Not had a bill for 8 years!

ThrowAway_2

This is a throwaway account as I didn't want to link it to my main.

I used to have my electricity with Scottish Power, but after a couple of years they stopped taking the direct debit from my account. I called them 3 or 4 times over a couple of months about it, but was always told that I had signed up with Npower as that was who was showing as supplying my electricity, and no matter how many times I insisted I had never signed with another company, they just kept telling me they would look into it and get back to me.

Shortly after I went through a bad period, and pretty much gave up on everything, so didn't persist in calling them about it, and they never called me back. The longer it went on, the harder it seemed for me to contact them again, as I felt I had dug myself into a hole. That was 8 years ago - I haven't had an electricity bill or had the meter read in that time.

Last week a guy turned up at the door (I have no idea what company he was from - I was woozy from medication at the time) and asked to check my meter, saying they were trying to track down a lost meter, and the serial number on his paperwork matched my meter. He noted down the meter reading, thanked me, and left.

I haven't heard anything yet, but I guess it's only a matter of time. I have no proof of having called Scottish Power about the matter 8 years ago, and no letters were ever sent. Can anybody advise me where I stand?

Mojisola

ThrowAway wrote: »

I haven't heard anything yet, but I guess it's only a matter of time. I have no proof of having called Scottish Power about the matter 8 years ago, and no letters were ever sent. Can anybody advise me where I stand?

With a very big bill?

sheffield_lad

Back billing policy may well apply here so big bill divided by 8. Your slice 1/8th.


Good going considering you have had 8yrs worth.

cklass

Yes, it depends on who is considered at fault. Hopefully, the supplier will take responsibility for this and you will only have to pay for the last 12 months. If you are considered at fault then you may have to pay for the last six years but you can negotiate a payment plan and pay it off slowly. Although you should have made more of an effort to get this sorted eight years ago, I think it will ultimately be considered the supplier's fault.

scott1506

well i tell you one thing where you stand and that is dont be standing when you get a mahoosive bill through the door haha

Mojisola

ThrowAway wrote: »

That was 8 years ago - I haven't had an electricity bill or had the meter read in that time.

You knew you were using electricity all that time so did you put money away every month to pay for it when the inevitable happened?

dogshome

Seems as though you have been the victim of an 'Erroneous Transfer - This is where a customer has been accidently switched to another company because there was c*ck-up in some other customers transfer.

There is a Regional Data Base for Elec meters - Google "Who supplies my Electricity" for the phone number of your regions Data Base, who will tell you who your supplier is.

8 year Bill?
1)For a start, billing can only go back for 6 years due to Statute of Limitations
2) Whoever did take over your supply, maybe n'power, maybe not, have failed totally to contact you, so how were you supposed to chase them for bills?

The 12 month back-billing rule should apply, but you will have to argue your corner so post here again when you do get a bill

Cardew

dogshome wrote: »

The 12 month back-billing rule should apply, but you will have to argue your corner so post here again when you do get a bill

The $64,000 question will be did you take reasonable steps to find out who was your supplier.


I wouldn't try to use the 'I was going through a bad period' reason for not attempting to contact the supplier.

throwaway123_2

Thought I would update this, but forgot the password for the last throwaway login.

Ok, I contacted the CAB and passed all the details onto them. They did some digging and discovered it was Scottish Gas that had read my meter, so they pre-empted them and made the first contact. Scottish Gas then did an investigation and passed their report onto CAB, who passed it onto me.

They concluded that they took over my electricity supply in 2007, but admitted that I had not requested this, and had signed nothing. They also admitted that they had not only failed to inform me, but had also failed to contact me by any means for 7 years - no letters, calls, emails, nothing - and had never sent anybody to read the meter during that period.

As such, they proposed the 12 month bill, because they had basically screwed everything up from the start. So I got a bill for £1438 for the previous 12 months (I had a lot of computers running 24/7). So overall, £200 per year for 7 years. Called them and paid in full as soon as the bill arrived.

Ironically, I recently moved to a new flat. Scottish Power are the default suppliers, but they cannot find my address or meters on the system, so I haven't been able to set up an account yet. Everybody else in the street is in the same boat though. Have my meter readings from the day I got the keys, and am putting money aside for when they do eventually get their systems updated. I'm not too worried - I'm not going anywhere, the meters aren't going anywhere, and as long as the gas and electric keep getting supplied then the account can get backdated when hey get it all sorted.