Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Worried I will end up in prison!

298 replies

isitfree · 29/12/2021 21:17

I bought a house 3 years ago and did not receive an electric bill so after 5 months I got in touch with the company the previous owners said they had, turned out no electric company had ever had anyone with an account at my address. It is a private new build and has never been registered as receiving an electric supply. I then found out the council did not know the house existed and no council tax had been paid in the previous 10 years that the original owners had it!
I have managed to register with the council now and the person who rates the properties came out to value it for council tax. HOWEVER I can not get any electricity company to register us for an account.
The electric is coming from somewhere but no bill has been paid for 13 years!!! I even phoned the national grid and was told "oh dear, the previous owners have really dropped you in it" What the hell do I do?

OP posts:
Original poster
isitfree · 29/12/2021 21:57

I think the previous owners were a bit dodgy, they did not pay council tax for the 10 years they were here, no electricity, no tv licence HOWEVER they did pay water rates!!

OP posts:
Original poster
isitfree · 29/12/2021 21:58

@Justri

My next door neighbour is in exactly same position as you. She moved in three years ago, council property, not a new built either. Phoned numerous places about setting up an account,no one wants to know! She is worrying and does want to be paying her bill,but companies are not interested.an answer she gets is that it's nothing to do with them! Electricity is coming from somewhere though,but no bill, very strange. So now she just keeps all the emails as a proof that she tried to set up an account.we keep joking that she lives in a house that doesn't exist ..
Thanks for that make me feel better.
OP posts:
User65412 · 29/12/2021 21:58

This happened to me. Turns out a neighbour had been paying without realising. Our homes were once built and owned by the same family who paid the whole bill. Once they sold and moved they split the other house off without doing it properly through the electric suppliers. Our neighbours noticed when they went on holiday but the usage was high (we'd contacted all of the companies as well). We paid 1 year back to our neighbours.

Paq · 29/12/2021 21:59

I had the same with a newly converted flat in the centre of Bristol. Lived there for 2 years and never paid a water bill. I sold up and never heard another thing about it.

Don't panic OP!

godmum56 · 29/12/2021 21:59

energy ombudsman? www.ombudsman-services.org/problems

TooWicked · 29/12/2021 22:00

Get some extension leads out to your neighbours and tell them you’ll supply their electric at half price.

Extra Christmas lights next year. Switch your gas central heating to electric.

And start a cannabis farm in your attic. Grin

Youdoyoutoday · 29/12/2021 22:00

@NothingIsWrong

Honestly I would stop worrying then. Take the reading every month, stick £100/month away in a 90 day notice account so you aren't tempted and then when/if they come calling give them the last 2 years readings and tell them they can wait 3 months for the payment
This! I pay £100 for gas and electricity so this should cover it so its the perfect solution plus keeping a record of all the calls you've made to various companies.

Are there any neighbours you can chat too? Casually drop in to conversation your thinking of changing suppliers, are they happy with theirs? Worth a try!
Also if they say their bills have been astronomical the past few years, you'll know why yours aren't! Grin

Spacerader · 29/12/2021 22:00

This happened to someone I know, they chased for years and years to find out who supplied the electric. They gave up eventually and still no one has chased them up and they have still never recieved a bill

Justmebeingme245 · 29/12/2021 22:01

I had the same problem with gas in a new build. I tried everything but no one would admit to supplying it. Eventually got a whacking huge bill from British Gas. I complained and they deducted 50% from the bill but I had to pay the rest and they had the cheek to put the missed payments on my credit record. Definitely put money aside just in case.

Original poster
isitfree · 29/12/2021 22:01

@User65412

This happened to me. Turns out a neighbour had been paying without realising. Our homes were once built and owned by the same family who paid the whole bill. Once they sold and moved they split the other house off without doing it properly through the electric suppliers. Our neighbours noticed when they went on holiday but the usage was high (we'd contacted all of the companies as well). We paid 1 year back to our neighbours.
Poor neighbours. We are very isolated, so isolated that it is a dirt track to my nearest neighbour half a mile away. I know they are not paying for us as they pay £90 a month and my tumble dryer is never off!
OP posts:
Youdoyoutoday · 29/12/2021 22:01

You're thinking!

ffscovid · 29/12/2021 22:01

This happened to me with the water company. They did catch up eventually but only charges us for the previous 12 months use, not the full 3 years since we moved in.
Keep records of all your contact with the suppliers (email them or write so you have a paper trail) and take meter readings (photos) each month so that's recorded too. It's all you can do.

Fleur405 · 29/12/2021 22:03

The first thing is that you cannot be sent to prison over a disputed debt (unless you had actually committed fraud which it doesn’t sound like you have).

