Communal electricity being charged to my meter

blackcat2023

Hi all, 
I’ve recently moved into a flat and found out the that the electricity supplying the communal “storage” cupboard (that is so full I couldn’t store anything in there if I wanted to) is being charged to my personal electricity bill.
I can’t prove if anyone has been using the sockets/lights in there as I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, but is this right/allowed? 

Thanks

QrizB

No it doesn't sound right. What does your lease / tenancy agreement say about it?

Is there a separate circuit in your consumer unit that serves the cupboard? What happens if you switch it off?

FlorayG

Stick some masking tape over the socket, then at least you will find out if anyone is using it

Newbie_John

How did you find that out?
What does your rental/tenancy agreement says? 

Are there actual sockets that you can plug something in, like radiator? Or just lights? If lights and have just 1x 10W LED bulb - even if it was ON 24h a day for a month the cost of it would be under £2.
But if there are sockets and people can run heaters than it's a different story.. 

DullGreyGuy

In the last house I rented found out that one of the lights in the car park was connected to our power, turned out of the 8 houses that 7 were connected to one of the lights each and the last house (furthest from the car park) wasnt powering any of the lights. 

It was a 5w light on from dusk to midnight, a little irritating but pre the spike in utility costs so not going to change our finances. 



Would be interesting to know how you found out it's connected to your power? 

doodling

Hi,

As others have said, check your lease.

Even if this isn't a formal arrangement, think about what end result you're aiming for.  There is no point in removing a cost of, for example, £5/month from your bill and replacing it with a share of £1000 to have a communal supply installed, a share of the daily standing charge for the communal supply and an additional management charge for someone to manage invoicing, etc.

If course, I am outlining a worst case situation and yours could be different.

blackcat2023

Honestly, I’m a bit clueless with the technicalities and I am just going off what my dad has found out/told me.

It’s not mentioned anywhere in the lease, I didn’t even know what the cupboard was until I asked a neighbour as it isn’t mentioned in the lease/floorplan etc. 
I only found out it was being powered from my electricity supply when my dad was fitting some skirting boards for me and came across the wire feeding from the cupboard to my flat, we then looked at my fuse box and saw it had a connection for the cupboard (which we’ve now turned on).

The cupboard has a big light and several plug sockets. I’ve never seen anyone use the sockets personally but I often hear people going in and out of the cupboard so I can’t rule it out entirely.

blackcat2023

Also if it makes any difference, I own the flat (with a mortgage).

QrizB

blackcat2023 said:

... looked at my fuse box and saw it had a connection for the cupboard (which we’ve now turned on).

It was switched off, but you've now turned it on? Was there any reason for this?

Can you not just switch it off again?

blackcat2023 said:

Also if it makes any difference, I own the flat (with a mortgage).

If you own the flat (you're the leaseholder) you're responsible for all the electrical wiring after your meter.
If you were renting, that would be your landlord's responsibility.

EssexHebridean

If it was off before, turn it back off again. That will sort out the issue! 

PRAISETHESUN

If the power is turned off at your end then there's not really a way for anyone to use it, even if they were to plug something in. I'd turn it back off and leave it alone. Otherwise I echo the points above about what the ultimate goal you want is. It's likely cheaper and easier to leave things as is.