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Original poster

How to pay our electricity bill?

19 replies

FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 12:57

I live in a shared rented flat which is above an estate agents but with one front door as it all used to be one property.

Our landlord is the same and the estate agents were also always our contact/managed the property.
Shortly after moving in I took over the bills and was told the electricity was shared with the estate agents below and split 50/50 when they received the bill (which was under a business account). I took over the bills October 2018 and was asked to pay the most recent bill by the estate agents in Jan 2019 when I just transferred them our half.

The estate agents are a small flakey business who seem to fire and rehire the same staff weekly but run by one main woman who owns the company. Last March I started asking her where the next bill was as I was keen we didn’t fall behind with payments. She kept saying she’d get to it and this went on until September with no bill appearing.

Then in September they suddenly left and we were informed they would no longer be managing the property. This was when she sent me multiple electricity bills and it appears they have been paying random amounts throughout the year but very small sums and not informing us. She then told me our share was £700.

Since then I’ve refused to pay her as I have no idea and cannot work out from these random bills what we actually owe. EDF refuse to speak to me as the whole property is under her business name and the landlord is worse than useless. Interestingly apart from an initial day or two of aggressive emails she hasn’t contacted me either.

I’m so concerned that we haven’t paid a bill in a year and they’ll come and cut off our supply. I have asked our landlord to have the supply’s split but as he can’t find anyone to take the bottom property he’s not bothered. What on earth can I do??

OP posts:
Original poster
FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 12:58

I should say her business is still going but she appears to be running it from home so I assume she’s being chased by EDF to pay the outstanding bill and what we’ve been using since they moved out but I’ve had no contact from her.

OP posts:
thistimeofyear · 19/01/2020 13:02

How big is your part of the property, how many occupants and how many months is that £700 for. I live mainly alone in 2 bed terrace and my bill in winter months is about £95 per month. If you’ve not paid a bill you clearly owe a few hundred

Original poster
FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 13:05

Our flat is a tiny three bedroom and the bill must be from December 2018 until last September. I’m sure we probably do owe a lot by now but there’s no way I’m transferring what she’s demanding to her business account when she may or may not use it to pay the bill.

I’ve been arguing with EDF for months as I just want to settle up and get our own bills but they refuse to help as it’s in the name of her business for the whole house.

OP posts:

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Original poster
FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 13:06

This is also only electricity, our gas is a pre pay meter which costs a fortune so I expect our electricity bills are actually quite low as I only stay at the flat a couple of nights a week and the other two girls are also not there very much.

OP posts:
Pipandmum · 19/01/2020 13:23

So the bill is in her name? It's very odd that you don't have a separate meter. You should see all the bills and it should be fairly straightforward to see what your share is of you split it. But either way shes the one responsible and will be the one who is chased for payment. As she's no longer renting surely she wants her name off the account? Very strange.
At least you have recorded of how much you've paid and you should also keep records of any communication between you, her, your landlord and the power supplier.

FanSpamTastic · 19/01/2020 13:30

I would pay nothing for now.

The liability towards EDF is her businesses. Leave her to sort that out.

What exactly does your rental agreement say about the sharing of bills?

Palavah · 19/01/2020 13:32

Did you pay a deposit and do you have details of the scheme it's in?

Somanysocks · 19/01/2020 13:59

This actually sounds illegal.

Original poster
FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 14:25

The rental agreement says nothing about sharing of bills. Oh god I’d not even thought about them having our deposits, I don’t think I have any info on it. When I moved in I just paid my deposit to the girl who’s room I took.
My concern with doing nothing is that they may cut off the electricity as I assume the account is just getting more and more into debt.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 19/01/2020 14:30

I'd be getting out of there and into another place.

Original poster
FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 14:38

Actually just checked our deposit scheme and money is still safe in there so that’s good news. I think I’m going to push the landlord to split the supply so at least we can start getting our own bills from now

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 19/01/2020 14:43

EDF refuse to speak to me as the whole property is under her business name

Bill not in your name

What does your tenancy agreement say about bills? What is written on paper?

ivykaty44 · 19/01/2020 14:46

Go to your district council and speak to private sector housing to get advise on your tenancy, bills and deposit

If your deposit isn’t in a bond they can’t serve you a section 21
If the bill isn’t in your name then you’re not liable for paying it
What happen with the council tax?

PigletJohn · 19/01/2020 14:55

Whose name is the bill in?

Original poster
FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 17:13

Bill is in the name of the woman who runs the estate agency that used to be underneath us. This is only the case for electricity as the supply was never split when they made the house into two properties, all other bills are addressed to us and only cover our flat.

OP posts:
Original poster
FizzyPink · 19/01/2020 17:19

This is what the contract says with regards to bills, hopefully you can read the photo.

Really I’m just concerned with how to pay what we owe and then set up our own account but EDF don’t seem interested in helping. I’ve been backwards and forwards with various teams since last September

How to pay our electricity bill?
OP posts:
AmIAWeed · 19/01/2020 17:28

The bill is in her name making her liable not you. I'd focus on getting a separate meter via the landlord with split supply so moving forward this doesn't happen again, but frankly I don't see what they can do to make you pay for the previous supply as it's not in your name

thistimeofyear · 20/01/2020 09:03

I would have thought that EDF know the average monthly consumption so once you have that info you can just split it 50/50 settle and move on and set up your own account. Raise a complaint to EDF and the complaints team should help you that’s I’ve done in the past if not getting anywhere with the usual customer service. If they are like British Gas they have to investigate and follow through. Alternatively there are lots of websites where you can put on your hiysecdetails occupants etc and work out roughly your consumption and just give her that amount for however many months you owe. Not nice for her to be faced by a bill she can’t pay if the business is struggling

thistimeofyear · 20/01/2020 09:04

Sorry “house details”

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