No Electric Bill for 6 Years!!!

[wino]

Hi Everyone

I'm new to CAG only discovered it yesterday. I spent hours yesterday reading all the posts on different subjects that concern me. I switched electric and gas supliers 6 years ago. Manweb (electric) said they would not let me switch until I paid the final bill of about £30.00 I did then heard no more. Manweb said they are not my supplier and the company I switched to say they're not my supplie either. I have had many sleepless nights waiting for a 6yr electric bill to land on my door mat. I was relieved yesterday to read in the forum that whoever decides they are my supplier can only charge me for the last year. Is this really true?

[kfdh1962]

Hi Wino,
not sure of all the legalities of this particular situation. Im sure someone will be along shortly who has more legalise than i do.

i experieneced something similar with my gas. We went seven years without receiving a bill. We contacted british gas on many ocasions both by telephone and in writing. But every time we did they told us our house didnt exist!!!
eventually they twigged that yes we did exist , and because we proved that we had contacted them many times to resolve the situation, they only billed us from that point forward....

[wino]

Thaks for that kfdh1962
I'm sure someone will catch up with the bill one day. I'm hoping that I can only be billed for the last year as every Chrismas my house looks like Blackpool lights and I am dreading finding out what I owe.

[Bookworm]

I think the rules have changed and they can only pursue you for a fairly short period of time if they haven't been sending bills, yes. Sorry, I don't know the details, I'll look into it (need a refresher course anyway, ).

I wish this had been the case when I didn't get a gas bill for months and months (over 18, if memory serves) and then they wanted me to pay £250 a month!!!

[wino]

Ouch!!!!!!!!

[Kasei]

Trust me when I say you need to get this sorted asap.
I had a similar problem with British gas I spent 18 months asking them for both electricity and gas bills, they came away with all sorts of crap like they couldn't find my account or that my account was frozen, or there way a block on my account that was preventing billing.
I found the best way to handle it was by being a total nussance, phoning them sometimes two or three times a day for a weeks on end asking for resolution, it's worth noting down the dates and times of the calls, and the name of the person you're speaking to, although this never got me anywhere with them(they kept promising to phone back and never once did), eventually when you've exhausted that contact the government watchdog, energywatch, give them the story and offer them the evidence you've gathered of your attempts to resolve the matter, within a week of contacting them, I had British gas phoning me to get it resolved, during the course of which they quoted me some truely stupid figures for what they believed I owed I remember one monthly plan to repay it amounting to £325 quid a month, again not satisfied I went back to energywatch who pressured BG into backing down, and got them to drastically reduce the charges, though I did have to pay something it wasn't anywhere near like what they were demanding.
The sooner you get the ball rolling the sooner you'll get it sorted.
They will track you down sooner or later, there really is no such thing as a free lunch.

[Bookworm]

Ok, there it is. Information given in May by user Ozzywizard, a avery helpful chap who works in the industry and helped a lot of people on here.

Ok the two year rule as you guys like to call it is,

If a supplier has not billed you for gas or electric for a period of over 2 years they can only backdate 2 years. This then has to be an accurate bill with accurate pricing for the relevent period and based on actual reads etc. Now the good news is from July 2007 this changes to one year so a lot of suppliers are rushing around with special departments trying to get bills out to ppl not billed, they are rushing that much that they are getting readings and prices wrong etc so these are not chargeable untill they get it right and if they dont by July they have to knock another year off.

So there you are, Kasei, maybe not free lunch, but a damn cheaper one.

[wino]

Thanks Bookworm and Ozzywizard I was getting worried again then. My electric meter has been read every time over the last 6 yrs. I have tried to sort out who my supplier is. Now i'll leave it up to them to find me!

[2Grumpy]

I also saw that they have to give a similar period to paay off the arrears in this sort of situation, so if they end up billing you 2 years electricity, they should give you 2 years to pay in installments - worth checking out.

Grumpy

[Bluuemoney]

Originally Posted by Bookworm

Ok, there it is. Information given in May by user Ozzywizard, a avery helpful chap who works in the industry and helped a lot of people on here.



