How should I play this situation re previous tenant not paying any gas/elec bills

ruperts

I posted this on the gas and electricity board but thought it was worth putting on here too.

I've recently moved into a new flat and tried to use British Gas' home movers service to bring my gas and electricity with me (I have no loyalty to BG, just thought it would be the easiest thing to do to begin with and assumed the previous tenant was with them).

British Gas have said they can't find my flat, or something, and that I should call an 0845 number to get an MPAN number. I don't have a landline and can't afford to dial an 0845 number from my mobile so I can't do what they are requesting.

Meanwhile the gas and electricity has still been on and after a week or so I decided I would open a couple of letters that had the name of the landlord (a letting agent) on them, but were addressed to my flat and quite obviously bills of some kind. I thought this may shed some light and the situation, and it did...

...neither the gas nor the electric bills (which are not provided by British Gas) have been paid in months. The current bills are for hundreds of pounds. One of the letters dates back to June and they were threatening to cut the supply off but as yet thankfully they have not.

What I want is to be able to start my bills from a clean slate from the date I moved in. I don't mind staying with the current company as I believe they have decent enough rates.

What I'm afraid of is giving my name in connection with any of these huge bills. I'm worried about the fact that the electricity company doesn't have the previous tenants name and instead only has the name of the lettings agent. I do not trust the lettings agent at all and know that they will not help unless it suits them, which in this case it probably won't because it may leave them with the bill. I'm also concerned about how to tackle this initially given that the only way I know which company was involved is by opening mail with someone elses name on it.

If anyone could advise me on what I can do about this then it would be greatly appreciated.

The_Palmist

have you taken meter readings when you moved in.

Forget moving BG over from your previous address. Pay all bills and close that account.

Then call British Gas or NPower or whoever and give them the meter readings from the date you moved in. That should be it. Key is to make sure you have the meter readings from the date you moved in.

Any old letters/bills should be returned to sender or binned. They are not your liability. You will only be responsible for any new bills from the new meter readings.

TeamLowe

Call them and say you moved in on x date, first meter reading was y and please set up payments from then for you.
Utilities are used to this situation and if not you can use your tenancy agreement as proof that you are not liable for previous bills.
If it's in the agents name then it's probably an estimated bill from when the property was empty anyway, not that it's any bother of yours
We had the same situation we moved in here, cept the bill was for 1k when it came through as to the occupier x x

The_Palmist

Keep in mind that a lot of these so call bills or debt collection notices are actually scams to scare you and make you part with your money.

G_M

You've moved into a new property. You need to set up an account if you want gas/electricity supplied. If you don't set up an account, don't be surprised if you gas gets cut off!

So you will need to call someone - whether you choose BG or a n other supplier. If you really don't want to use your mobile, go to a mate's house and call an 0800 number on their landline.

But set up the accounts! As others have said you need to give the utility companies (and council tax office!)
1) date you moved in
2) meter reading
3) address and Meter number (MPAN) - you can get this either off the previous tenant's bill and/or off the meter itself.

KateLiana27

Don't open the mail.

DON'T bin it either.

Cross the address through and write "return to sender - not known at this address".

You are not responsible for anyone else's bills. But the only way the companies sending the bills will get to know they have moved on, is if you use the above method. They can then pursue the old tenant and leave you alone.

vax2002

Now you know what you get by opening other peoples mail.
Other peoples problems to worry about.
sort out your own energy supplies and stop reading mail that is not yours, put it back in the post box.

DVardysShadow

KateLiana27 wrote: »

Don't open the mail.

DON'T bin it either.

Cross the address through and write "return to sender - not known at this address".

You are not responsible for anyone else's bills. But the only way the companies sending the bills will get to know they have moved on, is if you use the above method. They can then pursue the old tenant and leave you alone.

Except that this mail provides the name of the previous supplier and hence the supplier with whom OP will have a 'deemed contract'

OP, you must take opening meter readings and preserve these carefully. You will be on a 'deemed contract' with the existing suppliers until you switch. In order to switch you need to contact these suppliers and give them your opening readings and your name to get the deemed contract started so that you can switch. Only once you start the deemed contract can you hope to avoid disconnection. Yes, you will probably get grief as a result of contacting them, but the quicker you do it the less you will look like you are hiding things.

Werdnal

Are you renting this property? Did you not have a hand-over or check-in meeting with the agent/landlord when you moved in? There should have been an inventory for the property, which usually includes (or atleast mine does), meter readings for the utilities at the point when you take responsibility for them.

Ring the utility suppliers tomorrow - all of them, and council tax too whilst you are at it. Give them meter readings for each one, and tell them when you took over the flat. This way you are responsible for any power, gas, water from that point onwards. The repsective companies have debt collection agencies who will trace the previous tenant or whoever is responsible for these outstanding bills, and should leave you alone.

We had a problem with a tenant who left without paying any bills during his 6 months tenancy, and we later discovered that the letting agent had forgotten to give all the relevant meter readings when he moved in. Bills in their name, c/o our flat address started arriving and I just dropped them through their letterbox!

DocProc

Things to write on mail that isn't yours before re-posting it back in a mail box:

"Opened in error - please return to sender"

"Gone away - please return to sender"

"Not known at this address - please return to sender"

G_M

DocProc wrote: »

Things to write on mail that isn't yours before re-posting it back in a mail box:

"Opened in error - please return to sender"

"Gone away - please return to sender"

"Not known at this address - please return to sender"

The OP's issue is not what to do with previous tenant's mail - it's what to do about his utility supplies.