Help! Been paying neighbours electric bill for 14 years!

ArbitraryRandom

sonypc100 said:

Just spoken to the power grid they have said all Garage 2’s feeds need removing from my meter they then need setting up on their own meter and then an MPAN will be created to then go to suppliers to provide electric and billing 

Cost £3200 + VAT approx 

I think the issue would be that the landlady/owner of the other property would argue it's not your meter and your feeds need removing from her property's meter  

You've said "the power grid they have said all Garage 2’s feeds need removing" but we would need to know what you asked them for this to be in context.

Properties that have been converted/split having a sub-meter arrangement is not all that unusual so I'm unclear why the power grid (and by that I assume you mean your network operator/DNO) would say the above work was the only option - unless you asked them what it would cost to split the supply.   

[Deleted User]

Hi,

sonypc100 said:

Reed_Richards said:

I don't understand how submetering would work.  If the other flat gets a sub meter for their garage, do they pay you for the electricity they use?  At what tariff?  Are they supposed to share the standing charge?  

Yes all good questions, hopefully someone will answer

OP would get the bill. they would split the standing charge then each pay for units used at whatever the unit price was. with vat split accordingly.

jennifernil

We have a sub meter in our house.   When my Mum was alive she lived with us in a purpose built "granny flat" that was part of the main house.  She wanted to pay for her own electricity so there is a meter for the supply to the flat, which has its own consumer unit.

This was put in by the electrician who did all the wiring when the house was built, back in 1988 it cost about £30 extra.

I would think something similar would be easy to install to meter the use of garage 2.   They then pay for their units plus half the standing charge.

Seems fair to me that they should pay for the installation of the additional meter.

I see no need to involve anyone other than the 2 owners and the electrician, you would not be interfering with the main meter.

QrizB

ArbitraryRandom said:

sonypc100 said:

Aside of usage and I’ve no idea how much the standing charge has increased over the years but in today’s money at 0.52 a day over 14 years we are around £2.5k 

It's already been pointed out you can't legally pursue a debt from longer than 6 years ago - trying would probably just alienate your neighbour and result in a dispute that you would have to declare if/when you want to sell.

As for the amount - It depends on the fix you were on, but back in 2021 I was paying 14.42p per day (which would be £52.63 per year) and in 2022 it was 23.74p (£86.65).

So I'd think the highest you could 'reasonably' estimate would be £600 for the standing charges - and you should have paid half, meaning the neighbour probably owes you around £300ish... hence saying the cost of installing sub meters probably balances it out if there's no reason to think more than very minimal use for lighting. 

I have a spreadsheet with the Ofgem caps since tey were introduced in early 2019 (yes I know, I'm sad like that). The national average annual standing charge for electricity is roughly:

• 2019: 28p/day
• 2020: 24p/day
• 2021: 25p/day
• 2022: 46p/day
• 2023: 53p/day

So, over the past five years, the average standing charge will total approx. £650.

I don't have a figure for 2018 but you might exepct it to be another £100 or so.

Of course, if OP has six years of garage electricity bills they can work it out for themselves.

QrizB

sonypc100 said:

Just spoken to the power grid they have said all Garage 2’s feeds need removing from my meter they then need setting up on their own meter and then an MPAN will be created to then go to suppliers to provide electric and billing 
Cost £3200 + VAT approx 

That only applies if Garage 2 actually wants an electricity feed.

If they don't want one, removing their feeds is a (less than) half-day job for an electrician or a competent DIYer.

Moneysavingchap

Where is the consumer unit? Is it right next to the meter in the neighbours garage?

sonypc100

Moneysavingchap said:

Where is the consumer unit? Is it right next to the meter in the neighbours garage?

Yes that’s correct 

sonypc100

PennineAcute said:

sonypc100 said:

Just spoken to the power grid they have said all Garage 2’s feeds need removing from my meter they then need setting up on their own meter and then an MPAN will be created to then go to suppliers to provide electric and billing 

Cost £3200 + VAT approx 

Is that for the whole lot, or just removing the feeds from your meter? 

If for everything, can you not just remove the feeds from your meter?

Thats for everything, including setting up a brand new supply and meter for Garage 2

sonypc100

ArbitraryRandom said:

sonypc100 said:

Just spoken to the power grid they have said all Garage 2’s feeds need removing from my meter they then need setting up on their own meter and then an MPAN will be created to then go to suppliers to provide electric and billing 

Cost £3200 + VAT approx 

I think the issue would be that the landlady/owner of the other property would argue it's not your meter and your feeds need removing from her property's meter  

Surely as she's never paid for any electric and the meter and bill are addresses to me at my property then she would have no claim that it is her meter?

There's only me who has paid for it and dealt with it including changing to a smart meter

sonypc100

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

sonypc100 said:

Reed_Richards said:

I don't understand how submetering would work.  If the other flat gets a sub meter for their garage, do they pay you for the electricity they use?  At what tariff?  Are they supposed to share the standing charge?  

Yes all good questions, hopefully someone will answer

OP would get the bill. they would split the standing charge then each pay for units used at whatever the unit price was. with vat split accordingly.

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

sonypc100 said:

Reed_Richards said:

I don't understand how submetering would work.  If the other flat gets a sub meter for their garage, do they pay you for the electricity they use?  At what tariff?  Are they supposed to share the standing charge?  

Yes all good questions, hopefully someone will answer

OP would get the bill. they would split the standing charge then each pay for units used at whatever the unit price was. with vat split accordingly.

I'm not particularly against a sub meter but I have just switched to Octopus Go for its cheap overnight rate so I don't know how that will work if at different times of the day the kwh rate is different