Energy companies can be a total nightmare for things like this, especially when there is a mix up re meter readings. You may be able to complain to the regulator (ofgem - www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households) or perhaps try your local citizens advice. I used to volunteer with the CAB and often a letter from us would make a difference even when client had been banging their head against a brick wall. Meantime keeping a log of your contacts is definitely a good idea.

sleezeandwineparty · 29/12/2021 22:03

This happened to us for water last year lived in the house for 2 years and never received a bill although we registered, water company said they could bill for 1 year I think it, and bass it on an average was but as the property had been empty for 3 years and no bills in that time it was impossible to work it out, so we just started from scratch as soon as it was discovered. I still don't think the bill is correct but I am less worried now. Apparently this is all utilities they can only claim back for x amount of time. I would do as the other poster suggested of putting aside some money and I would also send an email stating as far as you are concerned your billing is correct and up to date as they have not made any attempt to bill. It might also be worth paying an electrician to trace the source of your power incase it is being "stolen" from someone else.

Youdoyoutoday · 29/12/2021 22:03

Ah, cross post on the neighbours but still put a bit aside each month so at least you can ease off worrying so much.

Original poster
isitfree · 29/12/2021 22:03

@Youdoyoutoday

You're thinking!
I know. My previous house bill was £140 a month and that was 3 years ago.
OP posts:
frasersmummy · 29/12/2021 22:04

We had similar but with gas meter when we moved into a new build . British gas insisted we didn't have gas.well I do as my gas hob works..

A year I spent trying to sort it it..eventually transcontinental who install the meter said there us no meter at that property. Yes there is..no there isn't. There is one in the property either side of you..but not in yours...

When it did get sorted transco said if I hadn't said anything I would never have been charged for gas !!

I.would contact one of the house builders in the area and ask them who they register new electricity meters with..and contact them

Or sit back and crank the heating up ...lol

UnderCaffeinated · 29/12/2021 22:04

I have actually dealt with this exact situation! I used to work at an energy network supplier and this isn't quite as uncommon as you'd like to think.

There are 3 parts to electricity distribution in this country.

  1. National Grid - They transmit electricity on a national scale, and they are responsible for the maintenance of the UK's wider electricity network, the large pylons etc. They will not be able to tell you anything about your domestic supply.
  1. Network operators - These have substations that take electric from the national grid and then distribute it on a local level, this is who you would call if you had a power cut and who would connect a new house to an electric supply. They are responsible for the physical cables that connect your home to the energy network.
  1. Your electricity supplier. This is who you pay you bills to, they are responsible for your energy meter.

The middle man is who you need here, use this website to find out who it is in your area www.energynetworks.org/operating-the-networks/whos-my-network-operator and they should hold details of the new connection being done at your property but it could be a challenge to find, from there they can help you find out your MPAN (they can't always give you it but they can find it in their system, type it into a system called ECOES and find your supplier or last known supplier from there).

The hardest part may be finding out the exact address a there can be differences in what it referred too. Expect it to be a long phone call but it can be done!

Hoowhoowho · 29/12/2021 22:05

Are you sure Scottish power aren’t the supplier? They denied adamantly they were our supplier when we moved, no bills ever arrived, they couldn’t find us on their database. Not their problem. Finally found us nine months later and a million phone calls and billed us. They really are that incompetent

inheritancetrack · 29/12/2021 22:05

Are you in the twilight zone?

Fluffy40 · 29/12/2021 22:06

I worked for eon, this was a fairly common problem, but not easy to resolve as different departments don’t communicate with each other.
Agree with previous advice, keep records of who you speak to.

bluebeach · 29/12/2021 22:07

Get some heat lamps and start a cannabis farm with all that free electricity. You may as well go to prison for something cool if you’re going anyway.

HTH1 · 29/12/2021 22:07

I agree with PPs, you have made more than reasonable efforts to find the electricity company and it’s not your fault that no-one has sent you a bill.

If I were you, I would print out all of the evidence of your trying to trace the right electricity company, put it into a folder so you have a paper trail then put my feet up with a large glass of something nice and completely forget about it.

Darbs76 · 29/12/2021 22:07

Can’t the national grid tell you who supplies the electricity? When I moved into a house once I had to call someone (maybe then) to find out who supplied it. Please don’t worry about being in trouble, you won’t be

Original poster
isitfree · 29/12/2021 22:09

Its bonkers. If I had a £10 bill and did not pay it they would cut me off, but when a house had been using tons of electricity for 13 years and I let everyone under the sun know, they couldn't care less! I got to the point where on the phone so exasperated I would says, look "I am probably stealing electric as I have had no bill for 3 years and the previous owners had no bill for 10 years. They always replied, sorry we are not your supplier try .......

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread