Proof of ownership electricity reconnection new house

s7ryf3925pivug

We bought a house about a month ago. We hadn’t got around to putting electricity in our names. The electricity was cut off yesterday. I rang electric ireland to sort out gett8ng reconnected. They said I should call their credit control people in case they blocked the reconnection because of “a gap in supply”. I did and was told I needed to provide proof I own the place in the form of a signed letter from the previous tenant on headed paper.

This is unreasonable. We need for work to get finished by tradespeople in the next few days and to complete moving in. We gave notice on our rented accommodation that we’ll be moving out and we have a small baby.

Is this normal? What does gap in supply mean? What alternative proof can we provide If we do need proof? Is there a different supplier we can use who will just reconnect the power without jumping through hoops when we have no time to? We have a meter reading and the mprn.

LirW

Yes, that's pretty normal.
Call your solicitor and tell them to give you a proof of ownership, that's what we did.

Things with electricity companies can take a while so chances are you won't have it back by tomorrow.

They need to check out if your house had connection in the last few years, afaik if power has been disconnected for over 2 years you'll have to get a cert from an electrician that everything is fit for purpose in the house. Which is probably not important since you had power up until yesterday.

antoinolachtnai

Anya Flabby Porterhouse wrote: »

We bought a house about a month ago. We hadn’t got around to putting electricity in our names. The electricity was cut off yesterday. I rang electric ireland to sort out gett8ng reconnected. They said I should call their credit control people in case they blocked the reconnection because of “a gap in supply”. I did and was told I needed to provide proof I own the place in the form of a signed letter from the previous tenant on headed paper.

This is unreasonable. We need for work to get finished by tradespeople in the next few days and to complete moving in. We gave notice on our rented accommodation that we’ll be moving out and we have a small baby.

Is this normal? What does gap in supply mean? What alternative proof can we provide If we do need proof? Is there a different supplier we can use who will just reconnect the power without jumping through hoops when we have no time to? We have a meter reading and the mprn.

I imagine that by gap in supply they mean is that there was a significant period during which there was nobody registered as responsible for the bill at the address.

There’s been electricity used for at least a month without payment arrangements in place. It’s not unreasonable for EI to want some paperwork so they know where they stand.

I am sorry this is a hassle but EI is on the hook for the energy and standing charges.

I am sure your solicitor will quickly get you a letter confirming you own the house and when you moved in. If you get this in by before lunchtime you might get reconnected tomorrow. If that fails, it may be possible to get an out of hours reconnection, but there will be an extra fee.

You may have difficulty moving suppliers with a debt outstanding.

Rows Grower

From my recent experience if you choose the ESB as your supplier you will more than likely be reconnected a lot faster than choosing a different supplier.

If the house has been disconnected for more than 6 months you will need an electrician to check everything and sign a RECI cert to be submitted to the ESB, this will cost about 400 euro for the electrician plus any charges due to the ESB.

If the electricity has been off even just one day more than 2 years the minimum cost for the ESB reconnection alone is a small fraction under two grand. Then you pay your electrician separately for his certification.

As well as your MPRN and meter reading you will need the serial number of the meter.

Don't waste time using email contact, the fastest option is to speak to the ESB.

Best of luck.

s7ryf3925pivug

LirW wrote: »

Yes, that's pretty normal.
Call your solicitor and tell them to give you a proof of ownership, that's what we did.

Things with electricity companies can take a while so chances are you won't have it back by tomorrow.

They need to check out if your house had connection in the last few years, afaik if power has been disconnected for over 2 years you'll have to get a cert from an electrician that everything is fit for purpose in the house. Which is probably not important since you had power up until yesterday.

Thanks. Did this and everything oked before lunch today. Won't be reconnected until Monday morning. House alarm now going off because it ran out of power. Have to let its battery run out apparently. This all ssems like an awful lot of needless hassle.

Cheshire Cat

Anya Flabby Porterhouse wrote: »

This all ssems like an awful lot of needless hassle.

It is, but you could have avoided it easily. Once the old tenant cancelled their contract you would have got several letters from ESB networks addressed to the occupier asking you to sign up with a supplier.

s7ryf3925pivug

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

It is, but you could have avoided it easily. Once the old tenant cancelled their contract you would have got several letters from ESB networks addressed to the occupier asking you to sign up with a supplier.

We did not get any. If they sent any, then they were disposed of before we came into possession of the property.

Claw Hammer

Anya Flabby Porterhouse wrote: »

. This all ssems like an awful lot of needless hassle.

You had a month to do something about it. You were using electricty and hadn't put the account in your name for that period. What did you think was going to happen?

Addle

It's a wonder the vendors solicitor didn't ensure that the account details were updated?
That was 1 of the things I had to do on closing date of my house purchase.

Claw Hammer

Addle wrote: »

It's a wonder the vendors solicitor didn't ensure that the account details were updated?
That was 1 of the things I had to do on closing date of my house purchase.

The vendors solicitor would have sent in a reading and closed the account. There would be electricity present there for a few weeks to allow a new occupier take over. the o/p didn't bother her ass and is now moaning.

punisher5112

Rent a generator or ask neighbours for a dig out.

seamus

Claw Hammer wrote: »

You had a month to do something about it. You were using electricty and hadn't put the account in your name for that period. What did you think was going to happen?

Literally a phone call is all that was required; "Hi, I'm the new owner, please give me an account".

I can sympathise that you can be all over the place after buying, but this hassle is entirely of your own making OP, it's not something that's been imposed on you by the ESB.

s7ryf3925pivug

Up the walls sorting things out with the move, our baby, my job. Got no warning power was going to be cut. The requirement to provide proof of ownership strikes me as unnecessary. The initial form they looked for was unrealistic. They put us at risk of being without suitabke accommodation when our tenancy in our rented accommodation ends in a few days. Work still needs to be completed on the house before we can move in. Baby was preemie and has respiratory issues, so we can't be exposing him to fumes etc. Anyway thanks again to the people who responded my question.

LirW

Anya Flabby Porterhouse wrote: »

Up the walls sorting things out with the move, our baby, my job. Got no warning power was going to be cut. The requirement to provide proof of ownership strikes me as unnecessary. The initial form they looked for was unrealistic. They put us at risk of being without suitabke accommodation when our tenancy in our rented accommodation ends in a few days. Work still needs to be completed on the house before we can move in. Baby was preemie and has respiratory issues, so we can't be exposing him to fumes etc. Anyway thanks again to the people who responded my question.

When I got the keys to my place, the first thing I did after getting in was calling electric Ireland with my details and they advised me what to do. There was power in the house alright but you never know when you're going to be cut off after going in.
They also want to ensure that you're either the tenant or the owner of the property, that's why they ask for proof. Imagine someone for some reason would pretend to be the owner when you're not. Wouldn't be great at all.

Anyway you got it sorted, power will be back soon. For the future that and water connection is the first thing you wanna sort when you move into your new house.