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No gas bill
Hi,
We moved into a new flat (rented, from a foreign landlord through a local agency) in February. We've not used anything requiring gas except for hot water and we never noticed (I know, stupid) that the E-on bills were just for electricity. Our rental agency says that we are with E-on for gas AND electricity.
The last month we've run the heating a lot and when I checked the bill to see how much it cost I realised that it was electricity only.
What do I do now? Of course I can ring E-on tomorrow but I'm worried about how they will react. I don't even know where the metre is here (I think they're locked away somewhere) What if they don't have a reading from the time before we moved in? Can we get hit for what the previous tennants ran up, too?
Does it class as our responsibility or is it the rental agency's responsibility?
I'm not trying to get out of anything and I'm fully aware that we should have monitored our outgoings more closely. I just want to know where we stand on this.
We moved into a new flat (rented, from a foreign landlord through a local agency) in February. We've not used anything requiring gas except for hot water and we never noticed (I know, stupid) that the E-on bills were just for electricity. Our rental agency says that we are with E-on for gas AND electricity.
The last month we've run the heating a lot and when I checked the bill to see how much it cost I realised that it was electricity only.
What do I do now? Of course I can ring E-on tomorrow but I'm worried about how they will react. I don't even know where the metre is here (I think they're locked away somewhere) What if they don't have a reading from the time before we moved in? Can we get hit for what the previous tennants ran up, too?
Does it class as our responsibility or is it the rental agency's responsibility?
I'm not trying to get out of anything and I'm fully aware that we should have monitored our outgoings more closely. I just want to know where we stand on this.
0
Comments
It's your responsibility when you move in to set up all the necessary billing requirements, including notifying meter readings - this is precisely so you don't get overcharged if the last tenants left without notifying usage. Without notifying the company of meter readings, there's no way of proving how much you've used or not used so the company will use an estimate to bill you, most likely. What you should do is call them up, explain the situation and ask their advice on what to do. They may send someone round to reset the meter to zero for purposes of accurate measurements.
Your gas meter has to be within a certain distance of the front wall of your property, but it can be inside or outside.
We're in a flat and I think the metres, as far as I can tell, are in a locked caretaker cupboard, I have no idea how to get access to it. When we moved in the agency said they'd get access, check the metres and sort it all out for us. I checked with them and they said that they had it changed over into our names, and indeed we're getting the electricity bills.
I'll call E-on tomorrow, then
Someone (you or E-on) will need access to your meter, so if you don't know the caretaker, sellotape a note onto the cupboard door asking him to contact you.
Your landlord/rental agency ought to have let you know where you could find the gas meter, particularly as you would probably have the gas safety cut off valve in there.
See
http://www.eonenergy.com/FAQ/Supply-Numbers/Cannot-Find-Bill.htm
http://www.eonenergy.com/FAQ/Meters/How-do-I-open-a-locked-meter-box.htm
I would have thought the rental agency/landlord would have taken their own final reading when the previous tenants left, but you'll never know until you ask.
First things first: take the current readings for both meters (if you have access to both) and, once you have the information you need, see whether E-on do indeed have your details after all for the gas.
It may be that you have got some credit on the electricity side of things that'll offset the gas debt you may have run up.
Here's the checklist I use when getting ready to move!
inventory of items remaining behind for the next occupant with manufacturer and model numbers
operating manuals and instructions/installation guides
security alarm: location and instructions
smoke alarms and CO detectors: location and instructions
window and door locks including garage - leave labelled keys
hob and oven and any white goods operating manuals and installation guides
central heating controller operating manual and installation guide
shower operating manual and installation guide
gas meter location and number and the date and detail of last reading and current supplier
Gas Safety Certificate date
electricity meter location and number and date and detail of last reading and current supplier
Date of Electricity Test and PATs where these are done
emergency turn – off points for gas, electricity and water
location of nearest recycling centre
refuse collection and recycling information
The Phone Book, Yellow Pages, Thomson Local
My gas bill for the September 2010 to August 2011 came to £354 (i.e. £29.5 per month for a four bedroomed home and I live on my tod: the gas bill includes my heating and the gas hob and fire as well as the gch, however.
Thank you all for the advice and Sue, for the links and list. Very helpful! I'll see what I can do tomorrow morning.
I'd be very worried about that if it's the case.
What happens in the event of a gas leak? Nobody can locate the caretaker to isolate the supply...:eek:
I just hope there's a CO detector in the flat ...
Well that's not going to be much help tbh. If gas is pissing out of a pipe you need to isolate the supply not worry about CO2:D
I check the meters on the first day I move in as a matter of course and the shut off thingamajig in the gas cupboard and the RCD whatchamacallit in the fuse cupboard. Home Safety Badge, I think it was, back when I was a Girl Guide in the 70's and 80's.
And of course they will sort out the billing too.
Bloody hell! Mine is DOUBLE that for a tiny flat. I'm on BG prepay. But not by choice.
Visit http://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy-efficiency.html
I had a firm in once to do their own report on what could be done: got a good deal on topping up the loft insulation,
Having access for that reason is the least of your worries. You need access in the event of a gas leak to isolate the supply. That would be my main concern.:)
Exactly. Without access you are screwed in the event of a leak.
Anyway, as it stands... I called Eon, I'm not with them. They told me to call Southern. I'm not with them. They put me through to the National Grid who told me that I have no supplier and that my meter is connected to the National Grid but was never registered, so... I'm actually getting free gas.
I say free. Obviously it's not 'free' and I'm sure I'll end up paying it back. But at the moment there's nobody in the world accountable for billing me so I've got nobody at all to pay. I need to sort out a supplier and attempt to sign up now. Any recommendations? I'm finding it hard to do a 'comparison' because they all ask for my current tariff.
I read gas meters for a living and it baffles me that some people even don't know where their gas meter is or even box them in and restrict/totally block access to the EVC (emergency control valve):eek:.
I once went to one property which was flats which had the gas meters in an outside building which was locked, but nobody had access as the landlord would not allow it. I even visited the landlord about gaining access and mentioned that it was wrong not allowing tenants access due to safety reasons, but they didn't care so I went to the local fire safety office at one of the fire stations and reported it to them and access was soon made available to the tenants.
My advice to OP would be get access ASAP and find out which meter is yours and take down as much info as possible like serial number, make/model and reading then get in touch with EON about getting an account set up.
A similar thing happened to a friend years ago.,....when i was doing her taxes I noticed she had no electricity bills (she was able to offset some against tax being a childminder) She should have been with LEB for both but like you her bills only had the one utility on them and she'd not noticed. The meter had been read several times in the previous year but no bill. She phoned her supplier who informed her she had switched suppliers and gave her the date. She hadn't done this and it must have been signed over by someone trying to get her to change suppliers. Her gad supplier was unable to tell her who had taken the supply cos they didn't hold those details. She put the supply back to LEB but was never billed for the year she was supposedly with someone else. It was never found out what happened to it.
I'm with Good Energy because http://www.goodenergy.co.uk/switch/why-good-energy/don-t-take-our-word-for-it and here are their prices http://www.goodenergy.co.uk/switch/our-prices/tariff-prices