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under-estimated power bill for years - do I have any rights?
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This morning I got a power bill for £2,000.
I had just recently sent in a customer meter reading, which I double-checked this morning and it seems to have been more or less correct. The problem seems to be that all our meter readings for the past 3 years or more have been estimates! At least, I called the supplier and the woman I spoke to said her records go back as far as March 2005 and there were no meter readings by the company or by the customer in that time.
My question is, do the electricity company have any obligation to take meter readings in a set period of time? It seems a bit ridiculous that they can leave it for years and then sting us all at once like this.
A bit of back story for your understanding:
I moved into my current room about 10 months ago, sharing the flat with five others. The flat has been established for a long time with people moving in and out as they please, as long as they find someone else to fill their room. The power bill comes to a person who is no longer in the flat, and who no-one currently living in the flat knows of. I took over paying the bill when I moved in but didn't change it into my name.
It did cross my mind that I could just try to cancel the account, set up a new one in my name, and leave the long-lost person who's name the bill is in to deal with the debt. But obviously that's very unfair to her, and probably not that easy for us to actually do either.
If anyone has any knowledge/advice helpful for the current situation (I know we shouldn't have got into it in the first place!) it would be much appreciated! Thanks.
I had just recently sent in a customer meter reading, which I double-checked this morning and it seems to have been more or less correct. The problem seems to be that all our meter readings for the past 3 years or more have been estimates! At least, I called the supplier and the woman I spoke to said her records go back as far as March 2005 and there were no meter readings by the company or by the customer in that time.
My question is, do the electricity company have any obligation to take meter readings in a set period of time? It seems a bit ridiculous that they can leave it for years and then sting us all at once like this.
A bit of back story for your understanding:
I moved into my current room about 10 months ago, sharing the flat with five others. The flat has been established for a long time with people moving in and out as they please, as long as they find someone else to fill their room. The power bill comes to a person who is no longer in the flat, and who no-one currently living in the flat knows of. I took over paying the bill when I moved in but didn't change it into my name.
It did cross my mind that I could just try to cancel the account, set up a new one in my name, and leave the long-lost person who's name the bill is in to deal with the debt. But obviously that's very unfair to her, and probably not that easy for us to actually do either.
If anyone has any knowledge/advice helpful for the current situation (I know we shouldn't have got into it in the first place!) it would be much appreciated! Thanks.
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