Electric Company Billing Me For Their Fault
Discussion
Short story:
Rented a flat between 2006 & 2012. Landlady informed me that the electric meter was faulty (not recording usage) and the electricity company had looked at it and decided it was not their equipment. I set up a basic payment (as advised by the landlady) and got on with things.
The landlady repeatedly called out the company and everytime an engineer came out, he looked at the box, decided it was not theirs and went away. I continued paying an arbitrary sum to the comapny.
Cut to today when my mate who took the flat on after me informs me that a new meter was finally fitted and the company have sent me a bill for £7500 arrears!
What the hell do I/can I do? I can't pay that kind of bill (maybe £50 a month), how have they come to that figure - I worked away so only actually used the flat at the weekend so minimal elec useage.
Part of me is tempted to get my mate to just send the letter back with "Not at this address" but I know that will only delay the problem.
Rented a flat between 2006 & 2012. Landlady informed me that the electric meter was faulty (not recording usage) and the electricity company had looked at it and decided it was not their equipment. I set up a basic payment (as advised by the landlady) and got on with things.
The landlady repeatedly called out the company and everytime an engineer came out, he looked at the box, decided it was not theirs and went away. I continued paying an arbitrary sum to the comapny.
Cut to today when my mate who took the flat on after me informs me that a new meter was finally fitted and the company have sent me a bill for £7500 arrears!
What the hell do I/can I do? I can't pay that kind of bill (maybe £50 a month), how have they come to that figure - I worked away so only actually used the flat at the weekend so minimal elec useage.
Part of me is tempted to get my mate to just send the letter back with "Not at this address" but I know that will only delay the problem.
We need a bit more information.
What were you paying and to who were you paying it?
Did you actually receive bills or were you just paying the supplier without a bill coming in?
If you did get bills, were the bills that you received estimated with readings that no longer tallied with the stopped meter? Or did they just show nil advance in the readings (suggesting that they were probably only billing standing charge?)
Presumably the new bill is an estimated one?
I'm tempted to say that because the fault was reported to the supplier, and they failed to fix it, that you may only be liable for one year of back billing under the billing code, but we really need more info to be sure. It seems very odd that the engineer would say it wasn't their meter, makes me think that perhaps there's some other mix up than just a simple stopped meter.
What were you paying and to who were you paying it?
Did you actually receive bills or were you just paying the supplier without a bill coming in?
If you did get bills, were the bills that you received estimated with readings that no longer tallied with the stopped meter? Or did they just show nil advance in the readings (suggesting that they were probably only billing standing charge?)
Presumably the new bill is an estimated one?
I'm tempted to say that because the fault was reported to the supplier, and they failed to fix it, that you may only be liable for one year of back billing under the billing code, but we really need more info to be sure. It seems very odd that the engineer would say it wasn't their meter, makes me think that perhaps there's some other mix up than just a simple stopped meter.
Okay, the flat was the upper of two located on the first & second floors above a 3 storey shop. There was an outside elec cupboard with various meters including my dead one.
I was told by the landlady who the supplier was (I can't name the supplier now as I can't remember who it was, maybe Npower, until I go round to pick the letter up tonight) and that the meter had stopped recording over a year previous and she was continuing to try and sort it. I paid £40 per month to said supplier and would get an e-bill for a flat charge (I think, it's been too long and I've a crap memory for these things. Also it's been over 3 years since I moved so I've not kept anything from that place).
The supplier were called out many times (also came out regularly to read the meter) and all would apparently look in the cupboard and say it wasn't their meter or some such. I was 150 miles away when they came out, it was the landlady dealing with it.
I'm going round tonight so I'll have more info on what the letter actually says and speak to the landlady who hopefully will be able to provide details of the times the supplier came out and their responses. They've also billed my mate for about £800 I think.
I was told by the landlady who the supplier was (I can't name the supplier now as I can't remember who it was, maybe Npower, until I go round to pick the letter up tonight) and that the meter had stopped recording over a year previous and she was continuing to try and sort it. I paid £40 per month to said supplier and would get an e-bill for a flat charge (I think, it's been too long and I've a crap memory for these things. Also it's been over 3 years since I moved so I've not kept anything from that place).
The supplier were called out many times (also came out regularly to read the meter) and all would apparently look in the cupboard and say it wasn't their meter or some such. I was 150 miles away when they came out, it was the landlady dealing with it.
I'm going round tonight so I'll have more info on what the letter actually says and speak to the landlady who hopefully will be able to provide details of the times the supplier came out and their responses. They've also billed my mate for about £800 I think.
If they were billing you a flat amount then that would suggest it was just standing charge with zero usage added.
Assuming that it really was their meter all along (and flat bills would suggest that it was) then the situation is normally-
1) Customer or supplier notice the dead meter
2) Supplier installs a new meter
3) Reads are taken over an appropriate period to get a handle on usage
4) These reads are then used to manually estimate an appropriate bill for the period that the old meter was stopped
However, in your case, it appears that the supplier has dropped the ball, and will likely now fall foul of the billing code, they knew there was a problem and failed to fix it. This means that they can only chase you up for one year of back billing. Everything else must be written off.
What you need is to see the full bill, with confirmation of what dates it covers, and evidence that your £40 payments have been included in it. They should be telling you exactly how they arrived at their estimate of your usage.
Ask to see a statement breaking down every payment you made over the time you were there, and every charge they have levied on the account if they can't send one single bill.
