Unregistered gas supply

ironsmith

Heya,

I have moved into a flat last October and had to deal with setting up utilities, water and electricity went fine but I have always had issues with gas.

I called a supplier to set up electricity, that went ok once I managed to supply the serial number fr the meter (they could not find my flat via postcode lookup), gas was a no go though! They couldn't find the meter via the serial number I provided and suggested that I tracked down information with the national grid.

So there I went, called up national grid and they couldn't find anything either, I then decided to call the landlord and explain the situation, the people managing my flat and building are a company and they had no records on this either!

I was told to simply wait for a bill as someone who had lived her before stated they had a contract with another supplier (I tried calling this supplier, but again, no records of my property!).

Tired, with a a big phone bill in my hand from having to call all these people, I gave up... I do want to pay my gas, but nobody steps up!

Fast forward to today, I get a letter from my electricity supplier with a heading "You have 40 days to register your gas supply", followed with some information on what could happen if I didn't (National Grid could disconnect my supply) and that I should contact a supplier to register my supply, else they are obliged to report the site to the National Grid.

This is my first time renting in the country and I had no idea about meters needing to be registered, I'm totally ok with entering a contract now, but am I going to be billed for the time I didn't have a supplier?

I'm a bit scared with getting in contact with any of these companies and being told I have a massive bill... Especially after chasing the problem for such a long time and finding no solution! Is this something for the landlord to worry about?

Thanks for your time.

macman

When you move into a new property you are in a deemed contract with the existing suppliers-you can't just pick a new supplier. What you must do is first register with the existing suppliers. Once that is done, you can start a switch immediately if you wish to. If you don't register, your switch will probably be rejected.
If you didn't do this with the existing electricity supplier, go back to them and start again. You will then be billed by the existing supplier for the energy used since October, on (expensive) Standard Tariff.
The same will apply to your gas account, if they are the same supplier. I'm not clear from your post if the gas supply is shipperless (i.e. the meter is unregistered)?
No, the utility accounts are no concern of your landlord, they are your responsibility as tenant unless your tenancy agreement states otherwise. The same applies to water and Council Tax.

[Deleted User]

I have known people moving into flats and houses where the last tenant has bought an Ebay credit meter , only £35 with free postage (search "gas meter" in Ebay) this will most likely be used to replace a prepayment meter .When they leave they can t be bothered to replace the old one. Tenants even depart leaving electric meters wired up still bypassing. Anything go s nowadays. No ones bothered, especially the suppliers ( except BG ). All these Ebay meters are ending up somewhere, they will all be unregistered leading to a baffled occupier and National Grid who can t trace it

dogshome

How old is this block of flats?

When the block was built, the developers will have had to register with a supplier when the gas and it's meters were installed - This supplier would have automatically become the supplier to each flat owner as they moved in - If the block is newish, the chances are that that most of your nieghbors are still with that supplier, so knock a few doors and ask