ESB bill arrears

soreal

we used to be five living in this rented house. the bills divided among us, and every time we get one, the person with their name on the bill hangs it on kitchen board with every one's dues clearly marked, we then give the money to them, and they in return pay the bill.

last september the lady in charge of the ESB moved out. we discovered that she used to take the money from us, then never pay the bill in full.
since she left we have been paying our dues in full, except the arrears... today we receive a withdrawal of service notice. if a balance of 790 euro not paid in full, we will lose the electricity in 10 days....

any thoughts about how we can go about solving this issue ?

Ken.

Ask the esb for a copy of all old bills and invoices then go to the gardai and report it as theft by the woman who moved out

Cheshire Cat

Was the bill in her name? If so the arrears are her problem - as long as you changed the bill to another name.
Also do you have any proof she was given the money to pay the bill? And did you not see that the bills weren't paid in full - you said bills were stuck up for all to see, so you must have seen that there were arrears on it, unless it was only her last one that she did not pay? But that would not account for arrears of €790.-?!?! Sounds a bit weird.

soreal

thank you, lucyfur09 and cheshire cat for your input, much appreciated..

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

Was the bill in her name?

yes!

Also do you have any proof she was given the money to pay the bill?

unfortunately, bar from the fact that the rest of the occupants can testify that we all paid her, no.
every one have their name written on the bill for all to see that they paid.... once all paid, the bill is removed... what happened to them afterwards, i really dont know...

And did you not see that the bills weren't paid in full - you said bills were stuck up for all to see, so you must have seen that there were arrears on it, unless it was only her last one that she did not pay? But that would not account for arrears of €790.-?!?! Sounds a bit weird.

the notice says 786 or something, i think it includes the arrears plus the last couple of month's usuage bill which we should receive this month

If so the arrears are her problem - as long as you changed the bill to another name.

i agree, this is a problem between her and the ESP... legally we might not be able to do any thing...i mean even if we tried to interfere we might not be allowed to as the bill is not in our name.
we can either get in touch with her and ask her to pay, or change the bill to someone else's name...
can i just call and ask to change the bill to my or the house owner's name?
what do i need to do so?
if i to call esb, should i explain the whole situation, or just ask the bill to be changed to our name?

foggy_lad

soreal wrote: »

thank you, lucyfur09 and cheshire cat for your input,

i agree, this is a problem between her and the ESP... legally we might not be able to do any thing...i mean even if we tried to interfere we might not be allowed to as the bill is not in our name.
we can either get in touch with her and ask her to pay, or change the bill to someone else's name...
can i just call and ask to change the bill to my or the house owner's name?
what do i need to do so?
if i to call esb, should i explain the whole situation, or just ask the bill to be changed to our name?

Open a new account for yourself and all others in the house so ye are all named on the bill. This will be based on a reading you should take today or from the reading on the last bill. Tell the esb the previous account holder has left and that ye are not responsible for their unpaid bills! And in two months ye should get a new bill but only for the previous two months and not including any amount of arrears off the previous persons bills

maxer68

lucyfur09 wrote: »

Ask the esb for a copy of all old bills and invoices then go to the gardai and report it as theft by the woman who moved out

Gardai can't do anything as its a civil matter.

Go to the esb, explain the problem and sort out a payment plan for the arrears. Then contact the woman who should have been paying the bills and go afetr her for what's owed.

Other alternative as suggested - close account, send her new address (or parents address) to esb and open new account in your names with bord gais.

This way, if she does not pay, her name goes on a default list.

careca11

soreal wrote: »

we used to be five living in this rented house. the bills divided among us, and every time we get one, the person with their name on the bill hangs it on kitchen board with every one's dues clearly marked, we then give the money to them, and they in return pay the bill.

last september the lady in charge of the ESB moved out. we discovered that she used to take the money from us, then never pay the bill in full.
since she left we have been paying our dues in full, except the arrears... today we receive a withdrawal of service notice. if a balance of 790 euro not paid in full, we will lose the electricity in 10 days....

any thoughts about how we can go about solving this issue ?

sounds like you got a disconnection notice letter .....................this is a system driven letter and issued automatically 14days after a bill issues if that bill remained unpaid................so don't frit to much about it ,
also check that your bill is not estimated, if it is , then go to the meter and take a reading and submit it onto the ESB

meditraitor

soreal wrote: »

we used to be five living in this rented house. the bills divided among us, and every time we get one, the person with their name on the bill hangs it on kitchen board with every one's dues clearly marked, we then give the money to them, and they in return pay the bill.

last september the lady in charge of the ESB moved out. we discovered that she used to take the money from us, then never pay the bill in full.
since she left we have been paying our dues in full, except the arrears... today we receive a withdrawal of service notice. if a balance of 790 euro not paid in full, we will lose the electricity in 10 days....

any thoughts about how we can go about solving this issue ?

I know this is the consumer forum but how could she keep putting new bills on the kitchen board if the previous one was not paid? The bills would have arrears on it?

On a lighter note, the bill is in her name so you dont have to pay it. Go to board Gas or Airtricity if they fail to offer you supply.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I have to agree that something seems off here. Every unpaid bill would have appeared as arrears on the next bill so would have been obvious when she stuck it on the fridge. It seems that only the last bill was unpaid.

It's as simple as contacting ESB and getting the name changed. But, this should be done as soon as possible.

Best bet is contact ESB. Refer to her as the previous tenant rather than a housemate and they'll set things up for you.

Darragh

ESB Electric Ireland (as they're now known) are over at

http://www.boards.ie/esb

You can talk to them there

dudara

Completely slipped my head - moved to the Talk to ESB forum

dudara

Electric Ireland: David

Hi soreal,

soreal wrote:

last september the lady in charge of the ESB moved out. we discovered that she used to take the money from us, then never pay the bill in full.
since she left we have been paying our dues in full, except the arrears...

From a liability point of view, it's true that the registered account holder is responsible for any amounts outstanding. However, as Srameen has noted above, the best port of call is to contact us right away to discuss it. The priority is to avoid what follows:

soreal wrote:

today we receive a withdrawal of service notice.

A disconnection is always a last resort, so please feel free to PM me if you need any help with this matter.

Thanks,

David.