization, which resulted in an overpayment for water.

The procedure to be followed is as follows:

Record accurate instrument readings with the participation of suppliers. To do this, you need to call specialists from the heat and water supply organization and draw up a report.
Attach a document for inspection of metering devices to the application and submit it to the billing department of the service provider.
Expect recalculation, which will be reflected in the next payment receipt.

Recalculation for water according to the meter is done by the service provider in accordance with clause 61 of the Rules, approved. Resolution 354. At the same time, new meter readings taken on commission, at the request of the consumer, are accepted for recalculation only if it is established that the meters themselves are in good working order, the verification period has not expired, and the integrity of the seals has not been broken.

Deadlines for submitting an application for recalculation of utility bills

In accordance with clause 91 of Section VIII of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354, citizens can submit an application for a recalculation of payments for housing and communal services as follows:

before the start of the period of temporary absence;
after returning from a trip (business trip, study, treatment, etc.).

In the first case, a specific deadline for filing an application is not established by law. However, it is said that the contractor will have to recalculate within 5 days from the date of your request.

In the second situation, the citizen must have time to write and submit an application within 30 days after returning. Otherwise, the management company (housing association, housing complex) or the utility supplier has every right to refuse such a request.

Please note that according to current legislation, the total period for which a recalculation can be obtained should not exceed 6 months. For valid reasons, you can extend it for the same amount.

Rules for charging fees in the absence of submission and incorrect submission of data

If the apartment has a water meter, the tenant has the right to report its readings. But it is not always possible to use this right. And if you haven’t submitted your testimony for a long time, the water fee may increase.

The accrual rules are determined by clause 59 of Resolution No. 354. In clauses. “b” is fixed: if the data is not transferred, the fee for the first 3 months is calculated taking into account the average consumption for the previous six months. If the tenant has forgotten about the meters for more than 3 months, then the payment is made according to consumption standards (clause 60), but without a coefficient.

When resuming the submission of information, the consumer may think about whether they should recalculate the water bill if they have not submitted the information for more than 3 months. There is no recalculation for the previous period. According to paragraph 31 of the Resolution, the supplier is obliged to use readings from apartment meters only for the billing period for which they were taken.

If readings were also taken in June for April-May, only the water used in June will be paid for on the meter.

Many payers have a question about what to do if the readings were reported incorrectly: the figure was changed upward, the readings for hot and cold water were mixed up, and so on.

When contacting the supplier, the fee will be recalculated, and the overpaid money will become an advance payment for the following months. Another option: the tenant will be credited for the amount underpaid for services in the previous billing period. This scheme of action is also valid if the electricity meter readings were transmitted incorrectly.

Application for recalculation of utilities, form of preparation, important aspects, sample, examples

After the complete package of supporting documents has been collected by the apartment owner, you should begin drawing up an application for recalculation of utility fees. It is submitted in writing. In this case, a standard form for such a document can be downloaded directly from the website of the management company or supplier of the relevant utility service.

Regardless of the type of resource for which a fee recalculation is requested,

this year usually includes the following items:

“Hat” - information about the addressee (name of the organization, full name of the head) and the applicant (full name, address, phone number) is indicated here.
The name of the document – usually a short word is written here – “Statement”.
Requests to reduce fees for a specific type of utility services - an example of the wording of such a requirement: “I ask you to recalculate the fees for cold and hot water supply...”.
The period (day, month, year) during which the applicant and other registered persons were absent from the apartment, indicating specific names.
The reason why the residents were absent from the living quarters.
A list of documents confirming the legality of the demand for recalculation.

The final stage is to indicate the date of writing the application, sign it and attach all the necessary papers.

Please remember that the following important aspects should be taken into account when preparing this document:

if the applicant sends it to the management company or resource provider before the start of the period of temporary absence, then it is necessary to make a note in the document that supporting documents will be presented after return (if they do not already exist). This is stated in paragraph. 3 paragraph 91;
It is important to remember that according to the law, recalculation is not made for utilities related to meeting general household needs (clause 88);
a reduction in sewerage fees is made only if a request is made for recalculation of hot or cold water (clause 87).

What is recalculation for water in a housing and communal services receipt?

Depending on what amenities the living space is provided with, the consumer has to pay for cold and hot water, electricity, gas or solid fuel, water disposal (wastewater), waste collection and removal (MSW). According to parts 4-5 of Art. 154 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the fee for a “communal apartment” includes water (cold and hot), energy, and sanitation spent on maintaining the common property of an apartment building.

The total payment billed by the management company to the consumer-tenant (or owner) is calculated from the readings of individual meters (apartment) and common building meters. If there are no meters, payment is calculated according to utility consumption standards. This procedure is also established for payments for water (Rules, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 of 2011).

In some cases, a receipt for payment of utilities contains a recalculation column that adjusts the total payment amount up or down. The amount is adjusted upward by resource supply organizations based on the results of meter checks, but to reduce the amounts for one reason or another, residents will have to write an application for recalculation.

The difference between the accrued and previously paid amount for water and the amount that actually needs to be paid is the amount of recalculation for water.

Sample application for recalculation of utilities for garbage removal

One of the types of services in the housing and communal services sector is garbage removal, that is, the management of solid municipal waste. In addition to water, gas, electricity, etc., citizens have the right to request a recalculation of fees for the removal of various wastes.

