No Electric/Gas Bills for 2 years...until now!

[special_k]

Hi all,

 

I moved into my house almost 2 years ago and sent the new customer with meter reading forms off but never heard anything. I contacted e.on 3 months later to tell them I still hadn't received a welcome pack or a bill and never got anything back from them.

 

Yesterday, I received a HUGE electric bill that I'd been waiting for to cover all the time since I moved in. I know that the billing code states that they cannot charge for more that 1 year if they are at fault so I looked for the proof that I contacted them but couldn't find it!!

 

I registered for an online account based on the info in the bill and saw that they have actually been taking meter readings since I moved in but just not billing me so I took screenshots of it all and plan to write to them.

 

Is there a template somewhere on this site that I can follow? I tried to look for one but didn't find anything.

 

And also, do you think I have a case using these screenshots as proof that they were taking meter readings (as they are tied to my user account).

 

I'm just waiting for the gas one to fall through the letter box now!!

[Guest wino]

I was in the same boat as you. Despite phone calls and letters I did not receive an electric bill for 9 years. The meter was read every 3 months. When I did receive a bill it was for the last 12 months and they were asking for £800. I rang and they agreed to spread the cost over the next 12 months.

 

There is not a template for this. I am surprised that they are asking for two years worth. Just write stating that they have failed to send you a bill and therefore the code of billing states that they can only charge for the last 12 months. Either ask them for a revised bill using correct meter readings or make an offer you think reasonable for a years electric usage and say you will pay this over the next 12 months

Edited February 2, 2010 by wino

[nottslad]

the billing code may only apply if you can prove you contacted them.

Was it a new build property? If so proof will be needed that you contacted eon to request the account set up.

[jack1966]

wino wow, no electric bill for 9 years, who pays for that then? is it shared out amongst the rest of us?

[pelham9]

Nottslad

 

Was it a new build property? If so proof will be needed that you contacted eon to request the account set up.

 

As you know I have been very interested in this for a long time. Can you tell me the legal basis for asserting that it is up to the occupier to contact a utility otherwise the Billing Code does not apply ?. Of course as you work /have worked for a utility you can tell us what their policy is but that is not very consistemt with the code. In practice the utilities almost invariably say that the code does not apply so maybe you are stating what they would have customers (and their staff!) believe rather than the true position. The utility knows that they are supplyimg the meter so why have they not billed the occupier?

[nottslad]

I don't know the law behind it, I just know the requirements of the regulators. There is a clause in the billing code that if a customer has deliberately avoided receiving a bill i.e. by not providing information then the code does not apply.

[davehsug]

I don't think there is a law behind the billing code as such, just an agreement between ofgem & the suppliers. I disagree with a couple of you comments pelham. Suppliers do not invariably say the code does not apply. After all, the code in practice, is applied by the people who do the bills. By & large, they have no vested interest in refusing or allowing the code. There are many cases where they cannot apply the code because an account just doesn't qualify when they actually feel it should & others where it is applied through gritted teeth when the person doing the bill knows the supplier has been "had".

Sometimes, especially ombudsman cases, suppliers are asked to amend an account in the "spirit" of the billing code, even though it doesn't actually apply.

The rules are actually quite clear. Sometimes they work in favour of people who don't deserve it & sometimes against those who do.

I also disagree with your comments about occupiers contacting the supplier. I believe there is an onus on people who move onto a property letting the supplier know. We all have to pay for the gas & electricity we use, we know that & I don't think inertia is an excuse. Of coure, sometimes there will be mistakes, but you seem to see something sinister behind them all & that just isn't the case.

[nottslad]

Thank you Dave!

 

The worst thing I can see about the billing code is that it seems to penalise the people that do pay as payments can be off-set against the ex-gratia amount to be applied, which really seems unfair to me!

[cheerup]

You've still used it, so you will need to come to some arrangement with the company to pay it off at a rate you can afford.

[nick49]

hi,

 

do you have an update on this?

[pelham9]

Daveshug

 

It would be unusual for a large bill not to be sent. I have no evidence that the utilities apply the billing code in the first bill they send. If the customer invokes the billing code 'almost invariably' the first reply is to deny that the code applies - prove to us that you ramg us etc. They do not apply the spirit of the code.

 

The problem with deemed contracts is that many people do not know about them and do not realise that when they move to a new property it is wise to ring the supplier (just to give a start reading) if indeed they know who the supplier is. Deemed contracts do not make it obligatory to contact the utility who can lawfully bill 'the occupier'.

[nottslad]

Is it not common sense then, that if you are using a service provided by a company that you contact them?

 

When you move to a property, you contact the council to register for electoral services and council tax, you don't wait for them to contact you! And whilst there are flaws in the system, a deemed contract needs to exist, the supply to a property will not be disconnected when someone moves out and then reconnected when someone else moves in and signs a contract, it wouldn't be logistically possible or cost effective in the least, and what about for any supply used by agents/landlords etc - who would bill them?

 

And of course if you had to have a written contract with a supplier, if there was a supply existing then what would there be to stop someone using the supply and not signing a contract therefore making any collections activity unenforceable and thus providing free gas and electricity - whose cost would this be at?!

[Feebee_71]

Special K,

 

Just a quick question the answer to which may change some of the advice given to you here........

 

You say you have applied for an online account based on the information in the bill sent to you and that it shows they have been reading your meter every 3 months but not sending you a bill.

 

When you look at the online account when does it show as the start date for you being the account holder - is it when you opened the online account or does it go back the 2 years to when you moved in and sent off the new occupant form with the meter readings?

 

If the online account shows you as being the account holder for the last 2 years - from when you moved in and sent them the form - surely that is enough proof needed that the billing code would apply and not a case of you trying to avoid admitting liability for the property?

 

Also, have there been any bills during the 2 years addressed to either the previous occupant or addressed to 'the occupier' (or similar).

 

I have to admit that I won't be able to give any advice but the answers to these 2 questions may assist those who are answering as it appears at the moment that advice isn't necessarily being offered based on the information you have provided.

 

Feebee_71