Massive Outstanding ESB Bill

E

eavan1

Guest
My boyfriend was up to recently living in an apartment on his own, in January his electricity supply was cut off and he was sent a bill for €4,000. Up until then he had never received a bill (and no he never requested one either) He has since moved out of the apartment but gave the ESB a forwarding address, he has yet to make any payments to the ESB and he recently received a solicitors letter. I have tried to get him to start paying the bill but he doesnt seem to realise the seriousness, can anyone advise what will happen if he does not begin to make payments
 
The next step will be a district court judgement for the €4000 and costs. That will then open the way for enforcement proceedings in the courts. Installment orders and the county sherriff will then follow.
 
bond-007 said:
The next step will be a district court judgement for the €4000 and costs. That will then open the way for enforcement proceedings in the courts. Installment orders and the county sherriff will then follow.
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And with the above comes the virtual impossibility of ever getting a mortgage, credit card, personal loan etc.
 
Is the total €4,000 liability in relation to his time in the apartment? That sounds like 3 or more years of (high) bills to me.

As the above to posters say, the consequences could be quite serious.
 
Yes it is for about two years as far as I know, if he offered to start making regular payments would this ease the seriousness of the situation?
 
TBH I'd question the bill of €4000 - guy on his own in apt for 2years - that's about €333 every 2 months. Was he in the apt all day or was he out at work? Even if he was at home fulltime, I don't believe a family house would have a bill of that size! Is it possible the previous tenants didn't pay either or were their appliances purchased on the account too?
 
as far s I am aware there were no appliances bought on the account and he checked out the dates for the bill and the dates are correct, I did think that it seems a very excessive amount but they say that it is correct.
 
ClubMan said:
What does he think might happen!?
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he doesnt seem to be thinking of the consequences, I have explained about the effect that it will have on his future - bury his head in the sand technique!!
 
This bill really seems excessive. It won't do him any good to bury his head in the sand, as other posters have already stated. However, I think he's entitled to a copy of his account from the ESB. I had a tenant in an apartment for six months and her bills were very high. She just paid them and didn't mention it to me until the day she was leaving. The same was true of her gas bills. When I looked at them, I realised immediately that both companies were sending her estimated bills! I got the management company to take meter readings and she was due hundreds back!

When your boyfriend left the apartment, his landlord should have given him the final meter readings. I would insist that ESB provide me with a copy of my account, especially if I had never received a bill. He should check that the balance on the account was zero when he took it over and that these bills were not just estimates. The ESB AFAIK are usually good about making payments when customers make an effort to pay. From their perspective, your boyfriend has ignored them for years, so they might be understandably tetchy with him initially!! He should definitely not ignore this situation as it really has got potentially dire consequences.
 
I used to work in the ESB many moons ago. It was standard procedure not to have tennants names on their ESB account, ie the account was in the landlords name and it was up to the landlord to collect the money. This was the policy where I worked because tennants were considered a flight risk and many bills were never paid.

It is possible that the account was not clear when he took over the place or he had loads of estimated readings or someone was hacking in and stealing the electricity. All possible imho. Maybe he likes having the place warm and the bill could be correct. My average ESB bill is around the 300 mark.
 
Thank you to all for your help.....have persuaded him to call the esb for copies of the bills and to start making payments every week.
 
Bosshog said:
what?? mine averages about €32 per month. do you live in funderland?
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I have loads of reptiles and such creatures that need constant heat to survive. I have nightsaver too. I don't think 300 every 2 months is that excessive.
 
Our bill is ~€70 every 2 months but we're both out during the day. TBH I thought €300 was excessive but those electric heaters are usually very expensive and I would imagine the incubators are too.
 
bond-007 said:
I have loads of reptiles and such creatures that need constant heat to survive.
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aha! but not everybody has reptiles and such creatures. so im sure your bill would be considered above average.

maybe the OP's boyfriend was running a snake farm from his apartment??
 
Mine is between 450 and 470 for two month period. Don't have any reptiles but I do have two daughters who also need constant heat, never turn lights off, employ many electrical appliances. I also have cheap night rate electricity.
 
liteweight said:
Mine is between 450 and 470 for two month period. Don't have any reptiles but I do have two daughters who also need constant heat, never turn lights off, employ many electrical appliances. I also have cheap night rate electricity.
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That is an incredible amount. Have you storage heaters etc?
 
CharlieC said:
That is an incredible amount. Have you storage heaters etc?
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I have one storage heater in the hall. The hallway is very tall and open, so we found storage heater to be the best method of keeping it warm. We have a power shower and an electric shower for when there's no hot water. We have a thermostat on the immersion and it's also on a timer, so we know it doesn't run all day and night. I use a tumble dryer at night on the cheap rate. We've tried all in our power (no pun intented) to keep this bill down but nothing seems to work!! I turn off the storage heater from May to September but still when I average out the bills the amount is 450-470.
 
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