To do this, you also need to prepare a written statement using a standard template, which can be found on the contractor’s website or on our website. Its content is similar to the document described in the previous paragraph. The data must be changed only at the point where the specific type of housing and communal services is indicated.

Should recalculation be made during a planned shutdown?

Hot water should not be paid in full for a period of time longer than allowed, when the water temperature does not exceed +40°C. At this time, the cost gradually decreases to the cold water tariff. If the receipt contains an incorrectly accrued amount for hot water supply, you need to request a recalculation.

If there is a planned outage for 14 days, no service fee will be charged. If the repair is delayed, and the water coming out of the tap does not exceed +40°C, the fee for its consumption is equal to the cost of cold water.

How it happens

Recalculation is done until complete exemption from paying for hot water supply.

IMPORTANT! Regarding the current break: every hour in excess of the permissible shutdown, the size of the DHW fee should be reduced by 0.15%.

If restoration work is delayed, the total should be calculated at the cold tariff.

Deadlines

The consumer will see the result of the recalculation in the receipt of the current month. If the amount remains the same, you need to contact government supervisory authorities to protect your rights.

Complaint to the prosecutor's office against the management company for illegal charges, sample

Sometimes situations occur when a written request for a recalculation remains unheard by the management company. In some cases, such a refusal is lawful (for example, the minimum period of temporary absence has not been met, supporting documents have not been submitted, etc.). However, residents of apartment buildings often end up overpaying for one or another utility service due to the reluctance of management company employees to provide recalculation.

In such a situation, an effective tool of influence is to contact the prosecutor's office. However, the following rules must be observed:

before complaining to this department, you must send a written complaint to the Criminal Code, and if the addressee ignores it, contact the State Housing Inspectorate or Rospotrebnadzor;
your appeal should be sent to the district prosecutor's office.

In general, a complaint about incorrect calculation and collection of utility bills (due to failure to provide a recalculation) is drawn up in any form. However, it must clearly and clearly express the essence of the requirements and claims against the violator.

Upon receipt of a signal, prosecutors will conduct an investigation into the violator. If the fact of incorrect calculation of payments for housing and communal services is revealed, he will be held accountable.

How to prove

Management companies carry out recalculations based on written applications from citizens. Payments are automatically recalculated upward. The applicant needs to justify the right to a price reduction:

You can prove poor-quality services with the help of employees of the management company or neighbors. They are confirmed by acts, measurements, and expert opinions are allowed. Violations can also be recorded using photos and video equipment. In the latter case, it is necessary to set the exact time and date. The quality of the images should allow you to see small details - readings of a voltmeter, thermometer.
Repair work is confirmed by notices posted near the entrances by utility workers. Written evidence from residents of the house is acceptable.
Departure is proven by travel documents, train and plane tickets, and vouchers. The listed documents are issued to a specific person. Must be provided prior to departure.
The death of the tenant is confirmed by a certificate or court decision. If a person simply moved to live in another place, then it is enough to take a certificate of deregistration. Most often they are given by management organizations.
Certificates from the Pension Fund and social security authorities will be the basis for recalculation in the event of disability or retirement. Provided to the Social Security Administration.

When to go to court

In practice, there are cases when none of the methods described above for influencing the management company produces positive results. Then the consumer has only one option - filing a claim in court for the return of overpaid money for housing and communal services (due to the illegal refusal to carry out recalculation).

The general algorithm of actions when going to court will be as follows:

sending a pre-trial claim to the violator;
preparing a claim for non-accrual of recalculation;
collection of additional documents (receipt for payment of state duty, papers confirming the right to a reduction in housing and communal services fees due to temporary absence, etc.);
submission of a complete package of documents to the district court;
receipt of a subpoena and active participation in the proceedings.

Procedure according to Government Decree No. 354

Resolution No. 354 regulates the procedure for receiving recalculation, dividing it into stages. According to PP No. 354 (based on clause 98 of Rules No. 354 and clause 4 of Appendix 1 to Rules No. 354), the tenant:

Officially confirms the reason for the recalculation.
It is important to remember that the indicators are recorded only by the commission, based on the results of which the application has already been submitted. Without the last paper, the application will be automatically rejected. At this stage, the indicators of the device, the chemical composition of the water and the temperature are clarified. If desired, a full analysis of the water supply is carried out through Rospotrebnadzor.
Based on the established deviations from the norm x, an application is submitted. The latter is written in a business style, with a mandatory signature and the date of contact with the utility service.

Attention! The consumer is initially recommended to conduct the research on their own: let the hot water drain for 3 minutes, then pour a little into a glass and measure the temperature using a household thermometer. This will allow you to independently detect the problem, on the basis of which utility service employees are invited.

What is the purpose of water recalculation?

Let's consider the items that are related to the general household consumption of cold water in Moscow. These include:

Water consumption (cold) for cleaning entrances;
Using water to water plants that grow in the local area;
Water consumption for washing network type wires;
Presence of losses during transportation.

For hot water, recalculation is carried out even if the subscriber has a water meter installed:

Recalculation for the amount of water that is discharged into the sewer during repair work;
Hot water is considered to be used by residents during the pressing process in the house (when test pressure is created);
If significant losses of hot water are detected in water supply networks.