No electricity meter - 8 years on we have contact from Scottish Power!

[NMcCaffrey]

Hi,

 

I am looking for a bit of advice on electricity meters, or lack thereof!

 

We bought a small one bed flat in 2004 and we discovered that it didn't have an electricity meter we could find. This wasn't flagged up at the time of sale so it took us a few weeks before we made this discovery. At the time we thought this might be because some years earlier the communal hallway had been done out by the council. So we phoned the local council who said this was under the jurisdiction of the electricity companies. However on calling around a few of them each of them said we weren't their customer and we should contact the council if this was due to their refurbishing. So ultimately no body came out and no body followed this up.

 

As a side note, some years prior to our moving in our flat had been "built" as a once bigger flat was split into two. Therefore there was a bit of confusion over our address which took some time to be sorted out as well. When we talked to our neighbour she also said she had no meter and had made efforts previously but to no avail.

 

Anyway as time marched in we never did anything more about this issue, which on reflection was a bad move on our part.

 

We now rent this flat out to a tenant who recently informed us that a gentleman from Schneider Electric Energy, on behalf of Scottish Power, had been to look at the electricity supply in our building (there are 8 flats in total in our building) due to a power outage. I doing that he had asked to see our electricity meter and she of course informed him that there wasn't one. He then asked for the landlords, ourselves, to get in touch.

 

Whilst we are relieved that this issue might finally be sorted out, it has always been a huge source of guilt for us, we are also terrified as to what might happen.

 

Given that we purchased our flat in 2004 we have no actual evidence of our contacting the electricity companies in those initial few months.

 

Any advice as to how we should best go about rectifying this, including any legal titbits or advice, would be very gratefully received. We would be especially interested in hearing from those who have perhaps had similar things happen to them in the past, how you managed this situation and the outcome. We intend to get in touch with the gentlemen in the next few days but wanted to do a bit of research beforehand so we knew best how to handle it - forewarned is forearmed and all that!

 

Thanks in advance

[citizenB]

We have a Scottish Power Rep on the forums, I will send a message to him to look in on you.

 

Meanwhile I will alert site team for you as well to see if they have any advice.

[scaffolder]

Same thing happened to us , we Brought a property that did have a key meter when we moved in and we asked our supplier to remove it which they did .

 

We totally forgot all about it after that , but 8 years after the meter was removed i received a Bill for just over 12k for the last 8 years Electric we used .

 

I rang that day to see what the hell was going on and again they demanded the 12k for the last 8 years , even sending me a final demand for the outstanding .

 

One last phone call and spoke to a Supervisor who told me the law states they can only charge me 24 months and not the full 8 years .

 

That still came to just under 2k and was given 2 years to pay back the money .

 

Sorted !

[AnnoyedByDCAs]

The back billing limit is 12 months, not 24 - http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/files/2010/01/Back-billing-2012.pdf

 

 

How do they calculate a figure for this if there's no meter?

Edited January 31, 2013 by AnnoyedByDCAs
add link now I have 10 posts to do it

[BankFodder]

If there are others involved, you had probably better start by getting them altogether to discuss it an to agree a course of action.

 

You will do better as a group rather than allowing yourselves to be picked on one by one.

 

The next thing is to try and find out which company it is which says that it is the supplier.

 

I think that there is no question but that you will have to pay electricity arrears as you have been using it.

 

Also, it is going to look very bad in court that you haven't sorted it out by now - 8 years since you moved into the property. You don't have much moral highground. You had better start getting some.

 

As this has gone on for 8 years, it may well be that 2 years of it is statute barred. I would keep this up your sleeve for the time-being. Don't play it yet - and frankly it might be an idea - if things get tough to offer to pay those two years as well as a sign of good faith.

 

Of course, you are helped somewhat as the electricity company has a duty also to keep on top of things and not to let this kind of thing happen. Have you any evidence in writing that you did try to deal with the electricity companies? It would be helpful if you did,

 

Your objective should be to get a meter installed and to agree a reasonable arrears and to pay it off in as reasonable installments as possible without taking too long.

If you can keep it out of court then it will effectively be an interest free loan. If it goes to court - then they will win and get interest as well.

 

Frankly, there must be a meter somewhere. Maybe in one of the flats - serving the whole building. I think that you need to get an electricity professional to hunt for it - but independent - not from one of the companies.

Find out which company thinks is your supplier.

 

You need to try and work out what your reasonable consumption has been. You may need to ask others in similar buildings.

 

At some point you will need to write to the electricity company. Explain what has happened, and start paying voluntarily a reasonable sum per month - starting off with a decent lump sum as a gesture.

Even if they won't accept it, you must try and find a way to pay so that it is clear that you are trying to rediuce the problem and that if there is any problem, it is caused by them and not you.

 

Get a meter installed for your own flat as soon as possible.

Maybe you can agree that the first metered year for you will be used as a model for calculating the previous years.

 

You need to sort it and you need to appear very committed to it because these people can react very nastily - and although they are partly responsible - I think that the main fault lies with you.

 

If you are able to pay £500 down and then monthly payments of £50 - I don't think that they could complain and I don't think that any court could fault you.

 

If you can get this underway, then if they case you problems, you will tend to have the upper hand and will be able to control events more easily

[BankFodder]

Same thing happened to us , we Brought a property that did have a key meter when we moved in and we asked our supplier to remove it which they did .

 

We totally forgot all about it after that , but 8 years after the meter was removed i received a Bill for just over 12k for the last 8 years Electric we used .

 

I rang that day to see what the hell was going on and again they demanded the 12k for the last 8 years , even sending me a final demand for the outstanding .

 

One last phone call and spoke to a Supervisor who told me the law states they can only charge me 24 months and not the full 8 years .

 

That still came to just under 2k and was given 2 years to pay back the money .

 

Sorted !

 

The back billing limit is 12 months, not 24 - http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/files/2010/01/Back-billing-2012.pdf

 

 

How do they calculate a figure for this if there's no meter?

 

 

Looks like you have received responses from two people with actual experience - so ignore what I have said!!!!

[Sheila117]

I too am surprised there's no meter.

 

If you don't have a meter I cant see how you have a supplier, especially if you've never received letters. It's the supplier that you pay your bill to, so if you don't have a supplier I question who you own the money too.

 

Roughly how old is the property please?

 

At the fuse board in the property can you see 2 thick round cables (meter tails)? They are likely to be the only round cables and quite thick - can you see where they go?

Please don't remove any covers or make anything potentially unsafe in the process of looking

[ScottishPower Company Rep]

Hi NMcCaffrey If you e-mail details to [email protected] (no spaces) we will look into this for you. Thanks David