Then, raise a complaint (and get the reference number), insist that the complaint is left open until it is resolved (after 40 days of an open complaint you can go to the Ombudsman, so sometimes the agents will close the complaint on day 1 and the cycle starts all over again)
Insist that you want-
1) All energy older than one year writing off. They CAN still charge the standing charge because they accurately billed that bit at the time, but you've MORE than paid that anyway with your £40 per month.
2) A refund of any overpayment
The reason I suggest the refund is because, if you've been paying £40 per month for 6 years, that's far more than the standing charge would have cost, and now that the energy portion of your debt should be almost entirely written off, you should technically be in credit.
Anyway, all the advice above is based on what you've said, if it turns out there are any other bits to the story that you don't know about then potentially it may all be wrong! Keep us posted and good luck!
Assuming that it really was their meter all along (and flat bills would suggest that it was) then the situation is normally-
1) Customer or supplier notice the dead meter
2) Supplier installs a new meter
3) Reads are taken over an appropriate period to get a handle on usage
4) These reads are then used to manually estimate an appropriate bill for the period that the old meter was stopped
However, in your case, it appears that the supplier has dropped the ball, and will likely now fall foul of the billing code, they knew there was a problem and failed to fix it. This means that they can only chase you up for one year of back billing. Everything else must be written off.
What you need is to see the full bill, with confirmation of what dates it covers, and evidence that your £40 payments have been included in it. They should be telling you exactly how they arrived at their estimate of your usage.
Ask to see a statement breaking down every payment you made over the time you were there, and every charge they have levied on the account if they can't send one single bill.
Then, raise a complaint (and get the reference number), insist that the complaint is left open until it is resolved (after 40 days of an open complaint you can go to the Ombudsman, so sometimes the agents will close the complaint on day 1 and the cycle starts all over again)
Insist that you want-
1) All energy older than one year writing off. They CAN still charge the standing charge because they accurately billed that bit at the time, but you've MORE than paid that anyway with your £40 per month.
2) A refund of any overpayment
The reason I suggest the refund is because, if you've been paying £40 per month for 6 years, that's far more than the standing charge would have cost, and now that the energy portion of your debt should be almost entirely written off, you should technically be in credit.
Anyway, all the advice above is based on what you've said, if it turns out there are any other bits to the story that you don't know about then potentially it may all be wrong! Keep us posted and good luck!
Unless I've made a mistake and I only did this in my head just now, but the figures you have listed indicate an electricity cost of about £150 a month over the 6 years. How big was this flat?
I'm lucky enough to live in a 5 bedroom house of over 3000 ft sq. All electric, no gas out here, for lights, heating, power, cooking, everything.
We pay £165 per month and that's a bit over the top annually.
I'm lucky enough to live in a 5 bedroom house of over 3000 ft sq. All electric, no gas out here, for lights, heating, power, cooking, everything.
We pay £165 per month and that's a bit over the top annually.
Another 5 Bed house gas and electric £141 a month with wife and 4 children.
It seams a bit fishy to me that the meter was broken for so long,perhaps your meter was wired up to another flat or the shop.
Also check your landlady does not have a swimming pool and is charging you for the electric to run it.
It seams a bit fishy to me that the meter was broken for so long,perhaps your meter was wired up to another flat or the shop.
Also check your landlady does not have a swimming pool and is charging you for the electric to run it.
Edited by btcc123 on Saturday 4th July 10:01
Well its either their meter or not their meter. The incoming supply must go through a main meter somewhere, if the meter in question is a private meter fitted by the landlord to measure the electricity used by the flat then you are not a customer of the electric company, your landlord is. I dont see how they could send you a bill without a registered meter, to get a bill you need an MPAN number and to get an MPAN number you need a meter.
Aldos Army said:
if the meter was not recording usage then how can they suddenly come up with a usage figure??
They install a new meter, work out what is being used, and then use that information to manually estimate a bill. Perfectly legal and normal.However, it sounds as though they really dropped a ball here and haven't done things properly at all, assuming the meter really was their's all along.
Blue Oval84 said:
They install a new meter, work out what is being used, and then use that information to manually estimate a bill. Perfectly legal and normal.
However, it sounds as though they really dropped a ball here and haven't done things properly at all, assuming the meter really was their's all along.
Ah yeah I see what you mean, cheersHowever, it sounds as though they really dropped a ball here and haven't done things properly at all, assuming the meter really was their's all along.
Scuffers said:
AFAIK, they can only back bill you 12 months, no matter how long the meters been out.
went though this 4 years ago, meter stopped, they kept estimated, etc etc etc.
ended up with a new meter, let it run for a month, then they estimated back for 12 months.
They are not allowed to charge you for energy used more than 12 months ago if "the supplier was at fault for not having sent a bill to the customer". But the time limit only applies if you have made efforts to contact your supplier or provide them with correct meter readings.went though this 4 years ago, meter stopped, they kept estimated, etc etc etc.
ended up with a new meter, let it run for a month, then they estimated back for 12 months.
It sure this would apply in this case but could be. Whatever, keep arguing. I had a similar argument some years ago when a supplier came after my company for unpaid bills from almost 6 years previously. About £2000.
As in this case, they couldn't really prove that their demands were accurate or justified, how can they? I repeatedly told them I would settle as soon as they provided evidence of the consumption, with proper meter readings and bills from the time.
After a while they offered to accept half the amount. Then 1/4 of it, then just gave up.
stuart313 said:
... you are not a customer of the electric company, your landlord is.....
I'm interested to know if the restriction on backdated billing only applies to private individuals, if the landlord is a company could they have been charged for >12mths & attempting to pass on? Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff