To think this woman claiming to have not paid utilities for 9 years is off her rocker?

[coldestfeetever]

I follow a pretty avid anti-vax and anti-masker on Instagram for shits and giggles. But her latest post is more obscure than most. She claims she hasn't paid utilities in nine years! She claims she'll upload a video explaining it but I've not seen it yet. I assume since she rents her landlord pays?

I know someone who believes in this. It’s actually quite worrying how quickly her Facebook posts have changed from normal work and family stuff, to posting about this stuff. I actually fear for her mental health. I’m strangely fascinated and repelled by her posts.

Oh my lord who is the crazy person? Can anyone let me know just so I can follow for ‘research purposes’?

So we are collectively paying her utility bills then. Great.

I think we should all know who this is so we can pop round and eat her food free of charge, sit on her sofa for free etc.

Someone please share who this is.

I worked with someone who was heavily into the Freeman on the land shit. Didn’t pay taxes or insurance. Took the number plates off her car as she was a legally recognised entity and didn’t need identification or some nonsense. Honestly, I have no idea how they get away with it for so long. I’m assuming utility companies and councils are a bit crap and don’t chase up as they should, but eventually, you no doubt end up with a court case and much bigger bill.

Honestly, so what. She isn’t winning at life by this, if true. It’s not the way to build a secure home life. Pay your utilities, sleep easy at night and aim higher.

There was an issue a couple of decades ago (so I feel fine typing it now) where people's Sky viewing cards worked in card prepayment meters to keep your gas supply on... but think they all still got caught up with in the end.

I recently bought an off the grid property as far as I know it is quite legal to own your own home and not use mains water, gas or electricity.

We still pay the normal council tax and tbh I probably spend a lot more getting the equipment serviced and replaced, but I do not have to pay the utility companies a penny.

If anyone wants to go off grid I’m sure it’s legally possible, but it will cost a freaking fortune and will give you headache after headache, I live rurally and it would cost too much to connect.

Not the same but a previous tenant fiddled a friend's meter. He was dreading the electric bill (minimum wage worker and not much money at the end of the month). He was astounded when it came in for £14 for the quarter.

He told the landlord and he just said that'll make it easier to rerent when you leave! He was only staying a year.

I don’t know who this person is but I remember the ‘moneyless man’ Mark Boyle had huge problems with getting out of council tax - you can be exempted if you are on a low income (which he technically was because he was avoiding money and living in an off-grid hut) but you had to be claiming benefits for that exemption which he obviously wasn’t. I can’t remember how he got around it in the end but it’s not easy to opt out of these things!

I'd also like to research this lady!

@kwiksavenofrillsusername

I worked with someone who was heavily into the Freeman on the land shit. Didn’t pay taxes or insurance. Took the number plates off her car as she was a legally recognised entity and didn’t need identification or some nonsense. Honestly, I have no idea how they get away with it for so long. I’m assuming utility companies and councils are a bit crap and don’t chase up as they should, but eventually, you no doubt end up with a court case and much bigger bill.

No loads of it gets written off as there is a time limit in which to bill people.

It's up to the suppliers to check all their meter numbers.

@ChikiTIKI

My sister moved in to her house a couple of years ago and had a nightmare getting set up with a gas provider. They said she wasn't hooked up for gas. She was cooking on her gas stove at the time 😂 has gas powered central heating etc. In her block of 70 houses, only about 7 are registered with gas suppliers. The houses are about 20 years old. So they're all getting free gas! My sister isn't, she chose to be honest and pays for hers.

My in laws are on a water meter but their barn water supply is not.

Maybe it's something like that? Or maybe something a bit weirder given what you've already said...

I had the same problem in my first flat and it went on for two years! It seemed that the flat had been the one that the workmen used as their rest and eating area when the flat were built and for some reason the gas meter wasn’t registered. I had gas central heating and cooker, but didn’t receive a bill. I put money away based on what my neighbour paid as it didn’t want it to come back on me but it took ages to get the gas people to sort it out. I couldn’t believe how long it took, it was stressful and certainly not an ideal situation for me.

@JohnMiddleNameRedactedSwanson

I know this completely misses the point of the thread and will probably get me a flaming but one of my pet hates is the use of ‘electric’ as a noun. It’s electricity!

Where I live it's 'leccy'. #DownYourPipeAndSmokeIt

Also would like to know who the Instagrammer is please - why is it such a secret?

does anyone ever tell her to fuck off and get real

Years ago I got into a mess with my electric. They said don't pay while they work out what's going on with the meter. Nowadays I'd know to save an estimated amount anyway or use my savings but 18 year old me didn't see the problem until six months later I got a significant bill. I started paying and I don't remember much until I got home one day and a bailiff put through his card but with an incorrect number so I rang utility warehouse and they came to put in a meter. It was £25 a week before we got actual electric and it bankrupted us as I wasn't working full tome. When I asked about this amount they said it was as we were both working full time and I questioned that as I was a student too. She said no and it couldn't be changed.

Ultimately if I hadn't let them in to change the meter to prepaid, I could have got away without paying but at some point (say when you have moved house and gone through all providers?) it will catch up with you and is it worth it?

It's @officialelliegrey isn't it? She said she just told her suppliers she was moving out and so settled her bills then and just didn't move out and hasn't paid since. She said she removed her implied right of access so.they can't read the meters. She's renting too, she said she doesn't pay any utilities or bills at all and hasn't for 9 years! She said it won't effect her credit rating cos she's not known to them! She's a crackpot anti-vaxxer too. I do wonder what will happen when she moves out, will the landlord or new tenant have problems with the utility companies?

Where I live it's 'leccy'.

Sure. Short for electricity!

@SebastianTheCrab me too!!! Someone tell me, I love a good insta stalk!

She's kind of right in that you can't cut off a domestic property simply for non payment of electricity, warrants are a pain in the arse to get as well so I can just about see how she could get away with this as far as her energy bills goes.

@ChikiTIKI it's known as being shipperless and is very common in new builds and flats. You can get yourself registered and have an MPRN created so you can be billed...but most don't bother 😂

Privatised utility company's are not that bright, i timber fondly the flat i had where i requested a meter change to pre pay and then changed suppliers. 18 months of free gas as new supplier wrote to me thanking me for my payment of £0 on prepayment meter every so often whilst I still had a standard debit meter installed.
There is a reason friends at the time called my place Barbados

I have a property. My tenants don't pay any bills, it's all included in their rent, so they can say they don't pay any utilities and it's true...

We once had 2 and a half years of free electricity because the stupid power company couldn't get its shit together enough to work out which of the 20 metres in the basement belonged to our flat. I must have written to them 10 times and even waited home for an entire day for an engineer who never turned up. Eventually we moved. Wouldnt surprise me if the next owner is still enjoying free electricity to this day.