What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5285981 about?

The tribunal order states: An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal

How much money was awarded in case 5285981?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant; Power Overpayment Due To Maintenance…: $850.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5285981?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5285981?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13365091-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5285981 about?

The tribunal order states: An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal

How much money was awarded in case 5285981?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant; Power Overpayment Due To Maintenance…: $850.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5285981?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5285981?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13365091-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

63 Friedlanders Road, Manurewa, Auckland 2102 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5285981 — Tenancy dispute

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5285981 — net $877.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Power overpayment due to maintenance issue	$850.00	Power overpayment due to maintenance issue
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$877.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$877.00

Both parties attended the hearing on 7 October 2025. The tenancy began on 13 November 2024.

On 12 June 2025 the tenant applied for compensation of $3,000.00 for excessive power charges. The charges are believed to relate to a leak from the hot water cylinder at the property.

The tenant has provided a schedule of invoices from her power company and the actual invoices for the period from November 2024 to about April 2025. The tenant said she realised there was a problem when she received the first couple of power-bills. The tenant said she contacted the landlord about power issues in December 2024.

The landlord says they inspected the property on 13 November 2024 and there were no leaks. Further, they were first notified of the issue in February 2025. The leak from the hot water cylinder was repaired on 13 March 2025.

I consider that a leaking hot water cylinder is a plausible cause of excessively high power-bills. The tenant says she switched off nearly all electrical appliances and limited showers to one per day (in total) until the problem was fixed, and she was still getting high bills.

The invoices appear to cover different periods, from a few days to a month, and are difficult to compare. The details of the charges prior to 14 November 2024 have not been provided. The schedule from the power company is more helpful. It does seem to show a reduction in the daily power use and charges after 11 March 2025. The charges reduce from $140.00-$170.00 per week to $30.00- $90.00 per week.

Below is a tabulation of the charges as set out in the schedule (which was not compiled by calendar months): Date range (2025)DaysPower costAv Daily cost 20 January to 4 February16$310.08$19.38 4 February to 4 March29$627.28$21.63 4 March to 1 April29$298.22$10.28 1 April to 29 April 28$232.11$8.29 29 April to 28 May29$276.73$9.54 27 May to 24 June 28$302.17$10.79 24 June to 29 July35$386.40$11.04

There may be some inaccuracies in my calculations, but in general the analysis supports the view that significantly less power was used after March 2025. I am satisfied that the maintenance issue was causing higher power-bills.

It is not necessary to find that the landlord is in breach of its maintenance obligation, rather I consider the issue is the extent to which the power charges were increased because of the leak from the hot water cylinder. This reflects the basic principle under section 39 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that tenants only pay for the power they use. The tenant was not voluntarily consuming power if usage was caused by a malfunctioning hot water cylinder.

The landlord said it was difficult to estimate the power account due to the limited number of invoices provided. The landlord also noted that the power provider had changed and some of the invoices might overlap. The landlord estimated monthly power bills for a household of one adult and six children to be approximately $300.00-$350.00 based on an average daily kWh and at a rate of 0.33 cents per kWh. The available information indicates that the tenant was paying somewhere in the region of $600.00 per month during the relevant period ($250.00 to $300.00 more than the average provided by the landlord).

It is appropriate to adopt a conservative approach to an award of compensation in this case. As already mentioned, the evidence is not as detailed as perhaps it could have been and does not cover the entire period of the tenancy. Reasonable compensation must make allowance for the need to make a rather summary assessment. I award the tenant compensation of $50.00 per week from the start of the tenancy to 11 March 2025 when charges reduced (17 weeks). This is an award of $850.00. Filing Fee and Suppression

The tenant’s application has been successful. The tenant is awarded the filing fee and is granted suppression as requested.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5285981 — net $877.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Power overpayment due to maintenance issue	$850.00	Power overpayment due to maintenance issue
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$877.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$877.00

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the tenant’s name and identifying details.
must pay immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing on 7 October 2025. The tenancy began on 13 November 2024.
On 12 June 2025 the tenant applied for compensation of $3,000.00 for excessive power charges. The charges are believed to relate to a leak from the hot water cylinder at the property.
The tenant has provided a schedule of invoices from her power company and the actual invoices for the period from November 2024 to about April 2025. The tenant said she realised there was a problem when she received the first couple of power-bills. The tenant said she contacted the landlord about power issues in December 2024.
The landlord says they inspected the property on 13 November 2024 and there were no leaks. Further, they were first notified of the issue in February 2025. The leak from the hot water cylinder was repaired on 13 March 2025.
I consider that a leaking hot water cylinder is a plausible cause of excessively high power-bills. The tenant says she switched off nearly all electrical appliances and limited showers to one per day (in total) until the problem was fixed, and she was still getting high bills.
The invoices appear to cover different periods, from a few days to a month, and are difficult to compare. The details of the charges prior to 14 November 2024 have not been provided. The schedule from the power company is more helpful. It does seem to show a reduction in the daily power use and charges after 11 March 2025. The charges reduce from $140.00-$170.00 per week to $30.00- $90.00 per week.
Below is a tabulation of the charges as set out in the schedule (which was not compiled by calendar months): Date range (2025)DaysPower costAv Daily cost 20 January to 4 February16$310.08$19.38 4 February to 4 March29$627.28$21.63 4 March to 1 April29$298.22$10.28 1 April to 29 April 28$232.11$8.29 29 April to 28 May29$276.73$9.54 27 May to 24 June 28$302.17$10.79 24 June to 29 July35$386.40$11.04
There may be some inaccuracies in my calculations, but in general the analysis supports the view that significantly less power was used after March 2025. I am satisfied that the maintenance issue was causing higher power-bills.
It is not necessary to find that the landlord is in breach of its maintenance obligation, rather I consider the issue is the extent to which the power charges were increased because of the leak from the hot water cylinder. This reflects the basic principle under section 39 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that tenants only pay for the power they use. The tenant was not voluntarily consuming power if usage was caused by a malfunctioning hot water cylinder.
The landlord said it was difficult to estimate the power account due to the limited number of invoices provided. The landlord also noted that the power provider had changed and some of the invoices might overlap. The landlord estimated monthly power bills for a household of one adult and six children to be approximately $300.00-$350.00 based on an average daily kWh and at a rate of 0.33 cents per kWh. The available information indicates that the tenant was paying somewhere in the region of $600.00 per month during the relevant period ($250.00 to $300.00 more than the average provided by the landlord).
It is appropriate to adopt a conservative approach to an award of compensation in this case. As already mentioned, the evidence is not as detailed as perhaps it could have been and does not cover the entire period of the tenancy. Reasonable compensation must make allowance for the need to make a rather summary assessment. I award the tenant compensation of $50.00 per week from the start of the tenancy to 11 March 2025 when charges reduced (17 weeks). This is an award of $850.00. Filing Fee and Suppression
The tenant’s application has been successful. The tenant is awarded the filing fee and is granted suppression as requested.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5285981 — Tenancy dispute at 63 Friedlanders Road, Manurewa, Auckland 2102

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5285981 — Tenancy dispute at 63 Friedlanders Road, Manurewa, Auckland 2102

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions