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AIBU?

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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:
Nat6999 · 30/12/2021 05:35

I once lived in a flat that was a terraced house that had been split in to two flats, we had the upstairs & the builder had overlooked installing an electric meter, we lived there for two years & never paid for electric, downstairs must have been paying for ours. It must have cost them a fortune because once we realised we used electric heaters instead of the central heating. Nobody ever contacted us, we had a gas meter.

TheWitchersWife · 30/12/2021 06:05

You've got to get yourself a hot tub 😅
Only reason I don't have one is because it would be a bit noisy for neighbours and extortionate to run, neither would be a problem for you!

Pixxie7 · 30/12/2021 07:11

I presume you have asked some of your neighbours.

felulageller · 30/12/2021 07:36

This isn't actually that unique a situation. I've known 2 people who had similar. One is a new conversion- no bill for several years then got one for £3k but got time to pay it up. The other changed from a pre paid but supplier still thought it was pre paid so issued no bill for 18 months. That person moved and was never chased up for it (private tenant).

You won't go to prison. You aren't committing a crime. Worst case you get a big bill and have to negotiate repayments.

SpiderinaWingMirror · 30/12/2021 07:47

I had that with gas. And it wasn't a new build. Lived there 5 years, no gas bill. Tried to sort it out. Put money away. Moved 5 years later, never had a bill. New owners did exactly the same!

KittenKins · 30/12/2021 09:55

I've had a similar issue, still unresolved. New build property, I've had the tenancy two years, & didn't received a gas or electric bill from the initial companies at all.

I found out I had two separate supplies, EDF for electric, British gas for the other. I only gained this information when I went onto several different price comparison websites for a quote, although only one told me who my suppliers were.
I called both, neither had a record of my home, so I switched to bulb.

Despite asking to move both only the electricity was completed, although it was then resolved, or so I thought.
After several months Bulb stopped accepting gas meter reading, I call them to be told they never actually moved my gas. I call British gas, they still deny they supply me, but say they have a team who will look into it & respond to me in 28 days. Three months later, I've heard diddly squat.

BigYellowHat · 30/12/2021 10:07

What about if you just set up an account with any random company and when they have problems locating who you’re with, they’ll send out someone for a site visit. A long time ago, British Gas were insistent that they supplied my property even though I had an account with EDF. BG even made EDF give them all the money I’d paid. Anyway, I changed to EON who asked why was I paying BG when I wasn’t with them. They sent out someone for a site visit and somehow worked it out definitively who I was with (EDF of course, screw you BG) 😂 Anyway, hope that made sense, could you do that?

custardbear · 30/12/2021 10:29

Phone the original builders and see whom they used for electric, that'll likely be the supplier. I wonder if the builders are paying it still? Was it an ex show home?

Cheersto2022 · 30/12/2021 10:31

When a bill does eventually turn up they can only backbill a year. 3 years I Spent informing EON there was a matter issue, eventually they sorted it and thought they would back bill 3 years. Went to ombudsman and had it confirmed they can only back bill a year

Worriedgranmasmithy · 30/12/2021 10:51

My late cousin had the same. Over ten years. During that time she tried to sort it out unsuccessfully. She did manage to eventually. I think she had to back pay something like a year.

I’d keep trying, keep records and put some money away for when it does get sorted out. I think she asked someone to take her on as a customer but I can’t find that out for you.

MrsMoastyToasty · 30/12/2021 11:00

I used to work in the water industry. Its quite common to find that a (dodgy) builder hasn't applied for new supplies when dividing up a property into flats- mainly because they have to pay for any of the services they use during construction (eg water for mixing concrete and electricity for power tools).
The other thing that we used to discover was sub-meters. Sub meters aren't read by the supplier, just the main meter. The sub meter is just so that the person with the main meter knows what proportion of the total supply is being used by the second property and is a private arrangement between the 2 households. The only way to establish if this is the case is for the first household to turn off the supply and see if it stops the supply to the second. .
The other thing that happens is that the building plot number bears no relationship to what becomes the house number (eg plot 74 Green Meadows development is now 25 Acacia Avenue). This happens even with major housebuilding companies.

maddening · 30/12/2021 11:05

I would take quarterly/annually date stamped pics of the meter incase they do bill and then you can show where the meter was 12 months ago so they can't bill back further.

