Electricity Supplier Dispute

LUSK wrote: »

Hi all,

A long and protracted problem which I am hoping you can assist me with, please.

Two properties next door to each other - property A and property B. I lived in A and my mother lived in B. Both were supplied by EDF.

When my Mother died in Christmas 2012, I moved out from A and into B. A tenant moved into A and I continued with EDF supplying B. it then transpires that the tenant changed the supply from EDF to another supplier who for the moment will remain nameless. It has now emerged that instead of the new power company taking over the meter for house A, they have in fact taken over supply for house B but they think they are supplying House A – if that makes sense.

The tenant who was in the property at that time left owing me thousands of pounds in arrears and I am now wondering whether this was done deliberately – the meter for A is inside the house whereas the meter for B is in the garden.

I have spoken to EDF last night and explained the problem and they are going to speak to this other supplier stating that it is an erroneous transfer and that the account needs to be transferred back to EDF. The main issue that is concerning me now is that this other supplier has now applied for a warrant to enter the premises to obtain the meter serial number.

I do accept that it is likely that I will have to pay back EDF four years worth of electricity but I would far sooner do this than pay a penny to this other firm who, to be frank, are just a shower.

Advice would be most welcomed on how to proceed as time is not on my side now.

So sounds like a simple mix up of the meters.

First thing to establish is which meter serves your property, and which one serves the tenant's

If that is correct according to the bills you and your mother have been paying in the past (you obviously would have been paying what is now the tenant's bill when your mother was alive), then I'm now really sure how that error could arise, but if it has (that presumably is how you know you have been switched against your will) then an ET will resolve that.
[STRIKE](It would be nice if you let the tenant know too so they can try and sort their own issue out, as presumbably they are wondering what has happened to the application they made to switch)[/STRIKE]
[Edit - I see the tenant involved has now left owing you rent arrears. Unless the property has a new tenaat, the you should be registered as the account holder now for that property anyway.
It doesn't sound like the tenant left very long ago, as you only appear to have recently become aware of the change of supplier to your home.]

On the other hand, if the meters are incorrectly registered to the supply addresses (i.e. the meter that serves B is registered to A, and the meter that serves A is registered to then that needs to first be resolved.
That may involve someone needing to come to check things out for themselves.
Trouble is, this means the billing has been wrong for many years, and the supplier will want to try and remedy this. That might mean having to revisit the estate left behind by your mum who passed away in 2012, and presumably you had thought was all done & dusted by now.
That's probably not going to be easy for you and may get complicated, and if necessary, you may then decide to seek professional advise. But don't worry about that now, as it may not come to that.

If you are succesful with the ET application, you will not owe the new supplier anything. As far as the consumer is concerned, where an ET occurs, the end result will be as though the customer never left the original supplier (i.e. you will pay EDF for consumption even for the period the new supplier was actually supplying)

LUSK wrote: »

Thanks. EDF are speaking to the other supplier about ET but I am just concerned about the warrant. How long does a warrant take to issue?

Don't worry about the suggestion of a warrant.

If it's a straightforward ET (i.e. the supply addresses are correctly registered but the supplier has switched the wrong supply) then I see no reason for any supplier to visit.

If it's a compliacted ET because of incorrect supply addresses, as I said, someone may wish to visit to check things out. But I don't see any becessity for a warrant. If it goes to a warrnat stage, it's going to cost money (and I'm not sure a court would issue a warrant for such purpose, unless there are other matters involved that you have not mentioned here)

It sounds like you have asked EDF to arrange the ET (my preferred route as I always feel a supplier will probably do their best to get a supply back to them, rather than a supplier trying to give a supply away), but they will need to inform the other supplier. The only issue with this approach is that the other supplier does have an opportunity to object.
They usually don't, but if they do, then cross that bridge too only when you get to it