Keep getting bill from previous owner

diystarter7

Hi OP

We've had that with once/twice with rentals we bought. We give them a call, give them the relevant  facts, take their name/details, time of call etc ensure by asking the person we speak with that the call and outcome has been typed up for all to see in their outfit. Any more bills etc afte that, we stick them back in the post as ' No longer living at this address.' Uusally hear no more after another letter or two,

Poppie90

Thanks everyone! 

OutdoorQueen

Just a thought….

Have you registered on the Electoral Role?   If the previous owner is still listed you might still get their bills. 

You can also register previous occupiers on the Mailing Preference Service.  

https://www.mpsonline.org.uk/consumer/register  Probably won’t help in this situation but will help to update other mailing lists and therefore help reduce further unwanted post.  

markin

How much is the bill? it could be 1-7 days of your estimated use.

SAC2334

Jyana said:

Poppie90 said:

Sorry can’t work out how to quote people on here but just realised I should have included this in the first paragraph but was trying to be concise:

it was a 12 month bill, one month of which covered the first month of us living here. We transferred the money for this one month to the ex owner/ landlord who then paid the whole bill (which SSE actually confirmed to us on the phone.)

the other 11 months worth of the bill was before we even bought the property.

We did try to discuss with SSE but because we are not the account holder they wouldn’t give us any more information other than saying it had been paid and there’s nothing more to do. 

Are you saying that you didn't make an account with them when you moved in? Or did you swap to another company after you already registered with SSE? Just trying to work out how the bill covers both time periods, as it should be in your name from the day you moved in.

When someone buys a property they are responsible for standing charges/usage  from the day of completion not from the time they get the keys and move in. There could be weeks before actually obtaining keys and moving in and taking a meter reading 
 The outgoing occupant is responsible for the bills not from when he moves out but from the day of  completion .There could be months of standing charges due at both ends  

Poppie90

There was one month worth of bill from the day we completed which was also the day we moved in. The rest was from before we moved in/completed 

GrumpyDil

Technically then one month of the bill was yours and that is what the supplier will see. Matters have been complicated due to you not having taken over the supply properly when you moved in.

I would contact the provider, confirm the date you moved in and provide the meter reading as at that date. Then ask them to bill you from that date until you transferred to Octopus and pay it.

Then from their side you are all good. 

Then contact the original seller and ask for the money you sent them to be returned, accepting that you probably won't see it. 

Poppie90

Thank you yes we will contact the provider again 

wild666

It's not the day you move in that means you start taking on the payment of bills it's the completion date that you are libel for bills from so any meter readings should be from the completion date.

Qyburn

Just out of interest because the process isn't the same in Scotland. If the property ownership changes hands at "completion", but the buyer doesn't get access for some considerable time, how does he obtain an opening meter reading?