no electricity bill ever- advice needed

Swipe

In your case it's worth moving out ASAP otherwise it looks like you'll end up getting shafted for the whole lot including the previous tennant's usage. I'd just hope your electric is being racked up on one of the neighbouring properties' meters.

inventors

Robert2009 wrote: »

Is that not what the previous occupant did?

yes this is exactly what the previous occupant did. and there were no metre readings passed on to me.

inventors

spiro wrote: »

In a rented property it is standard practice when you move in for the landlord to do an inventory and takes meter readings which you both have for your records. He does the same when you move out. Did this happen when you moved in, because if he only list a gas meter reading you MAY be able to argue that you thought the elec was included and you had to pay for the gas yourself. You may still be able to argue this on the basis that there is no meter in the flat (be 100% sure there isn't) and the landlord has never told you were our meter was.

Suggest you move asap.

none of this happened, no metre readings, nothing. plus the previous tenant even told me he'd never been charged for electricity. And that was my original strategy- to say i thought it was included in the rent because of what the last tenant said. This strategy would also involve not lying, which i prefer as it's pretty much what really happened

inventors

Cardew wrote: »

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.

but what if there's no metre registered to my flat? isn't there then no suplyer to send a bill?

the most likely thing is there is no registered supply for my flat and i'm getting electricity from another property in the building (and i suppose on their metre.) How can a check this? Spiro, you suggested something, but your last post seems to have vanished

spiro

inventors wrote: »

but what if there's no metre registered to my flat? isn't there then no suplyer to send a bill?

the most likely thing is there is no registered supply for my flat and i'm getting electricity from another property in the building (and i suppose on their metre.) How can a check this? Spiro, you suggested something, but your last post seems to have vanished

If you PM me your address I wil check the central register for all MPANs at your address.

Premier_2

inventors wrote: »

... I made an attempt to find out who the supplier might be (few calls to EDF) and then let the whole thing go....

How to identify your electricity supplier

Even if it transpires you are currently in what is deemed a shipperless site, you may still end up paying

2.8.3 SHIPPERLESS/UNREGISTERED SITES

...
Suppliers are allowed to bill for all fuel that has been used, even if they were not the registered supplier at the time, therefore consumers should not be surprised to receive a bill for the entire period that they have lived at the property.

However, in many cases, suppliers will only issue a bill from the time that the consumer contacted them.

http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/craven/documents/StrategicHousing%5CPrivate%20Sector/Energywatch%20-%20Big%20Book%20Of%20Energy.pdf

Presumably you started this thread as you no longer wish to act like an ostrich over this matter, and that has to be congratulated as it would certainly be best to resolve this situation sooner rather than later

inventors

Premier wrote: »

Even if it transpires you are currently in what is deemed a shipperless site, you may still end up paying

what if i'm simply getting someone elses electricity? for example from the flat upstairs, and there is only one metre and it's registered to that flat. The bill would be being paid (in this example by the flat upstairs.) Where would I stand?
Because of the way the whole property is set up I have a feeling the electricity is being paid for by someone, although i have no actual evidence, but it's a good guess.

inventors

Premier wrote: »

Presumably you started this thread as you no longer wish to act like an ostrich over this matter, and that has to be congratulated as it would certainly be best to resolve this situation sooner rather than later

well thanks for the encouragement:) I really appreciate the advice i've got on this forum. And yes, I just want to sort this out. It wasn't even sticking my head in the sand, when i moved in the departing tenant said 'no elecricity bill' then a few years later for some reason i just went 'hang on a minute.' I feel inclined to stick to my original 'rent includes electricity story' as that's what i thought the situation was (perhaps naivley.) But before i do anything i need to know exaclty where i stand legally

inventors

well after a lot of research, and thanks to several people on this forum, I've managed to work out that there are meters in the property but none are registered to any of the individual flats in the property, which is why i've never had a bill. At a guess i'd say that the meters were never properly registered when they were originally installed, otherwise somewhere there would be bills coming through the door even if only addressed 'to the occupier'
I feel like I've got two options-
1. Try to find my meter and register it. Then, if lucky, i might be able to start a new account, if not then I'll get stung for the back pay. But, I'm finding it really hard to any of the meters let alone the one that's mine! I feel like the landlord needs to sort this out and register all the meters with their corresponding flats in the whole property.

Or 2- there is still the fact that when i moved in the outgoing tenant told me that there were no bills for electricity and I was never given any meter reading info or shown my meter or sent bills. I could simply stick to this story, argue that I assumed electricity was included- in fact there's a chance this is actually the case, although the situation is a bit ambiguous and my mistake was not clarifying this info at the time. Consequently i find myself 5 years later in this awkard position.

anway- i need to think it through as i'm planning to move out sometime in the next few months (as some have said- the sooner the better.) I will update this thread so others finding themselves in this kind of situation can hopefully get something from my experience. any closing thoughts are welcome!

inventors

just wondered if ayone had any parting advice on this. established that my flat isn't registered with any of the meters in the building, as aren't any of the flats in the block. all four meters (that i've found) are simply listed under the address of the whole block. never had a bill, not even to the occupier as didn't the tennant before me. part of me thinks i shouild try and find out what's up with this with the l-lord as i move out, part of me thinks i should just go...