Previous owners fiddling their electricity

[FakeMoustacheAndGlasses]

We moved house about six months ago and the house we brought was in a very bad state of repair, some of which we new about, some we didn't. And yes, we did have a full survey.

Anyway, we have had the builders in for about three months now including electricians doing a complete rewire. They found out that the last owners were fiddling the electricity and only about half the house was wired into the meter. The house is now wired up correctly.

If we tell the electricity company is their a chance we could get into trouble for it? If we don't tell them will they notice that our bill is now twice what it was? Also although I have a lot of resentment towards the last owners for the state they left the house in I don't want them to get into trouble just because I'm being spiteful.

The fact that you use twice as much electricity as the previous owners will not raise flags - you could have twice as many people as the arseholes previous owners.

But I would tell them anyway, because they are probably doing it at their new address and they may well end up frying themselves with their dodgy wiring.

Yes. loads of really dodgy wiring and DIY in this house, we have spent thousands putting things right.

It just seems malicious telling the electricity company on them.

Plus we have benefited from six months free electricity ourselves.

What is malicious about potentially saving someone's life, FMAG?

Why?! How would you feel if you read in the paper that one of their children was electrocuted because they had done this? Or that their house burned down and the neighbours got caught up in it (much more likely).

If you knew someone was stealing something on a daily basis, would you just sit on your hands wibbling? :)

Where was the rest of their electricity coming from?

You should consider whether they will chase you for the free electricity you have "stolen" from them.

Soupy they can't do that - for a start they would not know how much it was as the meter was interfered with so only half of it went through the meter. Also the new owners had no responsibility for the previous owners bills nor conduct.

TheHeathenofSuburbia - in basic terms, what happens normally is your electricity goes in a circuit called a ring main, which is attached to your electric meter. As electricity is drawn through the ring main the meter turns. However if you connect a separate ring main outside of the meter to the mains (which is fecking risky), providing you don't blow yourself up, you have connected to the mains without going through the meter and thus the electric company can't tell where the electricity is going and can't bill it.

the fact that the OP claims to have had 6 months of free electricity implies they knew about it and i am sure the electricity company could argue that they should have noticed their bills were not high enough.

I disagree, if they bought a house with a full survey which did not identify electrical problems or the need to review them and the meter appeared in working order, the criminal activity of the previous tenants would not be their responsibility. They discovered this later on when they were redoing the electrics. If they do not report it and the leccy company find out, and technically the electrician should report it in his certificates to the local authority, then they would be in schtupp.

"the fact that the OP claims to have had 6 months of free electricity implies they knew about it"

We found out about it when the house was rewired, six months after we moved in.

"and technically the electrician should report it in his certificates to the local authority,"

That would be the best option really, so we can say we didn't grass them up.

The previous owners were apparently well know for being very tight and always trying to get things for free even though they had horses, a cleaner and three children in private school.