Massive increase in EDF bill

neume2015

Hello

I currently live in a flatshare and have been the account holder with EDF since January 2014. I have been receiving quarterly bills around £280 pounds and have paid the bill and my flatmates have paid me their share, no problem.

Our recent bill came through for a similar amount followed by another bill hiking it to £542. Worried by this, one of my flatmates and I tried to read the meters (which was incredibly difficult to do as we are a top floor flat, there is another flat below us and below us again is a restaurant and lots of meters and god knows what are all together outside the restaurant entrance). I gave the meter readings over the phone and I was told based on those readings the bill would be even higher.

I explained the situation and they said they would send someone out to read the meter, which they did. It turns out that our gas meter was actually in the restaurant itself, above the restaurant gas meter (apparently). The person who came out did a read of the electric and gas and said they would get the bill updated.

I called EDF a few days later as the amount due had not been updated on my account, I called them and they said they had not received the electric meter reading, despite the guy coming out to read it and me being physically there as I had to show him where the meters were. So I was advised to read the electricity meter reading, which we did and I called up again to give them the updated reading. This apparently has now sent the bill to 844.60 which shocked me.

The person I spoke to told me that there was a note on my account saying someone from PDP management services should go out to check the meter reading asap (I was not told this the previous two times I called). Having looked online I realise they are debt collectors/linked to debt collection company and I am worried.

What are my rights regarding backpay? I have been in this flat share since Dec 13, created new account in my name Jan 14. I was advised over the phone that the last time a meter read had been done was in 2012 (however we gave them a meter reading at some point early last year, electricity reading was correct but we gave gas estimate, explaining our difficulty reading the meters and at the time not knowing the gas meter was downstairs in the restaurant). I don't think it is fair that we could potentially be paying for when the current flatmates did not even live here ( I am currently the person who has lived here longest, the people who lived here when I moved in have long gone). Plus, over the time I have been here, I have shared this flat with 10 different people with an 11th just moved in).

The person in charge of the bill before me was also with EDF and I have the letter where I opened the new account with her name and a couple of others as secondary names. Can EDF chase the previous account holder for this property?

I am really worried about this and to top it off my contract with work ends in one month time and I haven't got a job lined up afterwards. Apologies for this really long post but I would be grateful for any suggestions/advice (the first thing I am thinking of doing is contacting CAB before PDP services and also having another flatmate around when they do come to check the meter!)

keith1950

Hi, I realise that there was some confusion about the location of the gas meter but the most important thing to do when moving to a new property is to take meter readings and photographs of the meter readings THE DAY you move in otherwise you have no proof of your or the previous occupants usage.

If the previous occupant had been totally honest and provided them with accurate readings the day they moved out things might have been more straighfoward but as you say there had been no reading since 2012.

By ringing the supplier the day you move in you give the supplier the opportunity to send a reader out the same day.

As it stands you have no proof of you usage. All you can really hope for is that Edf will try to work back from your recent usage to approximate an opening reading or if not that they will allow you to pay any outstanding debt via a payment plan.

Good luck.

spiro

EDF will not care about the coming and going of flatmates, that's a third party matter for you to resolve.
The key thing here is that you have received about 8 bills lots of which I suspect were based on estimated readings and therein lies your problem, you should have checked the reading on every bill you have received. Now you are being hit with a catchup bill which happens to probably thousands of people ever month. That's one of the reasons the government is pushing for smart meters to be installed.

naedanger

neume2015 wrote: »

Apologies for this really long post but I would be grateful for any suggestions/advice (the first thing I am thinking of doing is contacting CAB before PDP services and also having another flatmate around when they do come to check the meter!)

Does each tenant have their own separate tenancy agreement? And what does it say about the payment of utility bills?

If you are planning on contacting CAB I suggest you take them a copy of both the tenancy agreement and the terms and conditions of the utility service (which are probably available online).

As others have said, it is probable that under the terms of the utility agreement you are jointly and severally liable for any bills or debt. What this means is that the utility company can hold you liable for the full amount. And they almost certainly will hold you liable as they have your details.

However if every tenant is on a separate tenancy agreement (as it sounds like from your description) it seems a bit unfair that you can be held liable for the full utility bills. If you are only liable for your share of the utility bills you may be able to claim anything more than your share back from your landlord. (However I don't know if this is the case, it would just seem like an unfair contract term otherwise, assuming you have your own separate tenancy agreement. CAB should hopefully help clarify.)