Been paying for communal and exterior lighting for 10 years

[9port]

I was hoping to get some advice on where to go next with this problem. Moved into my leasehold flat 10 years ago. First floor flat in a converted pub with shops below and one other flat next door. There is a parking area down stairs with 3 sensor lights, a light at the top of an outside staircase and a sensor light at the communal front door. In the communal hallway there is a light in a 10 minute sensor, emergency lighting plus smoke alarm. These are all wired into my fuse box, unbeknown to me until an electrician installed the light above the stairs and tripped my electric while I was not at the property. Every time a light bulb has blown I have been the one to change them, opting for energy saving where possible (light in hallway can't be changed to energy saver or LED) in the hope to save me money. Fast forward to this year and my electricity bill has doubled from its original price and to be honest I'm struggling to get it paid. The tenants in the flat next door are constantly going in and out and triggering all the communal lighting, plus the neighbours in the house next door trigger car park every time they go out, come in and have multiple cigarettes throughout the night. I have approached the management company asking if they were aware I was footing the bill and asking if there can be a resolution. An electrician friend worked out some numbers and they were sent to them. They replied saying our numbers were wrong and I was only powering 2 lights, this is not true, we have traced the wiring. We asked if a separate fuse box could be installed, they have refused. I have asked for a contribution from the landlord of the flat next door or from the service charge to compensate me for the electricity used. They have refused. I am considering taking them to tribunal over this as they have had 10 years of free electricity out of me! I wanted to disconnect the breaker but have been advised by electrician this will invalidate the building insurance, so basically I am paying to keep their building safe while the tenants next door get away with paying nothing. Has anyone else had experience with this? I am fuming

Wow, that sucks. Given it originates in your property, surely you are at liberty to cut the wires? They will soon want to do something about it when plunged into darkness.

What is the estimated 10 year cost you have absorbed?

I would be sending a letter, giving a date that you will be disconnecting the power to all outside sources, and that before that time a communal fuse box will need to be installed, at equal cost to all. If this isn't done, then there will no longer be lights- as if you aren't paying for them as the other tenants/ owners claim, then removing them from your fuse box shouldn't affect it.

And also tribunal!

It may be correct that cutting the power to the lights invalidated the insurance but unless there's a contract with your significant on it where you agreed to all this, that isn't your problem. Building insurance is the management company's problem and if they are failing to provide adequate lighting for their policy to be valid then that is their fault.

Write to them formally giving them one month notice that given they have refused to negotiate with you in good faith, you will be withdrawing your cooperation from this unjust and unfair arrangement. They have until XXth July to either make you a reasonable offer for the electricity you are supplying, or make arrangements for the electricity for this lighting to be supplied from a different circuit, or to rearrange the building insurance to account for the fact that there will be no communal or external lighting if the supply of such lighting is indeed a condition of their current building insurance arrangements, as you have no obligation to supply this service for free.

What do you estimated what the cost to actually be?