So there you are, Kasei, maybe not free lunch, but a damn cheaper one. Hi all,
I got talked into switching Elecky suppliers in June2006
I telephoned to give my Direct Debit details and give the first reading.
August a man comes to read the meter which is outside and unlocked ( I make a note for myself)
October I telephone to change Bank details she says she has no meter reading I give it, she says she does not want the bank details.
Spring 2007 No Bill April Man comes round to read the meter I make a note.
August same thing happens
October I telephone same thing does not want my bank details as she is not sure what type of meter I have so she is sending someone out .
I don’t know if he turned up I was out .
Today I get an estimated Bill for over £1000 with a £200 goodwill deduction.
I have a few questions as to who these meter readers are and why she wouldn’t take my Direct Debit details .
I read the meter at the same time he did, yet all the numbers on the Bill are estimates completely different from what I have.

Anyone got any ideas.
Ta

Sorry to butin, but this is exactly what I wanted to hear, something about this was on the BBC Working Lunch program last week
I posted my story on another forum, waiting.
You guys are the best
Thankyou so much

[pelham9]

The rule is now a ONE year rule.

I cannot see any advantage in chasing them. Provided you contact them say once a month by letter (keep a copy) preferably it is up to them to get your house in order.

[shywazz]

Every1 knows that bills are to be paid, if no bill arrives then it is up to the person whom rents or owns the property to seek such, not just leave it in the hope there will get one in due course, then when there do, expect massive reductions, just because its taken some time to get.
Leaving/waiting for a bill for one year let alone 6 years is just plain stupid in my mind, and the person deserves the big bill there get, why didnt there put something aside each month to cover such, nothing is free, no point crying once the horse has bolted. The electric was used for 6 years, therefore the dues are due.
If i had a penny for every story ive heard saying its not my fault i would be able to retire by now.
I'll most likly get bad press for my reply, but as adults we know things are not right when bills don't come, and commen sense should kick in and chase the matter untill sorted, not leave for year after year.
Its always the easy opition to take by saying, i'll leave it up to them to sort, then start crying when hit with a huge bill, and then expect people to assist them in getting away without paying.
Yes i'm a out spoken person, but come on commen sense would have avoided this mess.

[mree]

Originally Posted by shywazz

Every1 knows that bills are to be paid, if no bill arrives then it is up to the person whom rents or owns the property to seek such, not just leave it in the hope there will get one in due course, then when there do, expect massive reductions, just because its taken some time to get.
Leaving/waiting for a bill for one year let alone 6 years is just plain stupid in my mind, and the person deserves the big bill there get, why didnt there put something aside each month to cover such, nothing is free, no point crying once the horse has bolted. The electric was used for 6 years, therefore the dues are due.
If i had a penny for every story ive heard saying its not my fault i would be able to retire by now.
I'll most likly get bad press for my reply, but as adults we know things are not right when bills don't come, and commen sense should kick in and chase the matter untill sorted, not leave for year after year.
Its always the easy opition to take by saying, i'll leave it up to them to sort, then start crying when hit with a huge bill, and then expect people to assist them in getting away without paying.
Yes i'm a out spoken person, but come on commen sense would have avoided this mess.

It sounds as though you've just skim-read the original post and ignored the rest - wino has tried to contact the supplier to obtain a bill and gotten nowhere! Also, 6 years' 'dues' are not due, according to the billing code wino can only be billed for one year. And I'm not making this up, and I do know what I'm talking about, I work for a large energy supplier!

[2Grumpy]

Might be a good idea to put some money aside to pay when they do finally present a bill for up to 1 year based on an actual reading, even though you could probably ask to pay by instalments over a 1 year period.

Grumpy

[wino]

Grumpy. I agree with you that we all know that the bills should be paid. I was putting money away for quite a few years. Unfortunatly my business went into liquidation a couple of years ago leaving me in considerable debt. I had no choice but to use my electric bill savings to pay debts. I am still paying debts off and will be for many years to come, but I will honour every penny I owe.

[ozzywizard]

It is up to the supplier to bill you correctly and on time. They can only backdate your bill 12 months and have to allow you to spread the payments over a 12 month period once billed. (Code of accurate billing)

On this note though I would advise you to now save up and pay the 12 months in full once billed, this way your not spending 12 months paying double which will hit you hard (depending on your financial circumstances) as your used to paying nothing.

Hope your all well here on the forum, me not been on in agesss. no internet is baddddd.... anyways hopefully will be around more regular