Electricity and eviction

BitterAndTwisted

Phone the supplier and ask them where you should mail your written confirmation.

I sincerely hope you still have that original meter-reading from when you moved in or you could find yourself paying for the previous tenant's usage if they haven't.

chenille

Utseya123 wrote: »

You need to be able to demonstrate that you made all efforts to contact and pay the electricity company and are willing to pay it now, subject to it being a true and correct reading. You also need to be able to demonstrate that the LL was aware of this. Ideally, you should have kept aside funds for payment of the power bill on an estimated basis. If the amount is not known, what is it that they are demanding of you.

Nobody is demanding anything at the moment, just someone from the LA appearing and taking my meter reading (and other tenant's card payment one) shows that it exists.

BitterAndTwisted

I think you should write yourself out a little script for when you phone them. Utility suppliers generally record incoming call "for training purposes", so you should refer to the number of calls you've made over however long it's been and how genuinely shocked you are at their dilatoriness and appalling inefficiency.

Then ask them for an address for where you can send your written confirmation and your complaint. If they don't want your business you should ask them for a recommendation.

Guest101

chenille wrote: »

Nobody is demanding anything at the moment, just someone from the LA appearing and taking my meter reading (and other tenant's card payment one) shows that it exists.

Until u move out, the readings aren't anything to do with the la

tripled

For all those that are in disbelief, I worked in a British Gas call centre for four years and believe me it is perfectly possible to not recieve a bill for two years, even where occupants have made numerous attempts to contact their supplier. I have personally dealt with a number of cases like this.

If the supplier does not have an account set up, they are unlikely to accept any payment as there are no charges to pay and no account to credit a payment to.

OP: There are a number of reasons why you may not have an account or bill. I would recommend you take the following steps (if you haven't already) to resolve this:

• Take a copy of the meter reading and meter serial number
• Contact your local electricity distributor (they're the ones you'd call if there's a power cut, not your supplier) and ask them to confirm the supplier to your property (it's possible you don't have one)
• If the supplier is the one you have already contacted, raise a formal complaint and keep escalating it until it either it is resolved or it gets to the Ombudsman.

chenille

Guest101 wrote: »

Until u move out, the readings aren't anything to do with the la

That's what concerns me as well, they have read both our meters.

benjus

Have you tried writing a good old-fashioned letter to the energy company?

I've recently repossessed a property that my tenants had abandoned, although they did pass responsibility over to me for the energy bills before leaving. I had to tell the energy company that I only accepted liability for the energy supply from the date of the possession order, give meter readings from that date, and make sure they were using my address rather than the supply address for correspondence. The tenants were clearly in arrears with their energy bills, as there was final warning note stating that they were about to apply for a warrant to force entry and install a prepaid meter.

I wrote a couple of letters to the energy company, explaining the situation and what I wanted to happen. It took them a while to respond to the letters, but I got 2 calls back from people who seemed to know what they were doing, and went through all the points on the letter and made sure it was all set up correctly.

Don't underestimate how useful a letter can be at getting things done.

macman

chenille wrote: »

It's supposed to be with e-on but haven't paid since moving in (this is over 2 years this has been going on), like a meter installed but now afraid I'm going to get evicted.

You've already got a meter installed, you are talking about getting a PPM. Any debt you owe your electrcity supplier is between you and them-nothing to do with your LL.
The onlu people supposed to read your meter are the meter owners and yourself-agaim, nothing to do with the LA.

thesaint

macman wrote: »

The onlu people supposed to read your meter are the meter owners and yourself-agaim, nothing to do with the LA.

It does have something to do with the letting agency, as if their are units used between the old tenant and the new one, the landlord is responsible for payment.

Blackpool_Saver

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

[Text removed by MSE Forum Team]I would have got my MP involved long before this stage if what you say is true, also LA should have been notified.

Amazing, like I was the only one who finds this ridiculous.

AND if you have been putting the money aside to pay the bill which of course will eventually come, there is no need to panic.

It appears the MSE mods feel I have been judgmental, as I have been censored for saying 'jog on', talk about over jealous moderation.

Ah well I shall probably be banned now but hey ho, if I am I know how many people I have helped over the years PRIVATELY by message