Estimated electricity bills

Inastate_

Ello everyone,

I've lived in a flat with my friend since September, and just before Christmas we received a gas & electricity bill (addressed to my landlady, but charging from roughly the time that we'd moved in) for £225. It said that we had until the 29th December 2011 to pay.

The bill also said that it was an estimated amount of gas/electricity use, seeing as we missed the man who came round to check the metre.

So I called up and explained that we didn't have the money until our student loans came in in December. The man on the phone was very helpful and said that the account would have to be altered so that it was in my name, seeing as I am the current tenant, which we sorted over the phone.

He also said that a man would be coming to check our meter at some point, after which they would send us a new bill.

Yesterday, we received a bill addressed to our landlady, saying that we have 7 days to pay the £225.

Now what I want to know is - if the bill is estimated, and we've actually paid less than the amount we should have (we've had the heating on quite a bit since we moved in), then will they eventually chase us for the rest of the money owed? Or is the estimate final?

HappyMJ

Call them again. You don't have to pay bills addressed to someone else. You shouldn't even be opening anyone else's mail so you technically should have no knowledge of this bill. When you ring again the supplier will arrange for the bill to be put in your name and send you a new bill. Just wait for that to happen.

Neil_Jones

Inastate_ wrote: »

Now what I want to know is - if the bill is estimated, and we've actually paid less than the amount we should have (we've had the heating on quite a bit since we moved in), then will they eventually chase us for the rest of the money owed? Or is the estimate final?

If the bill is estimated, go and take a meter reading and give them to the supplier who should recalculate the bill with actual readings.

How do you pay your bills to your supplier? on the one hand you appear to suggest it's a direct debit payment that's set too low, and then it appears you pay-on-receipt with the mention of a "pay us by this date" bill received through the post.

fightyfish

yeah they need to put the bill in your name. you need to call them and tell them when you moved in and give a start read if you took one so they can bill you accuratly. They should also be able to take an actual read from you over the phone which would mean they could send you an accurate bill. If you pay an estimate bill and the company has either under or over estimated then the difference will be adjusted when they recieve an actual read. Yoy will have to pay for what you've used eventually anyway, so best make sure you give a reading and then you know where you stand!