Help- a bill after 10 years

amrom

Hi all,
Im an old viewer of these forums, but This is my first actual post, and I really hope you can help me.
The story in short is, that my landlord was meant to pay the electricity bills and I had a meter to pay in my house, but it was broken so I never paid it, and my landlord never told me anything so it was great.
I was there for about 10 years, and now I am already not living there, but my landlord came to me, and showed me he just got a bill from the supplier dating all the years from 2001, and it equals 27000 pounds, yes thats correct 27000 POUNDS.
He is a nice man he told me that he never charged me because he didnt get billed but now this is what he got, and I must pay, he tried dealing with them on the phone did not help a bit!

I contacted a lawyer but its just costing alot of money, is anyone aware of any law etc that states what is the maximum time they can go back with their bills and where it is so I can claim it to them, I mean its their fault, where were they all these years? They cant just like that come at me!

Any advice and help really appreciated

Gerrard_8_lfc

You didn't contact the supplier or make any attempts ?

" The story in short is, that my landlord was meant to pay the electricity bills and I had a meter to pay in my house, but it was broken so I never paid it, and my landlord never told me anything so it was great."

If I was you I would have been demanding a new meter and getting the supplier to sort it as it appears you took the " Great " no bills you will be liable for every penny if you used it you pay for it.

Classic Case of nothing is for free in this world.

Cheers

Silk

amrom wrote: »

He is a nice man he told me that he never charged me because he didnt get billed but now this is what he got, and I must pay, he tried dealing with them on the phone did not help a bit!

Things don't add up here ????
If you were on a private meter and the Landlord should have been billed for the usage as far as I'm aware the energy company can't bill him for longer than a years usage as per Ofgem's ruling of July 2007.
I would suggest the Landlord contacts Ofgem to ask what the situation is or do it yourself

Andy_WSM

Silk wrote: »

as far as I'm aware the energy company can't bill him for longer than a years usage as per Ofgem's ruling of July 2007.

Only if the Landlord made regular, provable, attempts to obtain a bill. If he ignored the problem he is liable.

However, if the meter in the house belongs to the utility company it is the responsibility of the tenant - the person using the electricity. They are the ones that should have been chasing the utility company, not just assuming they are going to get "free" electricity. "Free" to them = being paid for by other customers!

Ignite

Don't forget the statute of limitations. Any bill from over 6 years ago is statute barred so even if they could back bill more than the 1 year, they could only bill for the last 6 years. Also, the same applies to your old landlord. He could only come after you for a bill that is less than 6 years old.

darkblue_2

Two words: Statute Barred.

dogshome

Hi amron - The answers you have had are correct:

The Utility supplier cannot bill for anything over 6 years old

There is a Utility Industry agreement that where a supplier has failed to produce bills, it will not bill for periods going back beyond 12 months But for this to apply the customer has to show that they did contact the supplier to get bills

For the 6 years that your landlord is probably liable for, he is entitled to a fully detailed bills that show the amount of power being charged, the dates the bill covers and the tariff that applied at that time
With a demand for £27,000, it's important he asks for this in writing as it equates to £2,700 a year, which is a massive bill for a flat - so much so, that it is twice the cost that would be expected for a 2 bedroom dwelling with ECO7 Electric Heating & Hotwater

Premier_2

amrom wrote: »

Hi all,
Im an old viewer of these forums, but This is my first actual post, and I really hope you can help me.
The story in short is, that my landlord was meant to pay the electricity bills and I had a meter to pay in my house, but it was broken so I never paid it, and my landlord never told me anything so it was great.
I was there for about 10 years, and now I am already not living there, but my landlord came to me, and showed me he just got a bill from the supplier dating all the years from 2001, and it equals 27000 pounds, yes thats correct 27000 POUNDS.
He is a nice man he told me that he never charged me because he didnt get billed but now this is what he got, and I must pay, he tried dealing with them on the phone did not help a bit!

I contacted a lawyer but its just costing alot of money, is anyone aware of any law etc that states what is the maximum time they can go back with their bills and where it is so I can claim it to them, I mean its their fault, where were they all these years? They cant just like that come at me!

Any advice and help really appreciated

How much has it cost you so far???

It shouldn't cost you much, if anything at all, for a solicitor to explain your legal position in this matter and any relevant laws that affect this dispute.

If your legal adviser hasn't done this, I suggest you find a better legal adviser. The CAB will be able to help with details of local legal advisor's who will happily explain the situation to you for a very small fee (perhaps £5 or £10) or even for free as charging such small amounts really often isn't worth their while.

Of course, if the matter results in a summons being issued against you, then you may incur costs for the legal adviser to defend such action ... but your legal adviser should have explained that those costs will be claimed from the other party if you eventually successfully defend such action, and the legal adviser should be able to tell you from the outset what he believes the chances of a successful defence would be.

By the sounds of it, no summons has yet been issued, and I feel sure a competent legal adviser would either advise you what to do/write/say to avoid one in the first instance, or offer that they contact the possible future plaintiff on your behalf explaining the position of yourself. Such simple letter would only cost about £25 even for the legal adviser to write.