ok.. I have a dilemma..

Moved my very modest company into new premises a few weeks ago.. There was a gas supply, but according to the owner of the building it had never been used. One of the conditions of me signing the lease was that the owner installed some decent new gas central heating. Which he did.

Anyway.. so I’m in.. heating is on.. but can I hell as like get anyone to start charging me for the gas!!!

The meter was still as new.. still showing ‘00000’ when I took the lease. Obv its showing a bit used now.

Now the companies who charge for the gas wont charge me because they dont have a record of a previous user or of the serial from the meter as it’s never been used.. the people who look after the mains dont want to know unless it’s a new connection or a disconnection…

So for now.. the gas is ‘free’

What do I do next ????

One things for certain.. I cant just keep using the gas for free.

We rented a newly built property years back and had similar situation. We just put the money aside to pay for it, but bill never came .
Moved out after 2 years (10 years ago) and have never been asked for any money directly or through the landlord .

you’re supposed to get a mpan number from the installer and give that to the supplier. I think only centrica can generate an mpan number.

Start a new business selling gas?

When we moved into our current house, the previous owner told me she never paid a gas bill because there was no ‘supplier’ and she couldn’t get a supplier because the meter was not on the MPAN database. I contacted the MPAN helpline and added got the meter added and nominated a supplier. A few months later a letter from the supplier dropped on the door matt for £4k! After a few phone calls we paid for the gas we had used since we moved in.

Sister has been using the gas for free for the last 4 years. Tried to sort but no joy. Put the money away. My dad went a while without a bill and I believe they can only charge you for a backdated year based on current usage if and when you get caught/fess up. Personally I’d be in no hurry to ring them again.

Blimey, what a dogs breakfast 😯

Personally I’d be in no hurry to ring them again.

OP needs to protect himself by being able to show that he had taken ‘all reasonable steps’ to pay for the gas he’s using. So I’d be making a few more calls first, and sticking the money in a savings account for now.

See above, put the money away.

We’re in exact same situation in a new built house. For gas meters I believe it’s actually the MPRN you need, MPAN is electric?

Phoned the line to find my MPRN, but it’s voice recognition. In typical ‘Scotsman vs. voice recognition technology’ style, the closest it got to my address is when I lost my temper and started swearing at it…

Our builder is clueless as well 🙄

We had free water for three years – Thames Water simply couldn’t figure out that our house (previously part of a farm estate) wasn’t still part of the farm. Eventually we insisted that someone visited – their official advise was to keep quiet and see how long before someone noticed! Not really a fitting course of action in my line of work, so they eventually worked something out and we have a flat rate for water supply (no drainage charge as we have a private treatment system).

I had free water for 2 years. Moved into a new flat that was in a recently converted flat. Ground floor got a bill but the rest of us never did. I asked them twice about it but they were never that fussed and just said it would sort itself out in time. Never did – it’s been a decade, I’ve stopped looking over my shoulder.

Council Tax bill wasn’t forthcoming either but got that sorted after 6 months, kept pushing becuase council tax people rarely **** about – came to a Head when we asked for a single bill for the house to be split 4 ways (4 flats). Raised an interesting question, when does a house share become a set of flats?

Keep records of correspondence with utilities suppliers. Make an attempt to sign up to a 2 yr fixed tariff with one of them (like OVO) and keep records. Take photos of the meter readings. Put the equivalent sum into premium bonds.

you’re supposed to get a mpan number from the installer and give that to the supplier. I think only centrica can generate an mpan number.

Meter Point Reference Number or MPRN for gas. MPAN is electric.

I used to work with the person who invented the MPRN number. Her name was Shirley.

What martinhutch days, but check the back billing code applies to businesses, in case it’s domestic only.

Edit – I just checked, it doesn’t apply to businesses, and I don’t know what does, meaning you might get back billed for more than a year.

I deal with this stuff for domestic customers, it’s a nightmare, I’ve got 2 clients with meter registration issues nearly a year old that I’m still trying to sort.

I had a similar issue with electricity. My meter broke so i phoned the supplier and was given a date for a repair, i explained it was pre paid so was given a emergency number and was told when it ran out to phone and someone would be round in a hour or 2…It never ran out. Calls went back and forth for over a year until eventually it was replaced…At which point I was hit with a massive bill. I objected and arguments went on as they couldn’t prove how much i used .. Eventually the bill was halfed and i agreed to pay the rest off over 12 months (still via pre payment). After a year or so i was buggering about with the meter and it showed a debt of £0 so i rang to confirm and was told the debt was never applied and I’d have to start paying. More arguments and i got the ombudsman involved and the bill was slashed again… Iirc a £1800 bill was reduced to around £300!!

MPRN is for gas, MPAN is for electric.

If a MPRN isn’t listed on the national database, you need to speak to your gas transporter (not supplier) and they will arrange a live/dead check which, presumably will be live – then you speak to your chosen gas supplier that you’ll pay the bills to, and they will create a new MPRN for your address and it’ll all be sorted.

It’s not worth avoiding getting sorted as could give you much much more hassle in the future when it’s discovered. Or it could be disconnected, as obviously you could be using an illegal gas connection. Believe me, you don’t want that hassle…