Landlord said against law to tranfer bills to tenants name

I started a long term rent  and the Landlord has told  me that the law has changed in Mallorca which means that all the utility bills have to be in the name of the owner of the property and it is not possible for the bills to be transferred into my name as the tenant.

The Owner has told me it is normal practice to pay the owner a certain amount to cover bills and is asking me for 1000 euros up front in the first instance.

I am willing to pay the bills as and when they arrive but it seems very messy to be expected to pay anticipated amounts and not a true figure of what is owed especially with respect to electricity ?

The owner told me it is normal practice for all tenants to pay upfront for bills.

I would appreciate if anyone could advise if this is true?  I  dont want to upset the landlord just want to pay the exact bill as and when they come?

Utility charges paymenst are out of the agreement of parties. Rental Act, which is national, does not regulate this.

As a UK landlord, I would never ask a tenant to do this. And if it is discretionary as Maria indicates, I'd say exactly what you said here, that the landlord should give you a copy of each bill as it arrives and you can give him/her the exact amount. You should get them to sign a receipt each time and then ask that you be given a copy of the receipt each time, so that you can see they have paid the bill. That would be common sense to me. I certainly wouldn't give them 1,000 euros upfront.

Our bills are in our landlord's name but we have a direct debit setup against our bank account and the bills are sent to us each month.  So maybe that is an option?

Personally, I would never want to have the bills in my name as a tenant.  Once you moved out you could still find yourself liable for bills if the landlord doesn't change the bills back into his name.
 

That is totally unnecessary and certainly not common practice in Spain. As Sanchez says, the common practise is to have the bills set up for a direct debit to your account. The bills should be sent to your house, not the where the owner lives, so you receive them each month and can see what you are consuming. This way you pay what you use and the landlord does not have to do anything, you also have a record of what has been paid without the need for receipts. I would never give upfront payments for utilities on a rental property and I never have done. 

I agree with Ian and Sanchez, the normal thing to do is have the bills on direct debit in you account, not to pay an up front sum of 1000 euros. I have never done that before and I have never had the bill in my name either. 

I rent out my house and the arrangement I have with the tenants is that they pay 50€ per month on top of the rent towards the utility billls.  Then when the bills are issued I send them a copy by email (am registered with online billing) and they pay the balance with the next month´s rent.

I have never had any complaints about this arrangement, and it ensures that I have something towards the bills, but the tenants see the actual bills before they pay the balance.  This is written into the tenancy agreement.

Yes, it is all about reasonable agreements between landlord and tenant as Claire is saying. Law does not establish any rule on this.