no electricity bill ever- advice needed

inventors

Hi, the situation is- i moved into a new build rented flat five years ago. When I moved in the guy moving out said, 'btw, there are no electricity bills for this flat.' 'ok,' i thought. I checked this out with the gas supplier (EDF) and they confirmed that there was no account for the flat and set me up on a tariff for Gas. I made an attempt to find out who the supplier might be (few calls to EDF) and then let the whole thing go. There has NEVER been a single electricity bill to anyone at all in the property. The flat is part of a larger building containing two more flats, an office and a William Hills next door- in other words the usual new build mish mash of properties and the confusion of where everyone's metres are etc. I'm guessing my actual flat simply doesn't have its own metre as I can't find one, (although it could be in another part of the building.)

The reason i'm concerned now is that EDF sent out a standard letter saying, 'your electricity isn't registered with us, but we have you on a dual tarrif, do you want to switch to us etc...) I can ignore them and they will simply switch me to a gas only tarrif (their fault for putting me on wrong tarrif in first place.)
My million dollar question is- I'm planning to move out sometime in the next few months, so should I raise this with the landlord now and try and sort it out or just leave it as no one is registered at the property, no suppliers are sending bills and no past tennets are getting billed.

If anyone can help with any advice i would be extremely greatful,
thanks:)

Cardew

If they catch up with the situation at any time, they will go after the Landlord.

What do you think the landlord will do?

Take the blame and pay up, or deny responsibility and pass your details to EDF?

If the latter, EDF will pass your details to a Debt Collection Agency(DCA) who will attempt to trace you for payment.

inventors

thanks for the reply-
the thing is EDF are saying they don't supply my electricity, so therefore they aren't owed anything. Quite probably the supply is part of another property in the building. Yeah, I know that means I've been getting it for free, but it wasn't helped when EDF put me on a direct debit Dual Tarrif (gas & electricity) and it was only when i stoppped to check a bill i saw no electricity charge, then i remembered moving in and the previous tennent telling me about the no electricity bills situation.


I'm wondering, if i can find my metre if it's possible to start a new account from now

JasX

meh, if you sort it out now they'll make a 'guess' at what you owe and you'll have to pay back bills, if you're only there for another two months you'll probably struggle to challenge their 'guess'.

if they find you after you've left the same thing will probably happen. I'd probably ignore the letter but put some money aside for when they eventually do catch up.... tho if it takes 5-6 years......

inventors

yeah, maybe you're right. thing is this was all done accidently. i'd even be fine about paying money back if i could do it in installments. it's just a question of picking the right route out of this. maybe if i just move out no one will know, or it could flag up the situation. But, it's not just me, it's the tennent before me and proably the one before that. It seems the flat has never been registered with any electricity supplier. it was simillar when i had the landline connected, no master socket, had to take a line from the offices next door. It's like the flat doesn't exist

spiro

Right, this is how a new connection should work.
1) Builder (whoever) contacts Distribution company (company who instal wires) and they should get an MPAN (meter point admin number) and install the cable and main fuse.
2) Customer (builder) should contact a supplier and request a meter to be installed at MPAN 'x'.
3) Supplier registers as being the supplier for MPAN 'x'.
4) Meter Operator installs a meter and the meter details get associated with MPAN 'x'.
5) Supplier start billing customer.

What can happen is that the distributor may have installed the meter at the same time as installing the cable (this used to happen before the businesses split up) or the meter operator has installed a meter before a supplier has been appointed to the MPAN and therefore he does not know who to send the data to. If either of these happen it is possible that the property has never had an MPAN allocated or supplier appointed and this appears to be born out by the fact that you have not been getting bills addressed to 'the occupier'.

inventors

spiro- thanks, it does seem to be something like this, although i'm sure most of the other properties in the building are paying for their electricity. it's almost as if my flat is an annex for one of the properties and i'm getting that electricity supply. However, the flat is registered with EDF for gas and has it's own metre. My main concern is if i move out & someone else moves in, they are going to want to know who to pay for electiricity, they or the letting agent are going to ask me and i'm going to have to say rather awkwardly, 'well actually, no one's ever paid any electricity' It's a weird situation, I don't feel I've deliberately done anything wrong, but at the same time it feels like the finger will point at me. I guess i'm asking, for those in the know, how would you handle this?

Haarlem

spiro wrote: »

What can happen is that the distributor may have installed the meter at the same time as installing the cable (this used to happen before the businesses split up) or the meter operator has installed a meter before a supplier has been appointed to the MPAN and therefore he does not know who to send the data to. If either of these happen it is possible that the property has never had an MPAN allocated or supplier appointed and this appears to be born out by the fact that you have not been getting bills addressed to 'the occupier'.

This situation is not uncommon, I know as I was part of a project to identify properties not on any records. Before the industry was fragmented and one meter reader read every meter in a street he reported any properties he "walked by" for follow up.

The project was terminated as the industry is reluctant to spend money identifying properites not billed as the suppliers even out what is called "system losses" and recover this from all who pay. These include "technical losses" as well as unbilled units.

In effect it is a very small amount as it is averaged out over millions, but the Distributors and Suppliers do not suffer any financial effects from someone not being billed.

inventors

thanks for advice and tips guys. i'm considering talking to the letting agent as having read around a bit they maybe should have been responsible for making sure the porperty was registered with the correct metre. One important point- in my situation (no bills adressed to the property at all) if the worst happens- is it fairly likely i'll only be billed for a years back pay?

I could keep quiet and hope... anyone with similar experiences, would be great to hear your thoughts!

Cardew

inventors wrote: »

One important point- in my situation (no bills adressed to the property at all) if the worst happens- is it fairly likely i'll only be billed for a years back pay?

I could keep quiet and hope... anyone with similar experiences, would be great to hear your thoughts!

No! The 12 month back-billing rule only applies where no bill has been raised and it is the fault of the utility company.

In the case of new build properties, companies are usually not at fault and so they will attemt to collect all monies due.

Had you written(recorded delivery) expressing your concern about not getting a bill, then you might have some grounds for the 12 month rule to apply.

However, you cannot take no action(phone calls are not worth the paper they are wriiten on!!!!!) about what you owe to the Utility company and hope you will only have to pay for 12 months on a technicality.

Robert2009

My main concern is if i move out & someone else moves in, they are going to want to know who to pay for electiricity, they or the letting agent are going to ask me and i'm going to have to say rather awkwardly, 'well actually, no one's ever paid any electricity'

Is that not what the previous occupant did?