Mistakenly paid electricity bill for another person, what can I do about it?

revell

Hi, I am in a tricky situation now and I hope someone can provide me with suggestions to solve the problem or just offer some thoughts.

I moved out from my previous address (a specific Dublin address with room number, house number and street) in April 2010. But I forgot to close the ESB account associated with that address. Recently I found out that that ESB account was alive until it was closed in July 2011. I talked to the agency who is running the perporty and the staff told me that that address was vancant from April 2010 to September 2010. In Spetember 2010 a person moved in. He moved out in June 2011. According to my utility bills he consumed about 400 euro of electricity between September 2010 and June 2011. I was not aware of all these until a few weeks ago when I was checking my online ESB account(s) for the first time since 2010. I know it is me to blame in the first place!

I talked to ESB and the agency a few times and found the following facts:

ESB: during September 2010 and June 2011 that particular address was only registered to my account, not to any other person's account. An address cannot be registered to two accounts at the same time. If that person contacts ESB and claims he is responsible for the electricity bill, ESB can rebill him and refund money to me.

Agency: in September 2010 they helped that person to set up an ESB account assoiciated with that address. they were not aware of the existence of my account associated with that address. Also they could not do anything about my account at that time even if they knew about it.

Agency's response: they are very cooperative and they tried to contact that person by email and mobile phone. But so far there is no reply. Seems the mobile phone number is unused anymore. They are willing to give the lease of that person to ESB directly upon request to prove that I was not living at that address during that period.

Inconsistence: the agency told me that they helped the person to set up an account while ESB told there was only my account assoiciated to that address. In the first telephone conversation with ESB, she told me the agency owns my money. So I turned to the agency for the first time.

In terms of the inconsistency between ESB's story and the agency's story about the account. I don't know which one is the truth? What do you think?

Now seems to my the best outcome is that that person will come forward and claim the responsibility. But what if he cannot be reached or he doesnot want to come forward? Can I do anything about it? If what ESB told me is true, then that person knowingly used electricity at that address during that peroid. Can I report it to Garda as a fraud case?

Finally, I couldn't blame me more for not monitoring my ESB accounts early and regularly. Now I would like to hear your opinions on this situation. Thank you very much.

jimoc

Where were the bills going and who actually closed the account?

I would have assumed that the account could only be closed by the account holder, ie you.

revell

Thank you for replying. The bill went to my account. At that time, according to ESB, my account was the only one associated with the address.

ESB closed my account in July, 2011. I guess the reason is that they noticed something goes wrong with that account. I didn't receive phone call or email from ESB regarding their action at that time. But they did issue an online bill stating the account is close (without giving a reason). However I didn't check my online billing record until last week!:o So I am not aware of my account's activities at all until last week.

I have a new ESB account with my current address and it was when I was checking this new account online did I find my old account was alive.:eek:

booboo88

jimoc wrote: »

Where were the bills going and who actually closed the account?

I would have assumed that the account could only be closed by the account holder, ie you.

No, can also be closed by landlord or new tenant, i.e. whoevers taking over the acc in their name!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

booboo88 wrote: »

No, can also be closed by landlord or new tenant, i.e. whoevers taking over the acc in their name!

Totally untrue. I closed my late mother's account last month by simply telling Electric Ireland that I wanted the account closed. They asked who the new customer would be and I gave only the vague details I had about them.

Del2005

revell wrote: »

Finally, I couldn't blame me more for not monitoring my ESB accounts early and regularly.

Unless you gave the ESB a final meter reading when you moved out it's 100% your fault. You left a house with an active account and are trying to blame everyone bar yourself.

ESB will close an account if you contact them with a final meter reading or if someone else calls quoting the meter number and says they are taking over the meter.

revell wrote: »

Now I would like to hear your opinions on this situation. Thank you very much.

Live with the loss and learn for next time. As your relying on the good nature of someone who knowingly used electricity they weren't paying for.

ESB or the agency did nothing wrong so owe you nothing. The replacement tenant owes you the money, but good luck getting that.

Shane-KornSpace

Actually. Something similar just happened to me.
I just moved out of my previous address and was informed by the letyting agency they are deducting €260 from my deposit because the landlord was being debited by ESB for my electricity consumption. Turned out I gave Airtricity a metre reading, but forgot to give an "mprn" number.
Im fuming at the moment, because it's not just MY fault. why did it take 6 months for him to check his bank statement and why was his account not closed with ESB??

Am I entitled to my money back or is it actually completely my fault? I could really have used that money.
In case you're wondering, I was paying Airtricity money, but it turned out it was for an old account of mine. They transferred the address but not the account. So bills were coming to my address but they were for a previous address of mine. I feel like an idiot sometimes. Think I might just move back with mammy...

meercat

electric ireland have a forum here
perhaps una can help you
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1349

booboo88

Kalani Chubby Slum wrote: »

So do I, for 34 years+, and I certainly know we will close an account on request. we have to!!! So boobpp88 you might be better taking the VS than misleading the public. I hope you are not one of my staff.

I think you may need a refresher course
We need certain info before closure of an account, but of course if the new occupant called to register we open their acc thus closing previous acc

dudara

meercar Please don't point a poster in the direction of another forum, as we often end up with multiple threads on the same topic, which then require cleanup from the mods.

Instead, please use the Report Post functionality, so that a mod can move it to the correct forum.

dudara

revell

Anyone can give me some suggestions on what I can do next?

I remember when I moved out from the said old address and moved to my current address, I gave the meter reading of my old address to my current agency so they can sort out the new account for me. This happened in April 2010. My question is, if my agency gave the meter reading of my old address to ESB, did it constitute a request of closing my old account?

The problem is I cannot find any proof that I gave the meter reading to my current agency two years ago. Though I can ask my agency next Monday to find out.

As probably the final resort, can I report it to Garda as a fraud case? The person who lived in my old address is out there. If someone presses hard there is a chance to find him, but unfortunately that person cannot be me due to legal reason.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi revell,

Unfortunately there is very little that can be done at this stage, if the individual who used the electricity is not coming forward to claim responsibility.

revell wrote:

Inconsistence: the agency told me that they helped the person to set up an account while ESB told there was only my account assoiciated to that address.

This may not be an inconsistency; while the agency may have helped set up the account, this is not to say that the person subsequently went ahead and set up the account (i.e. the agency may have assisted in gathering the necessary info: MPRN, meter reading etc, but we would still need to be contacted).

In any event (and as you know) it is the responsibility of the account holder to close their own account when they leave.

If you need me to have a look at things in more detail, please feel free to PM me your account details (plus your contact number and date of birth for account security).

Thanks,

David.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi Kalani Chubby Slum/booboo88,

Generally, we would request that a certain minimum amount of information is provided before we close an account, as outlined here.

Kalani Chubby Slum wrote:

Care to explain how a person vacating a premises can be held liable for an account after they have left?

If a request to close the account has not been made, liability on the part of the account holder for any outstanding amounts can continue even if they have already vacated the premises. (T&Cs, 6b)

Kalani Chubby Slum wrote:

We cannot hold them responsible for an address they have vacated, once advised of same.

Once advised of same - this is the crux of the matter. I think you are actually both right; we do close an account once informed (and we can be informed indirectly, by opening an account for a new occupant for instance). In the case of the OP at least, it appears that we weren't contacted, and so we could do very little about the present situation.

Thanks,

David.

revell

Hi David,

Thank you for the explanation.:)

Electric Ireland: David

Not at all revell, hope it was of some help.