SSE are making me tear my hair out!!

billy-the-kid_3

Hi all,
I usually don't like to name and shame but having been left so frustrated I simply feel I have no choice but to get this one off my chest.

Here's my story....

So I've been living with my father pretty much since my mam passed away 3 years ago now. I became self employed in July 2019. In march 20 I was made redundant and was out of work for a long period. Life became pretty much unbearable at constant logger heads with my father. Over recent years I've half heartedly (tbh) looked to buy my first home but after many serious fall outs with my father started to look seriously from first lockdown. Fast forward a bit and I had an offer accepted back in early Oct ’20. Finally got keys and contract exchange just before Christmas.

Now the house is modern built in 2010. It's unfurnished and on entry I took vids and photos of all meters including water/gas/elec. I'm back working Mon - Fri but still at my dad's as I'm finding it soooo very difficult to set both a gas and electric account up with SSE.

Here's the situation-

On entry to house there were SSE letters titled 'to the occupier' on opening it was clear that a gas only account was active on the property. Now the gas meter is a PAYG card meter and has a small debt on it which is from prev owner.
I rang northern power grid to find elec supplier only to be told the electric meter is a 'shipless' meter that had never been registered on inception. I have since been given a mpan number.

Well since having my keys to property mid December I have tried tried and tried some more to speak to someone from SSE. Granted there call centre is closed due to covid and closed altogether over festive period (on certain days) and working from home skeleton crew. But literally to be on hold for nearly two hours before getting through to a human being..... surely management need to get a grip and outt more staff on?

They say 'you can do so much with our online service' well having tried putting some details in and getting a swift reply of 'please ring our 'help'line we need more info'.

Any advice would be greatly received.
The bottom line is I can't live in my home as I can't legitimately and physically use gas and electric there. I've emailed customer services and spoke to 3 seperate people all giving me different information. 
One saying the property does have an electric account and it's PAYG......one promising they'll send a PAYG gas card out that will wipe the gas meter of debt within 3 working days that's never arrived......one saying it could take 3 weeks to setup the electricity side!!

What if my dad kicks me out? No drama here it's that bad we have fought unfortunately it's just not healthy.☹️

Ps sorry it's so long winded and thanks for reading 👍

Gerry1

Send a letter headed COMPLAINT by snail mail and get a free certificate of posting.  You can then go to the Ombudsman after six weeks or upon receipt of a deadlock letter.  It's normally eight weeks but SSE agreed with Ofgem to reduce it to six weeks because their record was so poor.  Obviously things haven't improved.

Also email their CEO whose info you can find at the ceoemail website (search for it).  Don't forget to ask for significant compensation for loss of use of your property.

billy-the-kid_3

Thanks for your swift response Gerry. 
Tbh I didn't want to be off work for two weeks over Xmas as I don't get hol pay and only earn when working so I was going to use the time to get furnishings etc sorted and turn my house into a home. But it's as you can imagine an ice box and my concerns are 'the combi boiler and associated plumbing pipes in this freezing weather' and any future possible damp issues that may have been caused.
Do you really think I can claim monies. Won't they just blame covid and how do I prove I've tried on numerous occasions to phone. I have proof receipts of sent emails and I will take your advice and send one titled complaint.👍
It's more the stress the situation is causing me tbh. Even my dad's saying he can't wait till I move out 😢

Gerry1

Seems very strange; was the property not occupied before the completion date?  Surely it must have had electricity during those 10 years?  What does the estate agent say?  It's very unusual for utilities to be disconnected before completion.

If there's no heating at all you'll have to drain the water tanks and make sure the supply is shut off, otherwise burst pipes and water damage may add to your woes.  Your insurance might be problematic because it will probably specify that it must not be unoccupied for longer than 30 days and must be heated to a minimum of 10 degrees or whatever.

Silly question: are you really sure the electricity supply is shut off?  Is it a credit or PAYG meter?

welshmoneylover

When SSE merged with OVO energy, they got rid of a lot of staff with a redundancy scheme; hence why no one is answering the calls. 

billy-the-kid_3

Thanks guys sorry for not replying sooner. 
The seller had been renting the property. I believe it came on the market approx aug/sept and I viewed and had offer accepted in early Oct.
So I do believe it's been unoccupied for several months.
When I viewed it back in October I was wanting to turn things on but estate agent told me all supplies off. (I couldn't even run water from the taps).
On completion day on entering property I came prepared with battery lights only to hear a chugging sound from kitchen. It was the boiler suddenly now in the on position but no gas serving it. So showed a fault on boiler.
At this point I realised there was an electricity connection but I went to the elec meter box and switched the isolator off as I didn't want to use any until gas was sorted.
Electric meter was never registered when house was built so seller of property has had free electric.
SSE can't seem to grasp this and keep saying it'll take several weeks to change supplier. I keep saying there's no current supplier to change from. Btw it's a standard electric meter not PAYG.
As for the gas meter that is PAYG with no card in it and with approx £80 of debt.

Would the solicitor I used or estate agent help like? It was a very slow loborious process as I had offer and money readily available in October but dragged on till mid December.

billy-the-kid_3

It would have also been nice of the seller to give me a heads up. But she knows she's been savvy saving on electricity bills. Yes she has been renting but I've heard through the grapevine she only rented latter couple years and had been living at property but is now divorced and hence reason wanted the sale.

Although I came in with a lower offer which was accepted no problems I may add.....I somehow am starting to feel slightly short changed from all parties in all honesty.....from the seller to the estate agent to even my own solicitor. It has not been a very good experience. This is my first outright home. I should be ecstatic.

Gerry1

Why don't you buy a few cheap fan heaters or convectors and move in immediately?  If you have free electricity then it's a bonus !  But you're inviting disaster if you leave it completely unheated.

What happens if you enter your details into Northern Powergrid's checker?  Keep the email if it says you're shipperless, so that you can challenge any subsequent attempt to bill you on an expensive deemed tariff.  If there's no supplier, try choosing a cost effective supplier and forward your MPAN number as recommended by Northern Powergrid.

Don't phone, use webforms with screenshots or snail mail with free certificates of posting, perhaps with email backup.

billy-the-kid_3

I rang northern power grid originally to find out who supplied electricity to property. When I gave them the address it was them that said it's a shipless meter. They then took a few days to register it properly and sent me a mpan number. (Me and my big mouth I thought) But I wasn't to know this was the case.
Plus the fact I don't want to live like that. I want to live fully legit and for this reason I'm kinda scared to use 'free electricity'.
Also both nothern power grid and SSE now have my move in date on record.

Gerry1

IANAL but IMHO you're fully legit by having obtained an MPAN and asking a supplier to provide service.

You haven't tried to avoid payment, you've just found yourself in an irregular situation through no fault of your own because of the failure of others to act with due diligence and provide full information.

There's no reason why you should be denied your rightful use of your property and have to leave it at risk.

Thrugelmir

Didn't the property enquiries conducted during the purchase reveal who the existing utility suppliers were? This is basic information on the forms. Lack of information should have been a heads up.