Registration

While renting a property you might be obligated to pay some bills like:

- Electricity
- Gas
- Water
- Council Tax
- TV-license 

 After moving to a new property you should first write down the balance of your gas and electricity meter. That includes meters on the "key" or "card", too.

Secondly, register yourself via phone as   new customer with the company supplying you with energy. You can find their number on the back of the bill. Give them your details and the balance seen on the meters. If your name isn't on their debtor list and the previous occupant paid all the bills, you will be registered shortly and the next bill you receive will be with your name on it. 

Don't worry if the previous occupant did not pay   his bills. Just send a copy of your contract and a copy of your ID to the company supplying you with energy and they will sort it out.

Proof of Address

Each bill you receive can act as a proof of address accepted by banks and legal institutions. It is extremely useful and can help you e.g. with opening you bank account.

Meters on card and/or key

If your property has the meter(s) either using a card and/or a key, you will need to pay in advance. The energy bill will be estimated but, at  the end of the year any overpaid difference will be refunded, but ONLY if you had have registered.

If you loose the key or have any other supply related problems, contact your supplier or landlord.

Make sure that you're not paying someone's debt!

The previous occupant could leave an outstanding debt, too. If, for example he had unpaid bills worth   £500 pounds, the energy supplier might have given him 50 installments of £10 each. And the next time you buy some credit, let's say £20, only £10 credit will be available after putting your card in to the meter. The other £10 will be taken as an installment of the previous occupier’s debt!

You can check the actual balance of your account in the meter.

If you find any suspicious debt, contact your supplier (register if you haven't done it yet) and after few days, you should receive a brand new key/card. Sometimes, an engineer might pay you a visit and remove the debt from the meter manually.

How much are you going to pay?

Typically a two bedroom flat occupied by 4 people will get a bill of:

- Heating (electricity or gas): 15/20 pounds a week in winter, 5/10 pounds in the summer.
- Electricity: 5/7 pounds a week (if you are not using it for heating).
- Water: up to 180 pounds annually but it's possible to pay it in monthly installments.
- TV license: 121 pounds annually but it is possible to pay it monthly.

In case of any problems

In case of problems with electricity, gas, or when you loose your key/card, inform the agency or the landlord. They are obliged to solve the problem. Very often you might need to call your energy supplier yourself.

Unfortunately, at times you will need to be very patient.

They will tell you approximately how long you have to wait for an answer. Sometimes, to talk to an operator (to get connected) you have to wait up to 40 minutes. Help lines are not free. Often, the operator will continually try to redirect you to another number. The quickest, reliable way to find suitable department is:

- Get your last received bill from your energy supplier.
- If you haven't got it, call info line 098.... and give  them your address. They should give you your supplier’s telephone number.
- Call them and wait patiently, until the operator answers. If he tries to redirect you, insist on being served, stating that this is your final resource. (The operators make sometimes a lot of confusion and unfortunately are not very helpful ) ( It seems sometimes that sending clients to different numbers, is very funny to the operators).(Sometimes it looks like they try to get rid of you)
- If you are lucky, the operator will send an engineer, to fix the problem. It might take him a couple of days to come and see you.

UK energy supplyers