7 months of unpaid gas, electric (and water)

xyu87

Hey guys,

Me and a friend moved into a little 2 bedroom flat in may this year, I don't really know what happened with previous tenants but we've been getting mail for about 8 different previous tenants so we've been waiting for some bills to come round actually addressed to us. Problem is, none have ever come. I think the gas has finally been cut off as there's no hot water in the sinks anymore but we rarely wash up so it's of little concern (and have NEVER used the CH).

What do you guys think the best course of action would be at this point? I feel pretty naive but I don't even know what providers we have for g/e/w either!

Oh and a second question.. any idea how much 7 months of bills might be for a small 2 room flat? Electric we use is pretty limited to just 2 pc's as we never watch tv and the hob for stuff like noodles (rarely use oven), water is just me showering once a day for 10 mins (and occasionally my sweaty roommate) and gas was washing up maybe every 2 days. CH never been on so I can't expect it to be too much? Even a ballpark would be nice!

Thanks for any help,
Dan

jd87

You are currently living without hot water and heating (and don't care), and you have never made any attempt to contact gas, elec or water suppliers? You just assumed the companies would some how magically know who lives in your property now and who to address bills to?

I know we are supposed to be nice to newbies, but this is a joke right?

xyu87

It only got cut off a few days ago, the only effect it's had is washing up so we've just been using kettle water for the last few days. Oh and yeah, when we moved we asked about bills and the agency said we were all hooked up and ready to go but still nada coming from the door.

I admitted being naive, but still thanks for the pointless input

jd87

Right fair enough. Giving you the benefit of the doubt (sorry we get a lot of trolls/wind-ups here) I'll try to give some less "pointless input".

As you probably realise now, the letting agency lied to you. None of this is their problem and it's your responsibility to find out who the supplier is. Normally a helpful landlord/agent would tell you who the suppliers are but clearly this hasn't happened here.

To find out who your gas and elec suppliers are, follow steps 1a and 1b here: http://www.ukpower.co.uk/who-supplies-my-gas-and-electricity Then call the suppliers, explain what has happened and follow their advice. It's hard to say how much your bills will be but you need to pay for whatever you have used.

As for water supply, there is only one supplier in each area. I would just google "water supplier [insert name of area here]" and see what comes up.

Also I find it very unikely your gas has actually been cut off. Someone would need to come and physically do this, and I'm sure someone would have come to your door a number of times, and sent letters to "the occupier" before it got anywhere near this far. Has your boiler just packed up?

Giddytimes

If you didn't take meter readings when you moved in I'd ask your letting agents whether they have any readings, you will be asked for these and probably for an up to date reading on the date you ring too.

Otherwise, unless the meters have been read since you moved in, it's anyones guess what the reading was when you started using the supply, and therefore how much you have used.

Are the meters outside? It's unlikely they have disconnected you, but they may have fitted a prepayment meter, which will also be set to collect the debt at a weekly rate.

You may also be asked to prove you are not the person on the bill right now, you'll likely have to fax your tenancy agreement before they will set up an account for you.

xyu87

Naaah no trolling here, just a dumbass gullible student so I apologise if I come across as a simpleton

Boiler packing up is a big dunno, it's in my roommate's room and his bed is directly in front of the cupboard with it in so it's difficult to get to (hence CH being constantly off as it's a pain in the !!! as there's no thermostat[?] or anything). Our water supplier seems to be... halifax regional water comission though so that's one step in the right direction! Seems like a day on the phone for me tomorrow though, thankyou for your help!

edit: Yeah there's a meter on the inside of the front door of the building (one clock each for the 3 apartments), our reading is extremely high so I'm guessing it wasn't from 0 when we moved in. Thing is the balance on the remaining electric keeps going up so I'm hoping it may be included in the rent, unlikely though so I'm assuming worst case scenario!

edit 2: also our water supplier is yorkshire water, halifax rwc is for the halifax in CANADA, told you I'm dense. Ha.

Giddytimes

xyu87 wrote: »

Thing is the balance on the remaining electric keeps going up so I'm hoping it may be included in the rent, unlikely though so I'm assuming worst case scenario!

By this do you mean it's a prepayment meter and the amount of credit keeps increasing? If so it sounds like the meter has been tampered with, you'll probably find the supplier will send someone out the same day you ring, to check it's safe and if necessary change it.
Unfortunately it is almost certain your letting agent is not coming round and topping the meter up for you.

xyu87

Giddytimes wrote: »

By this do you mean it's a prepayment meter and the amount of credit keeps increasing? If so it sounds like the meter has been tampered with, you'll probably find the supplier will send someone out the same day you ring, to check it's safe and if necessary change it.
Unfortunately it is almost certain your letting agent is not coming round and topping the meter up for you.

Just bobbed down now to have a look and our reader says 301,991 khz, I have no clue about electric usage but do you think this is all us? 2 pc's and occasionally a tv on for a dvd over 7 months? Balance currently says £9.99 which seems a fishy amount so I'm not sure what's happening!

Giddytimes

xyu87 wrote: »

Just bobbed down now to have a look and our reader says 301,991 khz, I have no clue about electric usage but do you think this is all us? 2 pc's and occasionally a tv on for a dvd over 7 months? Balance currently says £9.99 which seems a fishy amount so I'm not sure what's happening!

Meter readings do not reset when a new person moves in, so no, whatever the reading is it won't all be your useage (presuming the meter hasn't been changed since you've been in there).

Sometimes letting agents take readings when the old people move out, or before you move in. I'd start by ringing them tomorrow and asking them to check their files, before you ring your suppliers.

Otherwise hopefully your suppliers have taken readings themselves at a date near to the date you moved in.
If no one has any readings they will have to estimate and unfortunately you'll have a hard job to prove if the estimate of your useage is too high.

ETA- Don't panic too much, it's likely your suppliers will just collect any amount you owe them at a weekly rate through the prepayment meters. You're just going to have to go through a bit of hassle ringing them and waiting in for new meters to be fitted.

Make sure you tell your supplier that the electricity meter always seems to be stuck on 9.99cr too, if it's a prepayment meter in there at the moment it definitely sounds dodgy, you'll need someone out to check this.

xyu87

Oh naff. I've seen of others who's usage couldn't be traced or proven so they were just gifted with a clean slate from when they called in.. but once again I'll assume worst case scenario

Cheers though, I've got a list of numbers to ring tomorrow so I'll just have to see what happens.. Will report back if there's any complications thankyou, much appreciated!

McKneff

Just to help out a little, if you are using a landline.

Any 0845, 0844, o970 numbers then google Saynoto0870, and find a generic number.

Apart from 0800 (freephone) the others can be really expensive.

Hope you get it sorted.