moved into flat in Sept - which company to use?

spaceboy

We moved into a flat in Sept and haven't had an electricity bill. Flat was empty for a few months before we moved in.

I was assuming we'd have to use the same company that the previous tenant had set up an account with, but is this correct?

kjsmith7

Yes that is correct. Give them a call and set up an account

spaceboy

ok, done that, will they let us switch companies right away?

macman

Not until you clear the debt you will have built up from September. Why did it take you 6 months to register?

spaceboy

macman wrote: »

Not until you clear the debt you will have built up from September. Why did it take you 6 months to register?

Didnt realise you had to. Got no mail from them whatsoever.

I'm paying off the "debt" right away.

Apricot

Did you take a reading when you moved in? Otherwise you may be paying for someone else's arrears as well as your own.

kjsmith7

You can arrange to switch right away if you're going to settle the balance. Just contact the company of your choice, and they'll be able to initiate the transfer. Takes about 6 weeks, so you'll have a final bill covering you from today to in 6 weeks time with your current supplier and then that's it

macman

spaceboy wrote: »

Didnt realise you had to. Got no mail from them whatsoever.

I'm paying off the "debt" right away.

They're not psychic. How can they write to you or bill you if they don't know the flat is occupied or aren't able to access the meter?
Did you not take an opening reading?

Premier_2

macman wrote: »

Not until you clear the debt you will have built up from September. ...

That may not be the case. A debt is not a debt until at least 28 days after it has been formally demanded.

If the OP has not yet been billed, then the OP will not be classed as in debt ... but will ultimately have to pay the cost of the energy consumed, usually billed at the most expensive 'standard' tariff rate the supplier operates.

spaceboy

macman wrote: »

They're not psychic. How can they write to you or bill you if they don't know the flat is occupied or aren't able to access the meter?
Did you not take an opening reading?

WE did take an opening reading. And they could easily send a letter addressed to "The Occupier".

spaceboy

Can I just ask how I go about finding the cheapest rate? How do the price comparison sites know if you are using a lot of night time electricity for storage heaters or not? And in summer you wont be so how are they going to accurately work this out?