Friend not paid gas bill in 3 years

[huggybear]

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were discussing bills when she casually dropped in that she hasn't paid her gas bill for 3 years! The story is she moved into her house 3 years ago and wrote to goodness knows who and said hello, please bill me. No one did... So she just left it. Other friend thinks it will be written off as it's the "company's fault". I think she will end up with a massive bill one day.

Anywhere I've ever moved in I've chosen my provider and given them a meter reading to set up my account.

Who is right?

Someone I know was one of the first to get smart meters installed.
She was consistently told not to send meter readings as it's automatic.
Fast forward to now and the company have only just noticed the gas reading is and always has been at 0.
She has tried to sort it out multiple times but nothing has been done. Luckily she paid the direct debit for dual fuel monthly anyway so the extra has built up in the account.
I can fully believe this happens all the time.

It is a flat which used to be one house which has probably confused things somewhat!

Drip feed much?!

As some PP mentioned, if the house has been converted to flats very possible it's been half-arsed and there's only meters for the whole building.

@HidingFromMyKids The backbilling rule may apply to your friend too, depending on the supplier and dates. The Ofgem page linked on page 1 is a good explanation.

Also, for general billing - suppliers have to be reasonably sure an 'actual' reading is accurate before using it in a bill they send, and make a decent attempt to get a fresh one if unsure.

I'd suggest she speaks to CAB for advice, if she hasn't already.

Thank you will pass that on.

Her adult son lived in the house before the meter and has moved out now so I'm sure she doesn't want the estimated readings from that period!

A friend of mine paid no gas or electric in her home for a good 17 years until she stupidly plugged in a smart meter. Got a bill for literally thousands and refused to pay it, the company said they would just get rid of the debt as long as she sent up a DD to pay monthly from then on, and she now pays about £100 a month for gas and electric.

When I moved to my new build I didn't pay a water bill until I got a letter 18 months after moving in which stated I'd lived there a week and I needed to set up an account. So I got a year and a half of free water and now just pay monthly for however much I use.