Buddywoo · 30/12/2021 11:15

This happened to us when we went into a newish rental for a year. We didn't receive any electricity bills and before we left I rang them up to explain the situation.
They were very shitty and tried to bill us for all the previous usage by various tenants. Eventually I got it sorted but, quite honestly, I wish I had never bothered and just left without paying any bills as the various previous occupiers had done.

Original poster
isitfree · 30/12/2021 11:18

@custardbear

Phone the original builders and see whom they used for electric, that'll likely be the supplier. I wonder if the builders are paying it still? Was it an ex show home?
The previous owners WERE the original builders, he built it himself with his brother and dad. They have vanished!
OP posts:
VeganVampire · 30/12/2021 11:25

@Darbs76

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
You've obviously missed this bit in the very first post I even phoned the national grid .....
PigletInABlanketJohn · 30/12/2021 11:38

National Grid is not relevant.

It's the DNO's problem.

EinsteinaGogo · 30/12/2021 11:47

OP,

Have you been in touch with the solicitors who did your conveyancing when you bought?

The sellers pack should have details of the supplier. If those are false, you could ask your conveyancer to investigate?

pumpkintree · 30/12/2021 11:48

Has the house been marked as disconnected? There was a story a few years ago about a house that never got a bill in 20 years. They had been marked as disconnected. I am also sure there are some not many but some houses that are on the grid but not actually billed- can't remember why but it's something silly

Onehotmessiah · 30/12/2021 11:51

We had this problem with our gas supply. We went to the builders (we bought it 10 years old so it wasn’t a new build to us). We had to push and push to get someone to take it on. You really should have pushed harder at national grid 3 years ago. They need to take responsibility. Call again. Refuse to get off the phone until they sort it out. Speak to your MP if you are still struggling to pay council tax. As someone else has mentioned, your estate agent has massively let you down here as all these details should have been passed across.

NotDavidTennant · 30/12/2021 11:51

Are you in any of Central & Southern Scotland, Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales or North Shropshire?

I would bet that "Scottish Power" doesn't refer to your suppler but to Scottish Power Energy Networks who are the distribution network operator in those areas. If I'm right then they are the ones who will be able to fix this for you: www.spenergynetworks.co.uk

TyrannosaurusRegina · 30/12/2021 11:55

Put your query in writing and keep both that and the energy companies responses. That will cover your back. Also set aside a small amount each month to cover in case a bill does eventually appear. Enjoy the free electricity!

Vispa · 30/12/2021 11:56

Can you ask the company that built your house They might have a record of an electric supplier that they connected the new build to?

skippy67 · 30/12/2021 12:09

I had a similar situation years ago when I bought my first house, which was also a new build. There was no electricity meter in the property, so I rang the supplier to let them know. They kept asking if I'd looked here and there, I assured them I'd looked but there definitely wasn't a meter. After about 6 months they eventually sent someone to have a look, and surprise surprise, they couldn't find the meter, because as I'd been telling them for months THERE WASN'T ONE! They tried to make me a backdated bill based on my neighbour' average usage. Er, NO! They installed the meter and I started paying for my usage from that point.

Trytryandtryagain11 · 30/12/2021 12:09

We had this exact same thing happen to us! It was a while ago but turns out they could only charge for 1 previous year's electric so when they got their act together, we did have to pay one full year's electric at once but by that point we'd been in the house 2 years so we essentially got a full free year. As previous posters have mentioned keep a log of the times you've tried to get in touch (we did the same) but there's no need to worry x

Leafsontheline · 30/12/2021 12:13

My parents haven’t paid a gas bill in over 15 years, despite their best efforts. Their supplier stopped sending them bills, and when they called to enquire they were told they had been switched to a new supplier. My parents hadn’t requested a switch, and tried everything they could to sort it. They stressed about it for about 6 months then gave up.

My dad has copies of all the letters sent plus records of phone calls. He sends a letter once a year, recorded delivery, to their old (what should be current) supplier and British Gas explaining the situation, with meter readings, saying he is happy to pay the last years bill if only someone would send him one!