oops - not yet notified gas/elec i have moved in... advice pls

foreign_correspondent

Hello,

I moved in at the beginning of sept, both me and OH thought the other had dealt with elec/gas.. have recently realisd we were mistaken. How do I go about notifying the providers late?

It appears the previous tenenats had not paid their last bill - will I have to pay that too? How can I prove the date we moved in?

I presume I will have to stay with the old provider initially as I owe them money for the time we have been here?

Any advice greatly aprecciated.

Terrylw1

Hi,

You become liable for this on the date you move in. You are not liable for a previous occupants use.

It makes no difference to them that you are doing this late, so give them a call.

They won't scrutinise the date as long as they don't have information from another source e.g. where a landlord or letting agent has written to them for your handover. This is very unlikely in your case as they would have set an account up for you.

If they do ask, you surely have as tenancy agreement or something from the agents handover paperwork confirming when you legally purchased the property?

Readings will be your problem. If you didn't take the readings, they will have to estimate the usage. If they under estimate this, you may end up with part of the previous occupants usage. You can only challenge that if you find out that based on your daily usage, the reading is too low. Thats hard to prove though on your side and theirs.

You can change Suppliers whenever you want. You just remain liable with the old Supplier from your occuptaion date up to the new Suppliers registration date.

You should be ready for your bill most likely in the December quarter so you may have to pay slightly more in the first bill as it is pro rata'd. Either that or they will produce a quick pro rata bill for September.

They can only bill you back 1 year now if they haven't provided any bill to you.

Pixie28

Hi....You will not have to pay the previous tenants bill. Just ring up the current suppliers and notify them of the dates that you moved in. They may require proof of tenancy to confirm your move in date for which you can either fax or post a copy of your tenancy agreement. Did you take meter readngs when you moved in? If so provide them, if not, make sure you take reads as soon as possible.

You need to register with the current supplier first, but you are free to change suppliers at any time after that. You will ofcourse be liable for your usage since September to the current suppliers.

Pixie28

Oops you pipped me Terry!

Terrylw1

Great minds eh Pixie

foreign_correspondent

thanks, thats fab, I will sort it all out tomorrow, presuming they work sundays! thanks for your advice, I have been worrying about it:beer:

BruceyBonus

We forgot to tell British Gas when we moved in too - we didn't tell them until after about 2 months (when we realised!)

We called them up, told them the current meter reading and they worked out the cheapest plan for the past two months of payments. They even offered a payment plan if we weren't able to afford the 2 months of bills! They have to be nice to you as they want to keep your business!

We just sent them a cheque in the post and then changed suppliers!!