What are the rules around estimated readings? 6 January at 5:40PM in Energy 18 replies 632 views

SMIquery

ariarnia said:

one of the things the ombudsman will consider is that its not the suppliers job to ask your landlord for readings or where the meter is if you are the account holder. you were responsible for the bill so it was your responsibility to find out where your meter was and take readings (at least an opening and closing reading). 

they will also consider when you became not responsible for the bills and i dont think from what youve written its as simple as you moved out in july. i can see in the OP you said your things were there after you moved out.

can you tell us when did your tenancy/contract for the property end (if your not sure then some questions might be when did you stop paying rent and collect your things/ when did a new tenant move in/ do you have it in writing that your landlord let you end your tenancy early if your contract was until september)? 

but the reality is that in my opinion (i could be wrong) its very unlikely you will have the bill completely waved. i'm not going to say no chance (because back billing is complicated) but i think the best you can hope for is a slight reduction based on you saying you moved out a couple of months before they sent the meter reader. and only then if you can show your tenancy ended when you moved out in july and your landlord should have been responsible for the bills. 

See I didn't know that. They told me that they would contact him because I told them I'm autistic and don't really understand how energy readings work. 

I'd never lived independently before and I was thrown into it because my mother gave up our house to live on a boat. I was technically homeless at the time and I reached out to a friend who agreed to move in together.

We moved in together in July 2020, and he sadly ended his life in November 2020, the tenancy was for 6 months but I was still paying rent on a monthly basis until July 2021 because my belongings were in the house and I had nowhere else to keep them.

I was staying at my now partner's house on the sofa because I felt so uncomfortable in the house after my friends death. I visited it to collect clothes and that was about it. Very sporadic visits.

ariarnia

SMIquery said:

ariarnia said:

one of the things the ombudsman will consider is that its not the suppliers job to ask your landlord for readings or where the meter is if you are the account holder. you were responsible for the bill so it was your responsibility to find out where your meter was and take readings (at least an opening and closing reading). 

they will also consider when you became not responsible for the bills and i dont think from what youve written its as simple as you moved out in july. i can see in the OP you said your things were there after you moved out.

can you tell us when did your tenancy/contract for the property end (if your not sure then some questions might be when did you stop paying rent and collect your things/ when did a new tenant move in/ do you have it in writing that your landlord let you end your tenancy early if your contract was until september)? 

but the reality is that in my opinion (i could be wrong) its very unlikely you will have the bill completely waved. i'm not going to say no chance (because back billing is complicated) but i think the best you can hope for is a slight reduction based on you saying you moved out a couple of months before they sent the meter reader. and only then if you can show your tenancy ended when you moved out in july and your landlord should have been responsible for the bills. 

See I didn't know that. They told me that they would contact him because I told them I'm autistic and don't really understand how energy readings work. 

unless you have that in writing then unfortunately it might not matter.

and even if you do it still might not matter much as what matters is how much energy did you actually use and if theres an accurate opening reading and an accurate reading from shortly after you left in september/the house was empty after you left then there estemate is probably not far off. 

i would suggest the best option is for you to contact your old landlord (I suggest email) and ask if they have the meter reading from when you moved out (and for them to confirm the date you were no longer responsible for the bill). 

you can then forward that on to your old supplier and have your bills corrected if needed. 

now very important question. 

wherever you live now. are you (or your partner) giving regular meter readings?

SMIquery

ariarnia said:

SMIquery said:

ariarnia said:

one of the things the ombudsman will consider is that its not the suppliers job to ask your landlord for readings or where the meter is if you are the account holder. you were responsible for the bill so it was your responsibility to find out where your meter was and take readings (at least an opening and closing reading). 

they will also consider when you became not responsible for the bills and i dont think from what youve written its as simple as you moved out in july. i can see in the OP you said your things were there after you moved out.

can you tell us when did your tenancy/contract for the property end (if your not sure then some questions might be when did you stop paying rent and collect your things/ when did a new tenant move in/ do you have it in writing that your landlord let you end your tenancy early if your contract was until september)? 

but the reality is that in my opinion (i could be wrong) its very unlikely you will have the bill completely waved. i'm not going to say no chance (because back billing is complicated) but i think the best you can hope for is a slight reduction based on you saying you moved out a couple of months before they sent the meter reader. and only then if you can show your tenancy ended when you moved out in july and your landlord should have been responsible for the bills. 

