non billing of electric

neil_hiscox

I bought a house over a year ago and after being unable to find out who supplied the electric decided to wait for them to contact or bill me. Over a year later eon sent me a letter to contact them as i would be getting a large bill, is there a length of time within which they have to bill me?, do i still have to pay and if so over what time period as i am very short of cash at the moment

KimYeovil

There is no limit to the length of time within which they have to bill you but it is limited to one year's backdate.

The fact that you are short of money is irrelevant. You knew you were using electricity and were receiving no bill and if you did not want to face a hefty lump slum you should have been putting money aside for this eventuality. After all, on average, you'll have had an extra £32 per month floating about your wallet.

If you can't afford the lump sum then you can negotiate to repay over the same length of time that the bill was accrued, ie 12 months.

The real danger is where the lack of bill has caused the consumer to be careless and a bit too free with their energy use. Anyone who has not received any bills must always take care and keep an eye on the meter and approximate the cost of what they are using.

Premier_2

No but they cannot bill you for any period before you owned the house.

The fact you have failed to inform the energy supplier whose energy you were using means the 12 month back-billing rule often discussed on this forum does not apply to you.

You owe the money from the date demanded. You can try and negotiate a period over which to repay, or you can get a loan if you've not had the sense to realise you would eventually have got billed and so have not put money by in anticipation of receiving that bill.

Be aware that if you don't pay the supplier money when billed, they may decide to fit a pre-payment meter to recover the debt and charge you at their premium pre-payment rates for all energy used from that point.

Cardew

As indicated above, as soon as you start using electricity in your house you have entered a 'deemed contract' with the supplier. This is clearly laid down in the Electricity Act.

The alternative is that power is disconnected until you apply for an account.

What steps did you take to find out who supplied you with electricity? There is normally correspondence addressed to 'The Occupier'.

As long as EON have made some attempt to contact you about the bill(they have no way of knowing your name until you tell them) you are liable for all of the electricity you have used.