standing charges for executor account

FatherPete

My relative died in June last year. I am his executor. Over the course of June and July I advised all suppliers, government depts etc of the death. In October I was sent a bill by Scottish Power [SP] which I paid. I understood this to be the closing balance. In November I had a refund from SP and a note saying that the account was now closed and "you do not need to do anything further".
In the last couple of weeks I have had five bills totalling £936.08 against another account number. Upon calling the SP bereavement line this morning I was told that this is an "executor account" and charges for the energy used since 1st September 2021, i.e. since the original account was closed. This is odd because the property has been empty and locked up since my cousin died. There may have been odd days in the autumn when a light was switched on during the house clearance etc but it wouldn't amount to £25 in electricity.
I've never asked for or been offered an account with SP, I've not completed application forms or had any correspondence from them about a new account. 
At their request, I read the smart meters at the property today and rang SP with the numbers. They recalculated and said I now owe £272.81. I understand this is mainly standing charges. Can they rip me off in this way? 

GingerTim

I'm very sorry for your loss.

As I understand it, the standing charge will have to be paid until the property is sold, or occupied by someone else.

TheMilkmansDad

Whilst I understand how you feel, they are not ripping you off.

I assume when you contacted them originally you provided them details to close the account and advised them you were the executor, at that point the executor would be on the deemed tariff. Is the bill in your name or the executor of the deceased? Either way, this is not your bill to pay and it should come out of the deceased's estate.

Assuming the property is to be sold, then provide them the meter reading on the date of sale and request a final bill, this bill should also be paid from the estate.

pochase

Welcome to the forum.

They are not ripping you off. If you have an electric meter and you use electricity you need to pay for it.

You have electricity in the house, and you used electricity and not just switched a light bulb on, even so this would be enough for a contract. For standing charges to be removed you would have had to remove the meter. Uninstalling and later installing a new meter is for sure more expensive  then the £270.

Since September last year you will have had standing charges of about £130. So you used energy for £142, a bit more than your estimated £25.

So you used by their calculation more than 500KWh electricity. There are users here in the forum who live at a property and use less. 

Do the final reading you did on the old account match the start reading on the new account? What is start reading and the reading you gave them?

macman

The estate is liable for standing charges until the property is sold. You are not liable for them, the estate is.
You presumably know what a standing charge is, and they have been levied since October on the executor account, so that's 10 months, so how is that a 'rip-off'?
Unless you are alleging that the s/c's have been wrongly calculated, which is simple enough to check.

chris_n

Not sure if all are the same but as Executor I (the estate) had to pay council tax until the house was sold too.

greyteam1959

In my area you are not liable to pay council tax on the property of a deceased person for 6 months after the date of death.

pochase

Sounds more like the standard pay freeze for up to 6 months that you can get if the property is empty.

Alnat1

Did you use any gas at the house over winter? Hubby was executor for his mum last winter and we set the heating to come on at 10C so nothing froze up or got damp in the empty house.

Nicest to deal with were Yorkshire Water. We said we wanted to keep the account open as we'd be in cleaning and clearing etc. They said the bill was up to date already (monthly DD from mum) and there'd be no further charges until the property was sold. Took almost year waiting for probate and sale to go through and YW were true to their word.

Giftcardproblem

I am also an executor looking after a property that has not yet been sold.  The outstanding electricity and water bills (no gas) from when the owner was alive were put on hold at the point of death and will be paid later after money can be released following probate. I only found out about being able to delay these bills by accident - the utilities companies didn't volunteer the information.  However, once I asked for the pre-death bills to be held, it was straightforward to sort out.

The utilities companies then set up accounts in my name to cover the continuing connections to the property.  I have to pay those bills but will be able to reclaim the payments from the estate after probate as part of my executor expenses.  We cannot disconnect the utilities because they are needed for maintaining the building and fire alarms, as well as keeping the property at 10+ degrees in cold weather - these are all conditions of our particular buildings and contents insurance, as is a commitment to look in at a minimum on a weekly basis. The insurance also has to be paid for by me until after probate when I can reclaim it. Fortunately, the council is not charging council tax for an empty property (at the moment).

If you haven't already done so, it might be a good idea to check that the insurance cover to your cousin's place is paid and if there are conditions attached.  I'm not sure if your SP bill was for electricity only, or dual fuel.  If there is a continuing separate gas connection or a water supply to the property, it would be worth checking whether you also owe money to them, even if it's only for those standing charges.  

macman

pochase said:

Sounds more like the standard pay freeze for up to 6 months that you can get if the property is empty.

Many LA's no longer grant this: 100% is payable even if the property is empty, and there is a surcharge after a further period.
When the occupier dies, there is a 6m grace period. but not just when a property is empty.