Utility Warehouse, No bills & Bailiff Letters

ValHaller

alc54321 wrote: »

Yes, I have this page of the lease in front of myself with the readings on there. However, if TransCo have said that UW aren't actually my supplier then I'm not sure where I stand really. Their lines don't open until 9 but I can at least ring the bailiff in a couple of minutes and see what light they may shed.

Firstly these 'bailiffs' are not bailiffs until and unless the matter has been to court. At the moment they are plain old Debt Collectors. So do not be in awe of them

Second. Do not contact them by phone yet. Get to the bottom of it down the route you are going - establish which meters are yours, establish who is the supplier and get your contracts set up from the date you move in. Make sure you are on firm ground over your readings

Third, do not contact these people by phone. They will bully you and as you have indicated you are naive, don't put yourself in line for anything from them. Plus if they find your phone number they might never stop phoning you.

When you have your facts, just write to them, advise that you are with whoever from the date you moved in and they should seek their debtor elsewhere.

alc54321

/// other replies received whilst writing this - I had already phoned unfortunately. UW employee I spoke to wasn't pushy luckily and acknowledged the incorrect addressing of correspondence. Meter reading were checked by myself and by the property manager and agreed on on moving into the property. The amount of gas and electricity used is fairly small and would appear to be inline with my usage. Thank you for the responses, apologies for the overlap. ////

Ah brilliant. Yes, having just spoken to UW, they said that Electricity Plus is part of their company. They also said that N Power were the existing supplier but that it had been transferred.

I have confirmed the meter reference for both gas and electricity with them. Interestingly, the number on the Grosvenor Legal Services 'Bailiffs' letter was a direct line to UW debt collection department.

The problem appears to have arisen due to the fact that they were not using a full or correct postal address. All post was going to 'The New Occupier' and the building address, not a specific flat. Therefore, with multiple flats and multiple new tenants, none of this correspondence will have gone into my postbox, but instead will have been returned to the property managers. Not sure why they haven't taken any action with this mail.

I am updating my current meter readings with UW later today. The initial meter readings are correct and as stated in my lease and as checked on moving into the property.

The call was recorded and I have logged times and names. I have also asked for up to date bills to be e-mailed to myself. UW wished to charge to send out another bill to the correct address.

I have asked that as the matter is being dealt with that no other letters or visits are made that will incur costs to myself. Their response was that I may receive additional letters until I have fed back a meter reading.

I also asked that as they had been billing an incorrect address, that any additional legal charges be taken off. UW said that they cannot confirm anything just yet but that 'I might be able to halve it'. This sounds incredibly vague and dubious?

Anyway, sorry for wittering on. Any input would again be kindly received. Good learning experience if nothing else! I now know to get these things nailed down in future.

dogshome

"Might be able to halve it" !

Mail, no matter even if it's from the Queen herself, has absolutley no legal standing if it is not correctly addressed.

alc54321

Thanks for this. In everybody's opinion, am I liable for additional charges, late payment fees and legal fees if all bills have been incorrectly addressed?

Exacerbating the issue is that fact that UW bill monthly as opposed to the quarterly bills I have been used to. This means more bills and more fees, despite the fact that it was incorrectly addressed.

Very angry with myself more than anything for being so casual and expecting to be billed / things organised by the utility supplier. Really immature in retrospect.

Thanks,

Andy

ValHaller

alc54321 wrote: »

Ah brilliant. Yes, having just spoken to UW, they said that Electricity Plus is part of their company. They also said that N Power were the existing supplier but that it had been transferred.

I have confirmed the meter reference for both gas and electricity with them. Interestingly, the number on the Grosvenor Legal Services 'Bailiffs' letter was a direct line to UW debt collection department.



I am updating my current meter readings with UW later today. The initial meter readings are correct and as stated in my lease and as checked on moving into the property.

The call was recorded and I have logged times and names. I have also asked for up to date bills to be e-mailed to myself. UW wished to charge to send out another bill to the correct address.

I have asked that as the matter is being dealt with that no other letters or visits are made that will incur costs to myself. Their response was that I may receive additional letters until I have fed back a meter reading.

I also asked that as they had been billing an incorrect address, that any additional legal charges be taken off. UW said that they cannot confirm anything just yet but that 'I might be able to halve it'. This sounds incredibly vague and dubious?

Anyway, sorry for wittering on. Any input would again be kindly received. Good learning experience if nothing else! I now know to get these things nailed down in future.

You appear to have mugged yourself into signing up with UW.

If the supply is with nPower you need to deal with nPower. They will have the deemed contract with you and will be after your tail soon enough. By dealing with UW before the facts have emerged you risk a lot of complication. Utilities suppliers are sharks.

You need to establish with nPower whether they believe that they are your supplier and with UW when they believe the supply was transferred. If it was transferred before you moved in, then they will be the deemed supplier. If it was transferred after, then they are not the deemed supplier, because only you have authority to change supplier. If it was your letting agent who did it - quite common, then they only have authority if you gave it to them in the rental agreement - and even then it is debatable.

alc54321

In queue with N Power now to see if the address is registered with them.

I have not knowingly entered into any contract. Presumably there must be some form of confirmation required. I have merely asked to be forwarded correspondence which was incorrectly addressed. Surely I couldn't enter a contract without knowing anything about it or providing any form of confirmation or confirmation of identity even? I presume there must be a cooling off period if so?

Really is a confusing arena

macman

No, you are in a contract and there is no cooling-off period. As already explained, you entered into a deemed contract on the day you moved in and used the services. It's your job on taking up occupation to register with the existing suppliers, not your LL's or agent's (and the same applies to your water utility co, Council Tax, phone service etc)
As soon as you have submitted opening reads and got an account, you are free to commence a switch if you wish.
If you fail to register, then the supplier will place you on the default Standard tariff (the most expensive) and bill you as 'The Occupant'.

alc54321

N Power have confirmed that the account was transferred to Electricity Plus ( UW ) prior to the start of my tenancy. So I am in a deemed contract with UW it would seem. UW must have been the choice of either a previous tenant or the property managers.

For such a short contract (6 months) I didn't really think in terms of finding the best deal out there, silly I know. I spend about half the week in the flat and half with my girlfriend so my utility usage is very very low.


So as it stands, I am in a contract with UW for both gas and electricty. I can deal with this for the short amount of time I am in the property and based on my low usage.

I now need to address the legal fees and charges added as a result of bills not being addressed correctly, but also as a a result of me being stupid enough to not think about having to register with an energy supplier.

I really do appreciate the time you have all taken to respond. Invaluable tool for someone like myself with a very poor knowledge of the subject.

Andy

MillicentBystander

If your usage is very very low UW may not be the worst option anyway. I think your 'mitigating circumstances' point here is the bills/letters being sent to an incorrect address (although the property managers haven't exactly covered themselves in glory here, have they?). That would be my defence I would put to UW in order to try and 'override' the fact you haven't paid anything/contacted them in 3.5 months. You clearly are happy to pay for what you have used so make that clear to them whilst also stating this sort of thing is all very new to you. Be reasonable when you talk to them and good luck.

MillicentBystander

Forgot to say, it probably wouldn't do any harm to mention you've had lots of great advice from MSE's gas and electric forum since posting your thread on here and you are keeping the regulars updated as to the progress.