Can I get an elecricity suply in my own name if 2 people live in the same house?

Timez

Hi,

This is a pretty spercific question and i imagine the answer to be no. But...

I live with my mum and she has a pre-pay meter in her name - but they are charging her extra

(i think from a previos tennant - which is pretty bad in itsself - taking £4.25 per week
and also i think it says £2 something every day as well (although i cant seem to find that on the displays anymore )

I end up having to top it up alot as my mum cant afford it - and i want to switch to a better electric company but when i got my mum to try, EDF said they wouldnt let her unless she paid the total bill outstanding which is really high (and as i say im 90% sure was from the last tennant)

so my question is...

is there any way i can just apply for my own electric supply to this house? i doubt it but if anyone knows a way its the people here

Thank you in advance.

Timez

Kainrpg

hello there,

i worked for e.on energy for a number of years in credit operations.

you can allays try claiming that you've moved into the property which may or may not work. it depends how competent the person you talk to is.

but the debt will not disappear. the company will try and contact you about this and then may send it through to debt collectors to chase on there behalf which is more harrasing.

you can always ask them when your account started make sure its in line with when you moved in.

ask them to explain what the charges are and why your paying them.

if you are not happy raise a complaint they are obliged to deal with it inside of a time frame

spiro

Timez wrote: »

(i think from a previos tennant - which is pretty bad in itsself - taking £4.25 per week
and also i think it says £2 something every day as well (although i cant seem to find that on the displays anymore )

Are you saying it is taking £4.25 for the elec she is using or for something else like a previous debt? If its for elec then £4.25pw (£18.41pm) is not bad. Ideally though you need to post consumption not prices.

macman

You can't switch suppliers unless the debt is cleared.
How much is the debt?
What is your actual kWh consumption?

t0rt0ise

If they are taking money for a previous tenant's debt then you need to sort that out. Why would you simply go along with it and pay it? Or is that not what you are saying?

Timez

yes thats what im saying - its for a preivious tennant as far as i know.

and yep their taking £4.25 per week off - then we have to pay for any electric we use on top of that.

-- Im going to do a reading at 6pm - then another at 6pm tommorow - so i have a 24 hour estimate of kwh used

Timez

terryw

Your mum should obviously not be paying for a previous tenant. She has informed the utility company of the change of tenancy, hasn't she?

Timez

oh yeah of course - i think they knew this was the only way they would recover the debt - they forced her to have a pre-pay key meter installed as well to 'pay it off' or something - we never wanted the meter but they insisted

Timez

terryw

I think that there is some confusion here. The utility company would not knowingly put someone else's debt onto your mum's account.

Timez

yeah you'd think so - but i remember when my mum first went with them - they said something along the lines of - ok but there is a debt outstanding on the 'flat' as well - i cant be 100% sure now though as it was a long time ago - ill get my mum to call them asap and see what they say

terryw

Timez wrote: »

yeah you'd think so - but i remember when my mum first went with them - they said something along the lines of - ok but there is a debt outstanding on the 'flat' as well - i cant be 100% sure now though as it was a long time ago - ill get my mum to call them asap and see what they say

Good idea, but the debt relates to the person not to the property.