See I didn't know that. They told me that they would contact him because I told them I'm autistic and don't really understand how energy readings work. 

unless you have that in writing then unfortunately it might not matter.

and even if you do it still might not matter much as what matters is how much energy did you actually use and if theres an accurate opening reading and an accurate reading from shortly after you left in september/the house was empty after you left then there estemate is probably not far off. 

i would suggest the best option is for you to contact your old landlord (I suggest email) and ask if they have the meter reading from when you moved out (and for them to confirm the date you were no longer responsible for the bill). 

you can then forward that on to your old supplier and have your bills corrected if needed. 

now very important question. 

wherever you live now. are you (or your partner) giving regular meter readings?

I'm not sure as it's my partner who deals with it all now. I just give her all the money she says she needs because our UC claim is joint. I've just been paying Octopus £10 a month for the past year but they have no properties associated to me.

SMIquery

Mstty said:

For the OP and anyone that wants to get an average usage for their neighbours energy use (naughty naughty)

-

This may give you a rough idea of the type of bill you may end up with unless you track down the start and end readings👍

Surprisingly accurate for us

I had a look and it says 12000 kwh for the old place but it says its with British Gas. It's been over a year since I lived there though so I don't know if that's just whoever's there now. Also for some reason it only finds the entire building and not the flat specifically.

SMIquery

Mstty said:

Whilst taking responsibility for the property and it's energy usage for the period of your contracted tenancy you should have provided a start and end meter reading to your energy supplier(s)

It doesn't sound like you did and irrespective or someone leaving something on blah blah blah it's your name on the tenancy and bills I presume.

If you have not got the start and end readings then the energy company is more than entitled to average out the properties energy for records they have not only from you but on record for other custodians and bill you on that basis.

Anything else and you are looking for a free ride.

I'm just concerned that I'm not being billed correctly because they can't find my address and only the block of flats shows up on the searches I've done.

It seems very high considering that the heating wasn't on for the majority of the tenancy.

ariarnia

SMIquery said:

Mstty said:

Whilst taking responsibility for the property and it's energy usage for the period of your contracted tenancy you should have provided a start and end meter reading to your energy supplier(s)

It doesn't sound like you did and irrespective or someone leaving something on blah blah blah it's your name on the tenancy and bills I presume.

If you have not got the start and end readings then the energy company is more than entitled to average out the properties energy for records they have not only from you but on record for other custodians and bill you on that basis.

Anything else and you are looking for a free ride.

It seems very high considering that the heating wasn't on for the majority of the tenancy.

which is why you really should contact your old landlord to ask if they took a reading when you moved out. 

you said you had a reading when you moved in. 

then its no work at all to figure out if the estemate is close or way out (we can help with the math). 

I've just been paying Octopus £10 a month for the past year but they have no properties associated to me.

i'm not sure what you mean by this? they have you associated with your old account i assume. thats why they billed you for while you lived there and you are paying the £10 a month. 

or you mean now your not an account holder. because i dont know why that would matter? if you mean you could just stop paying that would be a bad idea. they dont need you to have an open energy account to start debt collection. 

pochase

SMIquery said:

Mstty said:

Whilst taking responsibility for the property and it's energy usage for the period of your contracted tenancy you should have provided a start and end meter reading to your energy supplier(s)

It doesn't sound like you did and irrespective or someone leaving something on blah blah blah it's your name on the tenancy and bills I presume.

If you have not got the start and end readings then the energy company is more than entitled to average out the properties energy for records they have not only from you but on record for other custodians and bill you on that basis.

Anything else and you are looking for a free ride.

I'm just concerned that I'm not being billed correctly because they can't find my address and only the block of flats shows up on the searches I've done.

It seems very high considering that the heating wasn't on for the majority of the tenancy.

In your opening post you said

I lived with a roommate who ended his life and was not staying in the property but my belongings were still there.

during this time the heating was left on and I amassed an estimated bill of £1600.

Was the heating on while nobody lived there or not?

From what you write the flat was empty the whole winter, and if you were hearing the empty flat the whole time there could be a huge bill.

macman

As suggested, contact the LL to ask if they took a meter read at the end of the tenancy. They should have done, because during any void period, they would be liable. But, if they didn't, then I'm afraid that you and you alone are legally liable for the debt. It's your account, and your responsibility to close it out when you end the tenancy. 
All you can do is come to an agreement with the supplier over the amount owing. In the absence of any final reads, it can only be estimated based on  your recently advised end of tenancy date.
It appears that the new tenant never bothered registering and may have been enjoying energy at your expense: it's impossible to know.
In future never expect or allow a third party to take opening or closing reads, always do it yourself, since you are the one paying the bills.