Worried I will end up in prison!

[isitfree]

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?

I am surprised the solicitor who acted for your purchase, never spotted these anomalies . They should have come to light in the searches; Council Band etc, mention of services connection and supplier of water and sewage disposal.

No meter reading when you moved in?
Who supplies the water?

Are you entirely satisfied that the property purchase has been correctly registered in your name?

Say nothing, just put a bit of money aside just in case. 20 years ago I tried and tried and tried to pay my council tax (I lived in London). I gave up in the end and didn't pay anything. After 5 years I moved here to Dorset and they allowed me to register and have paid since but I saved 5 years of payment. Ironically, because I took a drop in salary due to leaving London, I then had HMRC on my case for a few years because they didn't believe I would take a drop in salary and they thought I was evading tax. What can we do, eh?

@2bazookas

I am surprised the solicitor who acted for your purchase, never spotted these anomalies . They should have come to light in the searches; Council Band etc, mention of services connection and supplier of water and sewage disposal.

No meter reading when you moved in?
Who supplies the water?

Are you entirely satisfied that the property purchase has been correctly registered in your name?

Yes it is in our name on the national register. They made up the council tax band as they had not told the council the house was built. Solicitors do not bother to check who the supplier is, its just a box on the form. I have moved house 11 times so I am very confident with the moving procedure, just never had this before.

Go back to the original paperwork from the solicitor when you bought the house.
There is a question sheet the sellers have to complete ( are you leaving the curtains, the cooker etc..) in the questions there’s a section on utility suppliers. That will tell you who they SAID supplied electricity. Have you paid a water and sewage bill? A gas bill?
When you moved in you should have taken meter readings, do you still have them ?
Don’t phone utility companies etc.. Email them and put your emails and their replies into a folder. You will then be able to prove you’ve made every effort to find the power supplier.
I assume you have now started to pay council tax? If as you say the council knew nothing of the property where was the planning permission? Your solicitor should have obtained copies to prove the house is legal.
Start with your original paperwork for what info was given to you.
( and don’t worry, you won’t end up in prison)

They cannot back bill you for more than 2 years

I had this happen to me with electricity in a new build. I chased for several years and then gave up. Apparently they can only reclaim one years arrears so I had an account with enough to cover it and then worried about it until I moved out two years ago. No one has ever contacted me since and I have no idea if the new owners are paying or not but It’s too late for me to be chased for it now 🤞

@Suzanne999

Go back to the original paperwork from the solicitor when you bought the house. There is a question sheet the sellers have to complete ( are you leaving the curtains, the cooker etc..) in the questions there’s a section on utility suppliers. That will tell you who they SAID supplied electricity. Have you paid a water and sewage bill? A gas bill? When you moved in you should have taken meter readings, do you still have them ? Don’t phone utility companies etc.. Email them and put your emails and their replies into a folder. You will then be able to prove you’ve made every effort to find the power supplier. I assume you have now started to pay council tax? If as you say the council knew nothing of the property where was the planning permission? Your solicitor should have obtained copies to prove the house is legal. Start with your original paperwork for what info was given to you. ( and don’t worry, you won’t end up in prison)

Planning was given and building control approved everything, they just never told the council it was completed. I got in touch with the council who sent out someone to value if for council tax so yes we pay that now. The council wanted to know where the previous owners had moved to but we did not know.

I had similar when I moved into a flat earlier this year , in spite of there being other flats in the same block. I badgered the energy firm for bills and when I moved out I couldn’t get my deposit back till I had the final bill. To be fair the firm sorted it out I don’t know how and then they have me money back for my trouble and I just paid the difference . You won’t go to prison but good to get this sorted with energy bills about to rocket

It was a self build (literally)

Then it should have had planning permission from the local council planning dept, , which would include mention of the supply connections for power, sewage, water. Then a completion inspection certificate following the build, certifying it was all done according to plan.

Your lawyer should have sought evidence of all that essential paperwork and have obtained proof of it.

S/He has some questions to answer .

