ADVICE PLEASE - never received an electricity bill!

DDT1

Hi. I moved into a new-build apartment in early 2003, at which point i contacted several electricity suppliers who all stated that they were not the supplier, and they stated that they would contact me back to advise me what to do. They never contacted me back.
That was in 2003 , and since then i have never received an electricity bill.:beer:
I am unsure what to do about this -- do i do nothing??:rolleyes:
As far as i understand, bills can only be backdated 1 year, however in my case i am not sure even how this would be achieved as obvioulsy no meter reading has ever been taken.
The only problem i can foresee is when i come to sell the apartment, as proof of paid electricity bills would be required i presume in the homepack.
Any advice much appreciated
Thanks

binnie

Oh blimey I hear far too many of these stories.
Thats why I won't switch suppliers either as there are too many stories about people not receiving bills and the companies not knowing who they are with.
I can't offer any advice sorry, but hope you sort it out soon.
xx

SwanJon

Who owns the wires? This is usually the old electricity board. They are the final arbiter - ask them.

Mike_by_the_Sea

Go to the energywatch site and get in touch with the provider for your area and they should be able to tell you who is supplying your electricity.

http://www.energywatch.org.uk/your_questions/index.asp

takoo

Hi DDT1
Points to consider:

1. You might contact the building owner (Freeholder..?) to see who supplies the electricity to the common parts.
2. Where is your meter?
3. When you moved in did you check the meter - or did you surveyor make a record?
4. Start saving up in case you need to pay the bill from a meter reading of "0" to present reading.
5. Start keeping a record of your current rate of usage - per month or per week etc (If you can work out a level of usage - you may find it useful in a "negotiated" payment. (The builders may have used the supply to your apartment before you moved in...?)
6. Is it possible that the connections mean that one of your neighbours has already and is paying for your consumption of electricity?

There may be one or more reasons for your situation but my guess is that you may be asked to pay for more than one year.

Good luck for 2008

Takoo

biv

It's your responsibility to find out who your supplier is and setup an account in your name when moving into a property. If you don't, they are fully within their rights to back bill you. The one-year recommendation is only if it's their fault they haven't issued a bill.

Someone - somewhere - should being billed for the electricity you are consuming. My guess is, the bills being paid. Otherwise they'd have obtained a warrant and entered your property. My guess is, the bills may be being sent to an estate agency, builders, or some other party, who has paid them blindly without checking the details of the bill. Either that, or there is a large !!!!-up somewhere .

I think suppliers have to obtain a reading every 2 years, by law, and they usually have to contact the owner (or eventually obtain a warrant) to obtain one. If the meters are outside the property, they may have just called around and grabbed one.

I'm not 100% sure about the above, so I'll let the MSE veterans pick this post apart

You can use the numbers below to find out who your supplier is...

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Eastern England[/FONT] EDF Energy [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0870 1963082[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
East and West Midlands[/FONT] Central Networks [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]0845 6030618[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
London [/FONT]EDF Energy [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0845 6000102[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
North Wales, Merseyside, Cheshire & North Shropshire[/FONT] SP Power Systems [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0845 2709101[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
North East England and Yorkshire[/FONT] CE Electric UK [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0845 6013268[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
North West[/FONT] United Utilities [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0870 7510093[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
North Scotland[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]SSE Power Distribution [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0870 9009690[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
South Scotland[/FONT] SP Power Systems [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0845 2709101[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
South East England (Kent & parts of Sussex and Surrey):[/FONT] EDF Energy [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0845 601 5467[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
Southern England[/FONT] SSE Power Distribution [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0870 9050806[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
South Wales[/FONT] Western Power Distribution [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0845 6015972[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
South West England[/FONT] Western Power Distribution [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 0845 6015972[/FONT]

There's a risk that an event - such as you moving out of the property in future - may cause this to be discovered. If you do leave the property, it'll be fairly easy to trace the owner using the electoral role, credit records, etc - keep that in mind.

It's not unknown for suppliers to contact police if they discovery theft of utilities (usually when customers have tampered with meters). Not sure where your situation will fall into though.

In my eyes, this isn't money saving, it's theft - but fair game if you get away with it. With the cost of household bills compared to some of these companies profits, I wouldn't blame you!!

peat

I think I would be tempted to calculate the cost of electricity used so far at the highest tariff you can find then put that money into a high interest bank account and continue to pay "quarterly bills" into that bank account. It seems to me you have made reasonable attempts to find your supplier - just accept the interest it will accrue.

DG79

Any update DDT1? I am in a similar scenario, will this be highlighted in a HIPS package?

Terrylw1

Hi,

Locate where you are in the country on this map:

http://www.energylinx.co.uk/electricity_distribution_map.htm

Then phone the Distributors MPAS, the numbers are on this link:

http://www.energylinx.co.uk/mpas_online.htm

They can only backbill you for 12 months. That will also stand if as a result of an investigation they have got the wrong address against the MPAN as thats not your fault.

In relation to theft/fraud, thats not the case here. It's onlt theft if you bypass or tamper/damage the equipment.

Your only misgiving is that you haven't kept following it up. The Supplier is under an obligation to ensure a safety check has occured within 28 months. The local Distributor has similiar obligations for safety.

I suggest you start taking readings. Find your meter, take readings. If you are lucky, your MPAN may be on the meters label (although it may not be correct as Suppliers move them around to correct crossed meter disputes sometimes)

It could be that someone has a record, but they have it set as a closed account. It could even be that the Meter Operator and Data Collector have your property set as "no meter attached" in which case the 28 month reading obligations are not applicable as the site is classed as redundant in term so meter usage.