I have vacated after tenancy ended, huge outstanding energy utility bill requested from ex-flatmate

Conquest19

[Deleted User] said:

When you moved in was there an actual reading or an estimate. You are liable for 50% to the other tenant but as he would be the claimant in a dispute there is onus on him to show that the bill relates to your joint tenancy and is not formed of historic debts from the previous 4 years. I have to think that 75 per month on average though the year for a 2 bed flat is about right.

Hello [Deleted User] when i moved in on the 28th December 2019 there was no meter reading only until the 1st February 2020.

sheramber

£75 was what was paid up to November 19 and there was a credit balance so was an adequate amount then.
This is what the flatmate has used to work out your half share.
However for the next year a lot more energy has been used than the year before. 
Have you ben working from home. been home a lot as not able to go out anywhere, more cups of tea as you were at hime, more heating as you were at home?
That would account for more energy being used.
Your monthly payment has been credited to the account. 

theoretica

Conquest19 said:

You don't have exact readings so need to go off the estimates. The account was positive in Nov 19 and would have been about zero when you moved in.  The debt of £745 looks to apply to when you were living there, so you owe half of this.  You were living there for 1/3 of this bill period so 1/3 of £634.43 = £211.48  So you could try paying half of £956.48.

I encountered a number of things about running my own home that were obvious after pointed out, but I had not known before hand or thought to think about. Still my responsibility, though a bore!

Mnoee

Conquest19 said:

Hello MaryNB and Nearlyold
These are the only non-estimate bills my ex-flatmate sent to me. Also my tenancy was 21 Dec 2019 - 20 Dec 2020 so not sure what happens outside these dates.
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(1st meter reading)4 February 2020 printed on letter below:
It looks like £122.18 debt was carried over on the 4 February 2020 but not sure

(2nd meter reading)4 February 2021 printed on letter below:

There should be more statements for the nine months between Jan 2020 and Nov 2020. Even if they're estimated statements, they'll still show if the regular £75 payment has actually been made. Ask for them. 

Conquest19

Hello Mnoee, this is the list of estimates and non-estimates bills. I think each letter is for 90 days.

Letter date 4th February 2020 (1st meter reading) below:

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2nd meter reading below:

Conquest19

Also this is the online account view my ex-flatmate had access to only. This is the only screenshot.
Not sure why he did not show me the rest

Slinky

Look at the usage in June/July last year for electricity (right hand side of bill). 47.6kwh used last year, 9.6kwh the previous year. My guess is somebody left the immersion heater on 24 hours a day (or cannabis farm in the loft). Similarly high on the February dated bill.

Conquest19

Slinky said:

Look at the usage in June/July last year for electricity (right hand side of bill). 47.6kwh used last year, 9.6kwh the previous year. My guess is somebody left the immersion heater on 24 hours a day (or cannabis farm in the loft). Similarly high on the February dated bill.

Haha gosh no green farming I swear :-).
It's a estimate usage on the statement? I thought it was not real, right?
Sorry again not smart at these bills stuff

MaryNB

Those readings are bizarre! 

Did you check if the bills you've been provided have noted the readings as "actual" or "customer" rather than "estimated"? I'm baffled at how an energy company could massively increase their estimate over last year. And that estimate for July is hard to believe. Based on the excerpts above I would guess than another meter reading was submitted in July.

Mnoee

Energy companies do occasionally estimate crazy things, but the July one stands out as strange - even more so as apparently they were correct that you used an awful lot more electricity than previous years. It could be doctored screenshots of which ones are estimated and which ones are actual - that'd be incredibly easy even with a basic app on a phone. It could be the first February was estimated, July was actual and they're trying it on getting you to pay for old arrears. Note the message about the direct debit being too low as early as May, and the different cropping of the first February bill - it just doesn't add up that £75 a month was previously covering actual bills and then it suddenly jumped to around £150 a month unless usage changed dramatically. 

I don't think I can be of any more help with this, as the only idea I had was that they were pocketing the cash and letting arrears run up - but I will say that if you're in a flat share again, you should probably be a bit more proactive in checking the bills and making sure they're being paid.