Unregistered Electricity Meter

jjcd

Hi all,

I have done a bit of a search on the forum and found a few answers but thought I would ask for any additional advice.

I moved into a one bedroom flat 6 weeks ago, I then set about sorting the electricity supply (no gas) and had trouble finding out who the existing supplier was (the property was previously occupied for several years by various tenants).
My landlord then told me the supplier was NPower so I contacted them and they had no record of the meter so arranged an engineer to come out and inspect the meter. However the day before this another tenant had EDF around for the same purpose and they discovered all 7 meters for the flats were unregistered and we would be shortly cut off if we didn't take action. Therefore I cancelled the Npower engineer rather than waste their time and called EDF. They explained I needed to register the meter with UK Power Network and all would be fine.
So I called UK Power Network had no record of the meter and I was again told it was unregistered and instructed to call a supplier and they would be able to register it and set an account up etc.
I have been struggling with this as the suppliers I have called promise to 'investigate' and call back, one even said they would call be in 14 days and it would all be sorted, but I haven't heard anything and they have no record of me calling.

I just wanted to ask if there is any advice as to what I should do next? I'm a bit worried and want it sorted as I dont want to find a large backdated bill.

Thanks for your help in advance and sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to give the full picture!

iancrt

is it a recent conversion to flats?

Are your meters supply meters or is there a chance they are sub meters? (so you pay the LL a proportion of the bill they get for the whole property)

Its the LL that should probably be sorting this, not the tenants

rogerblack

jjcd wrote: »

I just wanted to ask if there is any advice as to what I should do next? I'm a bit worried and want it sorted as I dont want to find a large backdated bill.

Neglecting anything else.
Read the meter.
Assume it costs 15p/unit, and 40p/day or so for a single rate, or 20p/unit, 40p/day and 10p for 'night rate' units if you have an economy 7 meter.

Put that money away.
So if it reads 1000 units over 30 days - that's 15p *1000 + 40p*30 = 162 pounds or so.

Keep notes of all calls and copies of all correspondances, as if they apply for a warrant to disconnect (if this is in fact required) - you want to contest this.

jjcd

iancrt wrote: »

is it a recent conversion to flats?

Edit: It was converted a few years ago which is why I find it strange, what have the previous tenants done about this situation...?

Are your meters supply meters or is there a chance they are sub meters? (so you pay the LL a proportion of the bill they get for the whole property)

Its the LL that should probably be sorting this, not the tenants

I am unsure on this but in the communal meter cupboard there are 7 meters, so one for each flat? Also I had a look through my contract and there is nothing mentioned to say we pay the landlord for utilities.
I will talk to the landlord about this anyway!

jjcd

rogerblack wrote: »

Neglecting anything else.
Read the meter.
Assume it costs 15p/unit, and 40p/day or so for a single rate, or 20p/unit, 40p/day and 10p for 'night rate' units if you have an economy 7 meter.

Put that money away.
So if it reads 1000 units over 30 days - that's 15p *1000 + 40p*30 = 162 pounds or so.

Keep notes of all calls and copies of all correspondances, as if they apply for a warrant to disconnect (if this is in fact required) - you want to contest this.

Okay thank you, I have a photograph of the meter reading the day we moved in so can calculate that. We can afford it and expect to pay it back to the day we moved in, but just dont want to get fined/billed for this problem if it looks like we haven't been sorting it.

Although I have a limited amount of correspondence as its almost all be done over the phone, I have kept notes on times/dates and details of conversations.

jjcd

Should I just be persistent in contacting an energy suppler to register the meter?

Thanks

chanz4

Are you London area then? If so I suspect your supply may of be illegally installed by the builder who converted it for the area. We have a lot at the mo

chanz4

jjcd wrote: »

Should I just be persistent in contacting an energy suppler to register the meter?

Thanks

UKPN will look into how they got there, the owner will be looking at a big bill trust me. The meters are also likely to be also bought of the shelf none authed.

chanz4

rogerblack wrote: »

Neglecting anything else.
Read the meter.
Assume it costs 15p/unit, and 40p/day or so for a single rate, or 20p/unit, 40p/day and 10p for 'night rate' units if you have an economy 7 meter.

Put that money away.
So if it reads 1000 units over 30 days - that's 15p *1000 + 40p*30 = 162 pounds or so.

Keep notes of all calls and copies of all correspondances, as if they apply for a warrant to disconnect (if this is in fact required) - you want to contest this.

7/11 Utility Act will over ride any billing, and disconnections can also be made under this act.

spiro

The problem you have is a sort of catch 22. When a supplier registers your property they use a 13 digit MPAN and without this they can't register the site. The MPAN is issued by the DNO (UKPN in your case) normally when they connect up the cable. I would personally chase UKPN for an MPAN as they will need to inspect the installation before they will issue an MPAN.

iancrt

Are the meters sealed? there will be a cover screw with a wire loop through it with a tag.
Are there any stickers on the meters? usually giving an an installation date and start meter reading?

It is almost impossible to connect a property to electric without a meter being registered, and most definitely not legal. i would keep bugging the landlord and keep my name out of any dealings with suppliers until resolved.