Park home electric

Marykate862629

My 90 yo mum lives on a residential park home. She has her own meter that is read by a park home employee and then pays her bill to the park home management. The bills are very spasmodic, she had a bill early May then nothing until mid November. The bill has no dates on it and no unit rate but attached to her bill is the owners bill for the whole park (3 separate bills of one month each) showing a unit rate of 47p. from British Gas. I checked with BG as I thought this rate was very high and they told me that it was up to the management company to negotiate a better price. More worryingly the BG bill shows that no payments have been made on the account and the debt rising from £30k to £40k in the 3 months so the residents have been paying but the management company are not passing on the payments. The things I’m most concerned about is if there is a possibility that my mums electric could be cut off if BG is not receiving any payments and if it is legal for the management company to send irregular bills with such little detail on them.I have tried to contact Citizens Advice but after being on hold for over an hour the call was disconnected.
Just wondered if anyone had any experience with this situation or any advice

OutdoorQueen

Thought these might help: 
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/advice-park-home-residents

https://parkhomes.lease-advice.org/advice-guides/find-the-right-information-for-you/?step-option=1583

OutdoorQueen

Just seen this and thought I would share in case it applies to your Mum:
 
(the bit for Park Homes is towards the end)

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/warm-home-discount/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bills&source=FBORG-BILLS&fbclid=IwAR1z_KF6OJroychqnkGpkzr0l7rVXSE77CwjXTWzwc8WF5XMyNfEBGoVFAI_aem_Ac3EYuTxhnqSv4XG0kwQYgp98fp7wntZBnsHISf6wjNWymHYP6vgrgsn-UUYsI3sEnE#scotland

MWT

Marykate862629 said:

The bill has no dates on it and no unit rate but attached to her bill is the owners bill for the whole park (3 separate bills of one month each) showing a unit rate of 47p. from British Gas.

As long as the bill shows the amount your mother has consumed (and that matches her meter readings) and they have used the 47p unit rate (or if that is ex-VAT then 47p + 5% VAT) then the bill is probably sufficient.

They can also charge her a share of the daily standing charge if they wish.

You can read more about the obligations when reselling energy here:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2005/10/11782-resaleupdateoct05_3.pdf

smellymel74

Lots to cover here so what with me. Firstly, as others have indicated, site owners are re-sellers of energy & can’t profit from reselling so they can only charge what they’re charged. That’s presumably why they include the site hill with your mum’s bills - as evidence of their charges.

Secondly, the regularity of bills MAY be covered in your mum’s written agreement with the site owner - it’s basically her contract, called the Written Statement. They’re all different but some (especially older ones, pre-2013) do state how often bills should be sent/paid. Check in there first. If it states a time frame then ask the site owner to honour your mums contract. If it doesn’t say anything then the rules for licensed-exempt suppliers like site owners apply - residents are only legally entitled to one bill per year but it should include meter readings and unit rates.

Finally, I’m guessing your mum lives on a protected residential site not a holiday site. If she has a Written Statement as mentioned in point 1 then she does. You can also check with the local council - they license residential & holiday sites so contact the department responsible for ‘caravan licensing’ as ask if it has residential license or holiday license. 

This is important for lots of reasons but especially for if the site owner isn’t paying their site electric bill & is at risk of disconnection. Site owners have a legal obligation under both residents’ contracts & council license conditions to provide a reliable supply of electric. So if the site owner isn’t paying their electric bill, even if the residents are paying, and the site is disconnected, this would be a breach of the license conditions. The council can prosecute the site owner for this and could even take over running the site (usually temporarily). 

If you have concerns that the site could be disconnected I’d advise letting the local council know as they should write to the site owner to remind them of their license obligations to maintain reliable supplies and this will hopefully prompt them to pay up! Good luck  

ArbitraryRandom

@smellymel74 Not sure if you noticed, but this is a couple of months old thread and the OP hasn't logged back into the site since 5 Jan so it's unlikely they'll see your post...