EDF -- contacted after 4 yrs to say i owe!!

tracyhardy

Pls can someone help me... i have lived at a new build house for 4 1/2 yrs and thought that my electric and gas were inc with rent as i have never had any form of bill for gas or elec... However a couple of months ago EDF wrote to me saying that i owed over £2500 and that they hadnt previously been in touch as the site developers hadnt handed the paperwork over!! I made an application to thier trust fund which today has been turned down. I am a single mum on benefits with 2 young children and in no way can i afford what thier asking for. This has now brought me to tears and i dont know what to do ....pls help

Andy_WSM

Why on earth would you think gas & electric were included in the rent of a house? The gas & electric could easily be as much as a third of the rent of a house month to month.

Did anyone tell you this at the time you moved in, do you have it in writing?

I think all you can do now is negotiate a payment term with them - however, hopefully someone will be able to clarify soon, but I think I have read here that you cannot be back billed for more than 12 months consumption on domestic bills?

tracyhardy

being that ive never had my own house ever before i accept that ive been a bit ignorant with regards to this ... When i moved in everything was connected (gas and elec) so thought that that was it!!!! ignorant i know now but obviously only in hindsight! these bills are going to put me in real trouble ... in fact i just cant see even with monthly payments how i can do it as i am allready maxxed out with other things that i owe....... thx for the reply

Cardew

Andy_WSM wrote: »

but I think I have read here that you cannot be back billed for more than 12 months consumption on domestic bills?

That doesn't apply when you have just moved in to a house. The company have no way of knowing if the house is occupied - or even that the house exists!

The householder has to contact them.

The Supplier is completely within its rights to bill in full for any energy consumed where
it can demonstrate that;
a) use of supply has been made by a Customer but that no attempt has been made by a

Customer to contact a Supplier to make or arrange payment,

What about water bills - has the OP been paying them?

tracyhardy

thx also for yur post. But can u tell me that if they didnt know the house existed how was the supply allready on?? i have extensivly read my tenancy and nowhere in it nor in the new build pack i got does it say i have to contact suppliers. As for Thames water they contacted me within a month of being here (Nov 2005) .
U say that the 12 month rule doesnt apply to new homes but ive been here for ages now!! Is there really nothing i can do?

Cardew

A utility company have no way of knowing who is using 'their' supply. The same supply is used by all utility companies.

Properties can, and do, remain empty for years.

The quote in my post above above is from the billing code and it is quite clearly your responsibilty to contact the supplier.

Do you know what your neighbours have done about their gas and electricity bills?

Are you renting from the council? or a private company?

You can try and see if they will accept any responsibility for you not being told about having to pay for gas and electricity. However I doubt if they will. Especially if you accepted that you had to pay for water but somehow thought that gas and electricity was included in your rent. I have to say it doesn't sound very plausible.

DVardysShadow

tracyhardy wrote: »

thx also for yur post. But can u tell me that if they didnt know the house existed how was the supply allready on?? i have extensivly read my tenancy and nowhere in it nor in the new build pack i got does it say i have to contact suppliers. As for Thames water they contacted me within a month of being here (Nov 2005) .
U say that the 12 month rule doesnt apply to new homes but ive been here for ages now!! Is there really nothing i can do?

Neither does it say that the supplies are included either. I can tell you that without reading it. What happened with Thames Water should have made you think.

You should make some kind of offer and expect to settle by paying off the arrears over the period they were accumulated.

Head over to the Debt Free Wannabe section for advice if you are maxed out

HannahCF

You'll probably be put on a pre-payment meter and they will take off a certain amount of money each week to lessen the debt. I ran up a bill with scottish power of just over a grand for a period of 5 or 6 months and now I have a pre-payment meter where they take off £5 each week. I too am a single mum on benefits Call them up and say you cant afford it and either pay by a payment card or get a pre-payment meter.

tracyhardy

Thanks Shadow... you state "expect to settle by paying off the arrears over the period they were accumulated." ---- Does this mean that i should be given 4 1/2 yrs to pay it off?

tracyhardy

this throws a different aspect on it ??? well maybe.
after reading every1's posts i decided to look through my paperwork of when i moved in.- as i felt pretty stupid for not realising this--- it appears that I DID SIGN A GAS AND ELECTRIC CONTRACT but with scottish power!! after reading it it says that im on a fixed price till 2010! What do i do now!! EDF want money since the day i moved in yet im contracted to scottish power whom i havent received a bill from... there was a direct debit set up for them at the time of taking contract but they have never taken a payment .... anyone got any ideas?

spiro

tracyhardy wrote: »

Thanks Shadow... you state "expect to settle by paying off the arrears over the period they were accumulated." ---- Does this mean that i should be given 4 1/2 yrs to pay it off?

Before you contact them you need to compile a list of all you income and all your outgoings (rent, water rate, everything). Then when you contact them you can explai your situation and the amount you have available to pay. They will then set your debt recovery rate accordingly. You will then be tied into that supplier until you have settled the debt in full unless another supplier agrees to take on your debt which is highly unlikely.