Receiving demanding letters from previous owners energy supplier?

rainbow_fountains

We recently bought our first home, we stuck with our existing energy suppliers from when we rented and just moved them over to our new address.

We started getting letters from the previous owner’s energy supplier Ecotricity (addressed ‘to the occupier’ but with an account number), at first they were welcoming us to our new home and informing they used to supply energy to the previous owner, give them a call to set up our account with them etc. So clearly they know the previous owner moved out and I assume that’s all settled up as we haven’t received a bill or anything.

We received a couple of these friendly letters and just ignored them, but today we got another one with a very different tone saying that we ‘must call them’ or else we’ll be moved onto their emergency tariff.

We have no contract with them, they don’t even know our names, they have acknowledged that their ex customer (previous owner) has moved out. Are they just trying it on? Scaring us to get us to sign up with them? Or do we actually owe them something?

Reed_Richards

You make no mention that the previous owners' energy supplier is asking you for money.  When you purchase a house then by default you inherit the energy supplier of the previous owner.  You say you moved your old energy supplier to your new address but did you just give them a new contact address?  The old supplier clearly thinks you are still with them for your energy.

You should have read your meters and given the readings to your chosen supplier on the day you moved in.  Did you do that?  If you contact your chosen supplier do they actually think they are supplying you with energy at your new address?     

tim_p

You’re receiving the letters demanding payment because you owe them for the energy you’ve used since taking over the property. You simply can’t ‘take your existing’ supplier with you. You need to sign up with the incumbent supplier and provide meter readings from the date you took over the property. Once signed up and meter readings accepted you are then free to move to your preferred supplier.  Any monies paid to your previous supplier should be returned so you can pay the actual supplier. Good luck. 

rainbow_fountains

I thought the previous owner did that when they moved out and closed the account?

just to be clear, we haven’t received a bill or a demand for payment, just a demand to call them and set up our account with them, even though we have an account with a different energy supplier.

niktheguru

This is an example of the same old adage that you cant just "move you electricity and gas" like you move your broadband when you move house.

When you move into a new property you inherit the supply from whoever the previous owners used. you MUST contact them and tell them who you are. You are then more than entitled to switch to any supplier you want, but there is usually a minimum 2 week transition period for this to occur.

What you need to check:
1. Is your supplier from when you rented the ACTUAL supplier at your new property now. Check your account with them, are you receiving bills, does your online account marry up the MPAN numbers of your new meter with this account. Check the EXACT DATE they took over your supply.
2. If your supplier is now your new supplier, then you will owe ecotricity money from the date you bought the house (exchange completed) to the date that you moved supplier. This will likely only be a few pounds in standing charges assuming there was not a lot using elec and gas in the property till you actually moved in.

DO NOT IGNORE THE ECOTRICITY LETTERS. Contact them urgently. Have your meter readings from the day you moved in ready, have the date you moved in ready, and have the date you supposedly changed suppliers ready.
If infact ecotricity are STILL providing your energy then negotiate to go on the cheapest tariff they do in the mean time (without exit fees) then compare and switch to a cheaper provider.

Hope that helps 

welshmoneylover

You need to contact the current supplier as a matter of urgency with the opening reads and register with them.
then you can switch suppliers once you have done this.
you cannot take your old supplier with you, it doesn’t work this way.
do not ignore those letters otherwise you may get a large catch up bill.

rainbow_fountains

Just checked our online account with our supplier and they have indeed been billing us since the date we moved in, so I’m a bit confused why this old energy supplier is still contacting us? 

Finally managed to get through to them on the phone after being on hold for 30 minutes and they were clearly just reading off a script and weren’t very helpful, said they would send us a final bill in the post but as they already sent a final bill to the previous owner and our supplier started billing us the day we moved in I’m still a bit confused why we owe them anything 

bsms1147

It is almost a certainty that your current contract is with the supplier who is currently sending you letters; you became their customer on the day you moved in, on a deemed tariff. You are probably in debt to this supplier having not set up an account or paid anything to them.

It is also likely that although you are paying your old supplier still, they are not actually supplying your new address (correctly, at least). You will probably be refunded these payments you have been making.

It’ll all come out in the wash.

rainbow_fountains

bsms1147 said:

It is almost a certainty that your current contract is with the supplier who is currently sending you letters; you became their customer on the day you moved in, on a deemed tariff. You are probably in debt to this supplier having not set up an account or paid anything to them.

It is also likely that although you are paying your old supplier still, they are not actually supplying your new address (correctly, at least). You will probably be refunded these payments you have been making.

It’ll all come out in the wash.

Thanks, managed to get in touch with ecotricity and they have an odd date on their records - 26th March (we moved in on 13th) but they said they’re sending us a final bill in the post so I guess we’ll see. I’m a bit confused why our chosen supplier didn’t inform us we couldn’t just switch like that?

Reed_Richards

When I bought my new house I did not immediately sell the old one.  So I had two sets of energy suppliers.  Obviously I told the supplier for my old house my new address.  But this supplier continued to bill me for the old house, correctly in my case.  I think the OP (@rainbow_fountains) is probably in the same situation, their old supplier knows their new address but are still billing them for the old one. 

bsms1147

When did you apply to switch (I say switch, as what you’ve done is switch the supply at your new property to your chosen supplier, rather than ‘take it with you’, which isn’t possible. Your old supplier will continue supplying your
old address, just someone else will be responsible for it).

However, you may have been lucky with this one.

Did you start the switch a few days/a week or so before you move? There’s a statutory minimum timeframe between a switch application and it going through, something around 16-21 days. If you instigated the switch not long before move-in, and the losing supplier were on the ball, they may have had sufficient time/info at their end to know that you (or ‘someone’) would be responsible between 13th (at move in) and the end of the minimum switch period, the 26th.

If something like this has happened then you were a customer with them for those ~2 weeks, before your new supplier (who supplied you at your old address) gained your address.

The advice is always to register with the current supplier, then wait (ideally until you have access to your account details with them, eg an online account), then you can switch to whoever you want. It’s unfortunate that it isn’t made more clear.