Forgot to give meter reading when moving out! What to do?

Tig12345

Hi,

So, stupid as it sounds I forgot to give my Gas and Electric companies a meter reading when I moved out last July (2012). I still have the meter readings, and am more than happy to pay what I owe. My worry is if I call up this late (I've heard nothing from either company) that I might end up getting stung for lots of money. For example, if the people who moved in after we moved out haven't paid all their bills could I end up having to pay for that - I'm guessing I might officially still be contracted to the energy companies or something. Does anyone have any advice? What should I do? Legally can they charge me for usage that happened after I moved out?

Thanks!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Probably more importantly you presumably didn't give them a forwarding address to send a final bill??

I don't want to be alarmist but if bills were being sent addressed to you at your old address(and obviously not being paid) the case might be passed to a Debt Collection Agency.

You need to contact the Utility company and explain the situation and give meter readings and your present address.

They cannot legally charge you for gas/electricity consumption after you moved out. However proving that consumption was used by new occupants might be difficult.

Tig12345

That's exactly what I'm worried about. As I said I'm more than happy to pay what I owe, and I realise it was really stupid to forget about it for a year. My landlord would confirm that I've moved out, do you think that would be enough proof? I'm a bit worried that either it will become an issue with debt collectors, or it will have an affect on my credit history.

Tig12345

And no, I didn't give a forwarding address

Tig12345

Cardew wrote: »

Welcome to the forum.

Probably more importantly you presumably didn't give them a forwarding address to send a final bill??

I don't want to be alarmist but if bills were being sent addressed to you at your old address(and obviously not being paid) the case might be passed to a Debt Collection Agency.

You need to contact the Utility company and explain the situation and give meter readings and your present address.

They cannot legally charge you for gas/electricity consumption after you moved out. However proving that consumption was used by new occupants might be difficult.

Do you know how I could potentially prove I wasn't living there? Do you think CAB might be any help if I gave them a ring? - Sorry to pester, but am beginning to worry a lot about the situation and can't afford to be landed with a huge bill that I didn't run up (although I realise it's completely my fault for forgetting to sort this out when I left the flat)

Thanks

Cardew

Proving you were not living there is the easy task; landlord, your new address etc can confirm.

It is proving the meter readings that might be a problem. The tenant who moved in after you might have already moved and another tenant in occupation.

However all that is supposition so you must contact the Utility company now and find out the situation. Until that is established you cannot plan ahead.

Soleil_lune

I would have thought that the new tenants would have given the meter readings as soon as they moved in, so it's unlikely that you would owe 100s and 100s. However, it is possible that you may have been owing 'some' money, and even if it was £30, it will show as a default on your credit file if it wasn't paid. And if they didn't have a forwarding address, you wouldn't have had any correspondence from them to tell you that you owed some money.

Do you know what your balance was when you left?

Did you pay by direct debit?

If you did, then they would have taken what you owed at the end of your tenancy, so you would not owe any. But then again, if you did not give readings, they wouldn't know what to charge you. Unless they worked on the opening readings of the new tenant. If you didn't pay by direct debit though, then it is possible that you left owing some money.

Have you tried to get a statutory credit report? May be a good idea to see if you have any defaults registered against you. It only costs two pounds I think. Experian do it, and a couple of other companies. (Or as several people have suggested, contact the utility company: but I would check your credit file first.)