Utility bill for empty house

elfrider

I vacated my property in July, and moved into a rented property, but continued to own the property, until tomorrow when the sale completes. I informed the utility company the day I moved out and paid the final bill. I assumed that my continued ownership was irrelevant due to the fact that I was no longer using any energy at the property. Their moving out process also made no mention of whether or not I owned the property.

I have just been to the old property to remove any mail and picked up several bills addressed to the 'occupier' which I obviously don't want to leave for the new owner to sort out. The company has assumed similar usage and billed appropriately. My question is am I liable for the standing charge (no usage) between July and now as the homeowner? Can the company legally charge a standing charge whether the property is lived in or not? Thanks.

matelodave

Yes, you have to pay standing charge, even though you weren't there. It's not until the enw owner takes over the supply that it transfers over.


Likewise you are still responsible for the council tax and water charges

Nada666

Yes, you are (rightly) liable for the standing charge.

naedanger

elfrider wrote: »

I vacated my property in July, and moved into a rented property, but continued to own the property, until tomorrow when the sale completes. I informed the utility company the day I moved out and paid the final bill. I assumed that my continued ownership was irrelevant due to the fact that I was no longer using any energy at the property. Their moving out process also made no mention of whether or not I owned the property.

I have just been to the old property to remove any mail and picked up several bills addressed to the 'occupier' which I obviously don't want to leave for the new owner to sort out. The company has assumed similar usage and billed appropriately. My question is am I liable for the standing charge (no usage) between July and now as the homeowner? Can the company legally charge a standing charge whether the property is lived in or not? Thanks.

The supplier is legally permitted to charge a standing charge regardless of whether or not the property was lived in, and regardless of whether or not any energy was used.

elfrider

Thanks for the replies, will get on it tomorrow.

modsandmockers

elfrider wrote: »

I have just been to the old property to remove any mail and picked up several bills addressed to the 'occupier' which I obviously don't want to leave for the new owner to sort out. The company has assumed similar usage and billed appropriately

As above, you are probably officially liable for the standing charges but lots of properties stand empty for years and I doubt whether the owners pay anything for their non-existent energy supply. Since the mail was addressed to 'the occupier' then I don't really see why you need to worry about it - when the new owner becomes the occupier, then he/she will have to decide what to do about it. If you contact the supplier tomorrow and accept any kind of responsibility at all for the bills, then I think you will run the risk of also being held responsible for the company's 'assumed similar usage'.

Until the supplier starts writing to you by name, then I would suggest you do nothing at all.

ps - your time tomorrow would be better spent taking photographs of the meter readings before handing over the keys - there is no guarantee that the new owner(s) will follow the correct procedures in taking over responsibility for the utilities supplies.

naedanger

modsandmockers wrote: »

If you contact the supplier tomorrow and accept any kind of responsibility at all for the bills, then I think you will run the risk of also being held responsible for the company's 'assumed similar usage'.

I think the OP is at greater risk of getting his utility bills in a mess and being charged on an "assumed similar usage" basis if he does what you suggest rather than doing the right thing.

In my view he is better accepting liability and sending final readings as at the date of his end of ownership, possibly even taking dated photos of the meters for his own evidence.

The standing charges won't come to that much and if any problems arise they won't be due to any failure on his part. If he does not submit final readings he will find it more difficult to dispute the readings the supplier uses.

modsandmockers

naedanger wrote: »

I think the OP is at greater risk of getting his utility bills in a mess and being charged on an "assumed similar usage" basis if he does what you suggest rather than doing the right thing.

In my view he is better accepting liability

I disagree - here is a bit of the original post - "I informed the utility company the day I moved out and paid the final bill. I assumed that my continued ownership was irrelevant due to the fact that I was no longer using any energy at the property. Their moving out process also made no mention of whether or not I owned the property".

The bills are addressed to 'The Occupier' - the energy company is simply trying its luck because they have accepted that the OP is no longer there, and are phishing for details of the new occupier. As in my earlier post, new occupiers cannot be relied upon to follow the correct procedures.

victor2

modsandmockers wrote: »

I disagree - here is a bit of the original post - "I informed the utility company the day I moved out and paid the final bill. I assumed that my continued ownership was irrelevant due to the fact that I was no longer using any energy at the property. Their moving out process also made no mention of whether or not I owned the property".

The bills are addressed to 'The Occupier' - the energy company is simply trying its luck because they have accepted that the OP is no longer there, and are phishing for details of the new occupier. As in my earlier post, new occupiers cannot be relied upon to follow the correct procedures.

But the genuine new occupier will then have to prove his new start date and readings, as you can bet the utility company will automatically backdate it to the "final" reading given by the owner. Far better for the owner to explain the situation and "come clean" with the supplier, and genuine final readings, which will be very close to, if not the same as, the previous readings.
Might save the new owner a bit of grief, assuming the seller cares, which he appears to...

Janetta

Hello
If your last reading was in April, and the building just left empty no usage you will be charged a daily rate ( even after paying that last bill)

Having been in a similar posistion I was charged £0.26 per day up until the new owners took over. Even after I thought I had paid the last bill - i had to ring Br****Gas home move section to clarify it was empty & paid the last & final bill.

Hope this help

modsandmockers

victor2 wrote: »

But the genuine new occupier will then have to prove his new start date and readings

That's what I mean by the 'normal procedure'.

As people on here are constantly being told by the forum cognoscenti 'you are responsible for your own liabilities'. If the new occupier takes meter readings on moving-in day, and they agree with the OP's moving-out readings, then there should be no problem. If the supplier wants to quibble about 3 months standing charges, then let them do so. If the new occupier does nothing for several months, then the bills (addressed to the occupier) will continue to arrive. Until the OP hears directly from the energy supplier then any payment which he/she might make is quite likely to get lost in the mists of the unknown (the OP's account at the previous address appears to have been closed).