Is this a massive service failure by an Estate Agent?

Lich123run

Hi, hoping someone can help. Me and my wife are currently letting a property through an Estate Agent. We feel we've been led completely astray with regards to the misinformation we've been provided regarding our electricity supplier. The paperwork we recd from The agency when we signed the lettings contract stated the property electricity was managed through Scottish Power. However, we have recently found out ( after 4 months of living in this property) that this property is live under Npower and that too under Economy 7. Now, we've been living here since 9/11/13 and we've had no communication from Scottish Power which we were misled to believe was the company that fed our electric supply. We tried contacting Scottish Power after 12 weeks had lapsed but it was to no avail. We then recd a letter from Npower last week which was under the previous tenants name but under our address. Clearly, we opened it to realise that it was the electric bill. I rang Npower couple of days back and explained the situation who have in turn amended their details and transferred ownership of electric to us from 09/11/13. I am now disputing weather we should legally be owing Npower anything at all until now as we were misinformed that our electric was supplied through Scottish Power and we had no clue that we were on Economy 7. We've been using all electrics in the day and will be at a huge financial loss. Economy7 would've never been our first choice. My wife is 8 months pregnant and we both are now under huge stress for no fault of ours as far as we can see.
Do you feel what's happened is justified? We clearly feel this is a massive service error on behalf of The agent and not sure where we should go from here.
Any help will be appreciated .
Thanks.

tberry6686

How would the agent know who the supplier is or what tarriff you are on. The previous tenant could have switched to any supplier they liked and any tarriff they wanted. Did you try and supply Scottish Power with a move in reading, this should have shown that the account was not with scottish power.

What heating system do you have, if it's electric storage heaters then economy 7 is likely to be the best option.

Money-Saving-King

I rent. When I first moved in the very first thing I did was take the gas & electricity readings to make sure I was charged for only the power I used since moving in (this isn't through experience, this is the first time I rented through an agency). This was as soon as I opened the door before I turned a single switch on.

I don't get how after 4 months after moving in you found out who supplies your electricity. When you moved in surely you took readings and contacted your current supplier to check they were the same readings they had?

peachyprice

No, it isn't a massive failure by the estate agent, it's a massive failure by you.

You waited 4 months to find out who your electricity supplier was. Did you not think it strange that you didn't get a reply, or a bill, from Scottish Power when you tried to give them your opening meter readings?

And why is this a huge financial strain, surely you've been putting aside they money for the electricity bill that was inevitable? Or did you think you were getting 4 months free energy?

Unless you would have lived nocturnally if you'd known you were on E7 you still would have used electricity in the day time at the normal rate. You only would have benefited from storage heaters and water, and perhaps running the dishwasher and washing machine overnight, anything else you have been using on daytime rates isn't going to make much difference to your bills.

buglawton

I am In a similar situation as a landlord of a refurb property. I phoned the elec co to get the billing arrangements and they could not locate the property! Will have another try now the tenant is in.

Suggestion: Keep a note of the meter number (sometimes on a card near the meter and not stuck on it) as the elec co asks for this.

Hintza

So to cut to the chase and to pr!cis what you said:-

You don't want to pay for your electricity because you didn't check who your supplier was, nor did you check your meter to see if you were on economy 7 nor take a start reading.

OlliesDad

Even if the Estate Agents were right and you were with Scottish Power, you could still have been on an Economy 7 tariff. I don't see how it is valid argument.

Ultimately, you do still owe the money for the electric you have used. It is worth mentioning to the letting agents about their error (it is not a "massive failure").

hollydays

What do you mean you tried contacting Scottish power but " it was to no avail?"
I'm having difficulty believing your post is real.

societys_child

Is this a massive service failure by an Estate Agent?

No!