Electricity supplier

Tinak_2

Hi Guys, This is a real cry for help.
My daughter moved into a property in 4th January 2014, on the 5th Jan i tried to find out who her energy supplier was, so i contacted uk power to find out, i was told they didn't know, so i contacted all the main suppliers but know one could tell me. we also asked the lady in the flat down stairs, who said she has been trying for months to find out herself. So as the months went by telephone calls were made, and the meter was eventually read by EDF, but still know bill was sent out, place more calls and more meter readings. So we are 1-2 years on with no electric bill paid. Then in the summer of 2016 a man came out to inspect the meters for my daughter and the lady down stairs, he looks around the flat, taking notes of all electrical items and lighting and off he goes. the lady down stairs has since been paying for her electric, but still my daughter has heard nothing. So 2 days ago she receives a bill, not in her name, it just says occupier , also no account number, for £580 for January 2015-January 2017. She phoned EDF and they asked for an account number, so she's says she doesn't have one,my daughter then tells the lady on the phone she has tried contacting them many times and has had meter readings taking since 2014 but still no bill. The lady at EDF is now saying they are going to look into it and go back years and my daughter will receive a bill back dated to 2014. Also i would just like to add, it took years to get a water bill, and we still can't track down her gas supplier. My daughter is so so stressed, like a lot of people her rent is a crazy amount so money is tight, she and her partner work so hard but they can never seem to make ends meet, so this is just more stress.
Thank you for taking your time to read this, i do hope i've tried to make this clear and someone has some advice.
Thank you

System

If your daughter can show that she has taken positive action to get a bill from a supplier and has failed, then she probably has the right to ask EDF to consider invoking The Back Billing Code. In essence this means that EDF can only charge for the previous 12 months of supply from the date that the bill was raised.

I say 'consider' as I suspect EDF will argue that no action was taken to inform them of the change of occupier so a Deemed Contract exists. I assume that you attempted to ascertain who the supplier was using the meter number and not just the property address?

https://www.ukpower.co.uk/who-supplies-my-gas-and-electricity

dogshome

Google 'Who supplies my Elec & Gas' - This will give you phone access to the National data base for gas meters, and the Regional one for Elec meters covering your area
A phone call to each of these will tell you who the suppliers for your Gas & Elec are

footyguy

What dogshome said ^^^

Unfortunately, because that was not done, your daughter will now face 2 years billing based on the standard variable rate (which is usually their highest) :eek:
EDF are not particularly cheap anyway
Let's hope the gas is not being supplied by British Gas.

Get this sorted out asap, then she can start looking for a good deal
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

Typically, people can save £300-£350 per year by following this advice - that's probably £700 wasted; think of the nice holiday or whatever that could have bought her. :cool:

Tinak_2

Thank You Hengus,
Now that has just jogged my memory, Yes i did give uk power the meter number and it didn't show up anything. the only problem we have is i do not have proof of any of these calls made.
Thank you for your help

Tinak_2

That's just it Footy guy, i did everything i could think of to find out, i called the national database, uk power, know one could give me any info. i even called up all the main suppliers,
The thing is this flat has been made up of a house that has been extended. as you can see in my post it took ages to even get the water sorted out, Thames water came out a few times to see this house is now 3 flats. Its like the flats weren't registered or something. Thanks for your reply

SammenForLivet2

Not sure really how this has happened, as most of the energy suppliers have access to the national database for electricity and gas, which detail who is the supplier for pretty much all UK mains supplied properties. Just a thought,is this a new-build property that's being rented?

UK Power is a comparison service, not sure if they have access to this information. Also, have they not being putting money aside towards paying the energy bills, as they've been taking the readings? Pretty sure from your initial post they wanted to pay in the first place, so not sure why it's a shock now?

macman

I fail to see how they can generate a bill without an account number?
£580 over two years is incredibly low, if this is an all electric property (no gas supply is mentioned) -and the 1st year of occupation was not even billed initially. I too doubt that the back billing code applies in this instance, as your daughter seems to have left it all to you to resolve.
Sounds like whoever converted the flats did a cheap bodge job on the division of services. All too common sadly.

The link in question is I think UK Power Networks
http://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/internet/en/help-and-advice/who-is-my-supplier/

dogshome

Hmmm - Looked at macmans link to UK Power and it seems that their data base only covers meter registrations in London/South East/Eastern England

Don't know where Tinaks daughter resides, but best bet is google 'Who supplies my Elec/Gas' as this will give access to all regions

matelodave

UK Power Networks is a DNO (Distribution Network Operator) of which there are 14 in the UK.

You have to choose the one that supplies your region to find your meter on their database - see here. http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Our-company/Electricity/Distribution-Network-Operator-Companies/

If you ask the wrong DNO then they won't have your meter on their database, nor will they be able to tell you who the supplier is.

Autumnella

When your daughter receives the bill in her name the top of page 2 under 'recent account activity' will display any adjustments that have been made if the billing code has been applied. If not, EDF are pretty reasonable when it comes to applying the billing code, so if your daughter explains everything as in your first post and ask for the billing code to be applied they will apply this. Usually takes about 4 weeks. If not raise a complaint.