received elec bill months after leaving property - can I get away with not paying ?

zara_girl

I've recently received an electricity bill for £505 from Scottish Power for the duration of 26th november 3013 - 27th May 2014 (6 months in total - these are the dates we moved into and out of the property). However, we received the £505 bill in September 2014. As it's been almost 4 months since leaving the property, do we still have to pay it? It is a 'Standard quarterly cash tariff'. please help !! Thank you

sofiar

I would call them and advise of the date you left the property and let them send you a revised bill. They could argue they have spent 4 months attempting to locate you. Not paying/resolving the situation could end up in you having an adverse credit score

matelodave

Of course you've got to pay it - you used it. Why do you think that just because they've taken several months to produce the bill you should get it free?

Did you put any effort into reminding them that you owed money or were you hoping that they had forgotten and it would go away?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Any valid debt can be outstanding for a period of 6 years(5 in Scotland) and still has to be paid; even if the delay/mistake was the fault of the supplier.


In the same way you can claim a refund for an account overpaid for a period of 6 years.


Many people get confused over the 12 month back-billing provision for gas and electricity bills. Essentially this means that you can only be back-billed 12 months if you had not received a bill and it was the suppliers fault.


Even if that condition applied in your case, they could still claim back to September 2013.


I would settle the bill quickly, or at least contact them to try and arrange a payment plan. Otherwise it could get passed to a Debt Collecting Agency.