I dont pay Elec

grandpaw

Hi all,

I dont pay elec. Been here for a while now. The building is around 3 years old and a year and a half of that was lived in by the landlord.

Since completion, this place has never had a electricity supply provider. No one bills us. We tried to sort this out at the start, took readings for records etc. However the landlord (on the owners behalf) knows about this. Flatmate didnt want to skip the issue so asked for the situation in writing. It basically said that because there is not a supplier we cannot be billed and that the issue would be dealt with.

Nothing ever happened so now its a nightmare and a can of worms. Do i try to rectify the issue an say "hi can i have a huge bill" or does that now lie with the landlord seeing as we have it in writing confirming we cannot be charged.

Its keepin flatmate up alot now too. Whos gonna take the bullet?

Any advice would be great.

jd87

It sounds to me like it is the landlord who is trying to avoid paying any bills. This will catch up with you all eventually so it's better to sort it out now. You will have to pay for what you have used and the previous occupant will have to pay for what he used. I hope you took meter readings when you moved in, or figuring out who used what could get complicated!

There will be a supplier, your landlord is just avoiding finding out who it is because he doesn't want to have to pay a big bill. Don't worry though, you will be able to negotiate a reasonable repayment plan with the supplier for your usage. Nothing comes for free in this life.

You can find out who your supplier is by calling your local distribution company, see this website:

http://cfe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/cfe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5534&p_created=1210081598&p_sid=VFPMz7ij&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NTg1LDU4NSZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=&p_topview=1

Ken68

Take car Grandpaw, the landlord will still be your landlord afterwards. He could get awkward.
An alternative way is to keep the money aside, and enjoy the interest.

spiro

If your too worried move now before the large bill arrives. Given that the landlord has said you wont be billed it would all fall to him.

A_fiend_for_life

Going from previous posts you can only be billed for the last 12 months if someone can back that up...

How high is your consumption? Do you have readings for the full 18 months and from 12 months ago?

It would be worth reducing consumption where you can too and certainly putting cash aside.

If the landlord has stated in writing that he/she is taking ownership of the bill I would be inclined to check with the CAB to ensure that you cannot be held liable. It's not clear from the post what the wording might be.

This bit sounds worthless:

"It basically said* that because there is not a supplier we cannot be billed and that the issue would be dealt with."

he / she is not saying they are taking explicit responsibility for paying the electricity going by these words.

*Do you still have a copy of the letter?