I used to work in energy complaints and we had been incorrectly billing a customer for seven years even though we weren't actually supplying them. I think there had been a mixup where they transferred to us and we started charging them but the actual transfer wasn't done. We had to refund over £9000 to them but they only had to pay the other company about £1300 so they were about £8000 up.

Blimey what a mess. I have decided to do nothing until they (whoever they are) bill me. In the meantime I will enjoy free electric and sod them.

Get an electric car and get charging it OP.

We had this once with a new build flat. I even managed to track down the supplier but we werent sure which metre in the basement was ours. Arranged several times for them to come out and sort it so we could be billed - they never showed. So for 3 years we enjoyed free electricity then left. I bet the current owners are doing the same. Honestly, dont worry about it.

If it is Scottish power, sod them, they are absolute twats who don't know their arse from their elbow, so it really wouldn't surprise me if it is them but they don't realise. Every light on in the house OP and walking around with the heating on 30 in nothing but your pants in January!

Speak to your conveyancing solicitor, they clearly missed some serious issues when you were buying and the sale should never have gone through, and therefore they need to sort this mess out.

@DeepaBeesKit

Get an electric car and get charging it OP.

@JurgensCakeBabyJesus

If it is Scottish power, sod them, they are absolute twats who don't know their arse from their elbow, so it really wouldn't surprise me if it is them but they don't realise. Every light on in the house OP and walking around with the heating on 30 in nothing but your pants in January!

Sound advice I love it x

@2bazookas

It was a self build (literally)

Then it should have had planning permission from the local council planning dept, , which would include mention of the supply connections for power, sewage, water. Then a completion inspection certificate following the build, certifying it was all done according to plan.

Your lawyer should have sought evidence of all that essential paperwork and have obtained proof of it.

S/He has some questions to answer .

Exactly, even if it was a self build property at some point a physical cable was installed that connected the property to the DNO (Distribution Network Operator)for it to receive electric. your local DNO will know when it was connected and then be able to search the national data base by either MPAN or Meter serial number and find out who the supplier is from there. It's possible that the property has never had a supplier but it does have a connection to a network otherwise there would be no electricity.

If it really worries you then call 105 tomorrow and they'll be able to find it.

I’m laughing that some pp’s think that it is a conveyancing solicitor’s job to VERIFY that when a vendor writes “Scottish Power” as the electricity provider on their property information form, that is indeed correct.
Hilarious!!

I don't think some people understand.
Over 3 years I have done every suggestion made here TWO OR THREE times.
Plus contacting my MP
The Police
The Press
Citizens Advise
Esther Rantzen
Watch dog
and Theresa May (stupid idea I know)
NO ONE WANTS TO KNOW.

@Hoowhoowho

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

Scottish Power did this to us too. 2 years later, they decided we owed them £6k for 3 months of electricity on a 1 bed flat, with a prepaid meter that would cut off if we hadn't put money on the key. Total idiots.

@HaggisBurger

I’m laughing that some pp’s think that it is a conveyancing solicitor’s job to VERIFY that when a vendor writes “Scottish Power” as the electricity provider on their property information form, that is indeed correct. Hilarious!!

Oh thank you I love you x

We had this, albeit in a rental and with gas and electric. Called everywhere, I was worried sick. Middle of London and no one knew. We got a friend out who was a gas engineer to come and check that it's not been tampered with as I didn't want to burn down but it was all fine. Meter running etc and all good. None of the neighbours had large bills, nothing. I ended up writing a letter to all the companies that could possibly exist as well as the national grid and British gas, saying this is what I have done, it is now in your hands. I'm giving you 90 days notice and from then on I take no responsibility for the cost.
It never ever got sorted. We lived there for 5 years and never paid a penny aside from water and council tax.
I'd say enjoy it, especially with what's coming this spring in terms of prices.

Just keep a log of you contacting the suppliers and your MP etc.

If anyone says anything (which is doubtful enjoy your free supply!) you can show them your evidence and they don't have a leg to stand on. Enjoy.

You're only liable for the last 12 months of electricity and nothing more.