Please, please help me - EDF Back-Billing!

1316Baggies

I do hope someone on here can help me with some practical advice

I rented a property through an estate agency/management company from 1st Nov 12-1st Nov 14. When I left they asked for my forwarding address and I gave it to them.

I've got home to my new house today to a bill from EDF for over £2,500 which apparently relates to the previous address!!

Whilst at that address I paid Gas & Electric through British Gas and was told in my tenancy agreement that I was not able to switch.

Now a new girl at the estate agency has emailed to say that this bill to EDF for Electric has been billed to them and she says I am liable to pay it.

I do not understand. I think there was a mix up with the meters for my basement flat and the top floor flat which their tenant told me about as I was leaving as she was too, but I thought that they were being switched back for the new tenants.

My questions are..

1) Are the Estate Agencies able to give out your personal details like this? Do they not have a duty of care to tenants in this case? I feel like they've just thrown me under the bus by saying bills are my responsibility!!!

2) How on earth can EDF say that one single person can spend £2.5k on Electricity in two years and then pay it in one go? I've just moved and post xmas am so broke

3) I've made payments to British Gas. I've stupidly only kept one quarterly bill from this time period but it 100% says Electric & Gas on it. How can they make me now pay electric to EDF too?
EDF have given me until 25 Feb to pay this. What happens if I can't? Will this go to arrears and affect my credit rating?

4) Who is at fault here? Is it me?

I really hope someone can help! I am literally so stressed and it's the weekend so I cannot ring any of these people for help.

Many thanks in advance for anyone who can help me here.

CashStrapped

Ok...

The first and most important question....

Did you take meter readings when you moved in and when you moved out?

Did you take any meter readings whilst you lived there at all?

Then...

Did you not give those meter readings to EDF when

a) You opened up an account when you moved in
b)When you closed the account when you left

Did you do any of the above?

If not, then that is the main reason why you are in an unfortunate mess now.

Futhermore..

Did your Agent (it really depends how good they are) provide you with a check-in/contract in which the meter readings were recorded?

Did they then do the same for the new tenant who moved in after you?

If so, there is a possibility that the Agent has recorded those meter readings for you.

However, it was not their responsibility, it was yours, so if you are lucky they have done it for you.

1316Baggies

I have opening readings yes. And final readings. But all was given to British Gas who I was paying for Elec & Gas for the duration of my tenancy.

I have never had any contact with EDF throughout the duration of my tenancy. They've only just come out of the woodwork now.

energyworker

Check the meter serial numbers on the bills. Were you living in a building which had been split into several residences or were you living in an apartment building?

It sounds like either you were paying BG for someone elses supplies or EDF are trying to charge you for someone elses supply.

CashStrapped

Ok...as per above....unless there was a big mix up with which meter you have been paying, then I do not see you have an issue.

If you still have your old bills, you need to match the meter reference number on your bill with that which is on the meter you were taking readings from.

1316Baggies

energyworker wrote: »

Check the meter serial numbers on the bills. Were you living in a building which had been split into several residences or were you living in an apartment building?

It sounds like either you were paying BG for someone elses supplies or EDF are trying to charge you for someone elses supply.

It was a london townhouse that was split into three flats. Three separate landlords with three tenants. My landlord used a letting agent as the management company so I only ever dealt with them.

I'm very worried that I was paying for flat above as a mistake was made when the building was split up and in switching them back something underhand as gone on. But either way, neither flat could run up a total of £2.5k in Electricity in 2 years, surely?!

1316Baggies

CashStrapped wrote: »

Ok...as per above....unless there was a big mix up with which meter you have been paying, then I do not see you have an issue.

If you still have your old bills, you need to match the meter reference number on your bill with that which is on the meter you were taking readings from.

I will do. I have stupidly kept only one bill from British Gas for this time period (l know, I know!) but it clearly says Electric and Gas on it.

I do have an issue in that EDF have sent me a bill for £2,500 which they are saying I have to pay by Feb 25th! It's obviously stressing me out quite a bit :(:(

energyworker

1316Baggies wrote: »

It was a london townhouse that was split into three flats. Three separate landlords with three tenants. My landlord used a letting agent as the management company so I only ever dealt with them.

I'm very worried that I was paying for flat above as a mistake was made when the building was split up and in switching them back something underhand as gone on. But either way, neither flat could run up a total of £2.5k in Electricity in 2 years, surely?!

Take a look at the bill you have from BG and the bill you have now been sent by EDF. If they are billing for different meters then you need to establish which is correct.

It is relatively common for buildings being split to have the meters assigned incorrectly and often this isn't picked up on for a while.

Cardew

1. If you were the tenant for the period EDF are claiming, then the Estate agent are entitled to give those details to EDF. I am not assuming you are liable for that bill, however if it was a legitimate bill their 'duty of care' would not cover you to avoiding a legitimate bill.


Indeed you could argue their 'duty of care' would be to the landlord who otherwise might be landed with the bill.


2. You are correct that a bill for £2,500 for electricity over 2 years is difficult to understand - assuming that you used gas for heating/hot water. However unless you read the correct meter yourself on moving in, it is possible you have been billed for electricity used before you moved in.


3. If you are convinced that the EDF bill is not yours, then you need to pass the matter back to the Letting Agent to sort out. If necessary you might have to get a solicitor involved.


4. As long as you have one bill from BG it is a simple matter to write to them and get full details of your account for the period you were a tenant.

1316Baggies

energyworker wrote: »

Take a look at the bill you have from BG and the bill you have now been sent by EDF. If they are billing for different meters then you need to establish which is correct.

It is relatively common for buildings being split to have the meters assigned incorrectly and often this isn't picked up on for a while.

If I was paying the wrong metre for two years then this isn't my fault and surely I don't to pay £2.5k for someone else's mistake? It's impossible I could have spent that much anyway, surely? I had a gas cooker and gas boiler for heating/water.:(

energyworker

1316Baggies wrote: »

If I was paying the wrong metre for two years then this isn't my fault and surely I don't to pay £2.5k for someone else's mistake? It's impossible I could have spent that much anyway, surely? I had a gas cooker and gas boiler for heating/water.:(

It would be a little more complex than that, the issue would be primarily with BG as you would have to reclaim payments from them. EDF would argue that it is unfortunate but not an issue from their perspective as it your responsibility to contact the acting supplier when you become liable for that supply.

You'd have to dispute the billing as chances are it is based on estimated readings. You would also have an argument (I expect) to take up with the letting agents as they have clearly messed up.

I would suggest though that the easiest thing to do first is going to be to first establish whether you do actually hold any liability for these arrears. If you don't then it is a case of getting your name removed from EDFs records. If you do then it becomes a little more complex.