Moved in but had no bill

jamesredvers

Hi,

A friend of mine moved into a house a few months a go but has never had a bill. I am sure he hasn't actually contacted the electric or gas supplier however the service is still being provided and nobody has ever been to read either meter?

What should he do, come clean and speak to a provider?

Thanks.

JJ_Egan

Speak to the provider as he is going to be billed anyway .
It will be a standard rate tariff as well and i hope he has read the meter on moving in .

System

jamesredvers wrote: »

Hi,

A friend of mine moved into a house a few months a go but has never had a bill. I am sure he hasn't actually contacted the electric or gas supplier however the service is still being provided and nobody has ever been to read either meter?

What should he do, come clean and speak to a provider?

Thanks.

When he moved in, he would automatically have been placed on what is known as a 'Deemed Contract' with the supplier that provided gas and electricity to the property on the day that he moved in. He would have been well advised to have found out the supplier company/ies details and provided them with meter readings taken on the day that he moved in.

Unless he contacts the supplier/s, he may find that he will get a bill/s that not only cover his period of use but the previous occupiers' use as well. Continued silence could lead to a lot of un-necessary problems. I just hope that the meter readings were taken and kept.

jamesredvers

He tells me that he has received no communication from any energy firm and doesnt even know who supplies the property??

matelodave

Then he should be worried. Most energy companies send out a letter addressed "to the occupier" when the previous tenant/owner has left and given them a final reading. If he hasn't seen one then they may never have got a final reading.

Energy suppliers will require payment for energy used and in the absence of meter readings will guess (estimate) what your mate has used if they don't have a meter reading from the date he moved in or from when the other occupier moved out.

There is the very distinct possibility that the previous occupier has scuttled off without giving a reading and therefore not paying a final bill. In which case your mate might end up paying for a lot more energy than he's used by not reading his meters and setting up his own account when he moved in.

He may be hoping that by not contacting them he'll only get charged from the date they find him - it doesn't work like that.

System

Tell your 'friend' to look at this link which should enable him to find out which company/ies supply gas and electricity to the property.


http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/who-supplies-my-electricity-and-gas/

jamesredvers

What if he approaches a new supplier and moves it to them, tomorrow for instance?

System

Sorry, but that will not work as your 'friend' is already in a deemed contract and the existing supplier will block the move. Please take the advice that you are being offered. Your 'friend' has to come clean with the existing supplier. If he/she failed to take any meter readings on the day that he/she moved in, then the existing supplier/s will calculate how much is owed based on the previous and present meter readings, and past consumption. Once the problem is dealt with, then the sooner a switch can be made. Impress upon your 'friend' that each day he/she prevaricates, then that is one more day on the standard tariff.

The energy companies are not stupid enough to fall for the old 'nothing to do with me Guv' line. If energy has been used in your 'friend's property then they will want someone to pay for it.

matelodave

His new supplier will want to know who his old one was and will ask him for a meter reading.

This reading will be passed onto the old supplier who will calculate how much your mate owes them based on the last good reading they had - which might have been several years ago if the previous tenant was as good as your mate is.

They will then send a ginormous bill to your mate who will have to pay it if he wants to change supplier (he'll have to pay it even if he doesn't want to change)

If he doesn't pay then he'll be blocked from changing, the meters will probably be changed to payment meters and he'll be chased for what he owes by a debt collection agency and he'll end up with a black mark or two on his credit references.


The longer he lets it go, the bigger the bill will be and the harder it will be for him to pay it or sort it all out. Ultimately using energy without paying for it is theft and I suppose they could take him to court.