It's your responsibility. not the letting agent though. If you were in using the supply for a business, the supplier could come chasing you for ten+ times the normal rate for the power used but they don't do that for domestic customers. It's possible that the person making the payments could realise what has happened and ask for a refund (although he probably didn't take a meter reading when he left). Then the supplier would want details about the current tenant, but you'll be somewhere else by then. If they wanted, they could still send you a bill for your estimated usage but only at the normal rate. They should not send you a first bill more than 12 months after you've used the power though.

If you wanted to pay, you could contact the supplier, explain the situation and give them your recent meter readings and the next address. This would be fine if electricity suppliers were decent honest companies. However, you risk them taking advantage of the situation by using an unrealistic opening meter reading to overcharge you.

I know its usually my responsibility but I have a letter from the letting agents which I found after the post stating that they will inform all the utilities companies and that I should wait until I hear from them.

I did take a meter reading today and have it documented.

I want to make it clear that I am not using this as an excuse not to pay. Just wondering what would be the best line to follow as I haven't come across this situation before. Although if I do end up getting away with it I can't say that I'll be disappointed!

It's your responsibility to notify the utility companies when you move in. You should also take meter readings when you move in. It's too late for this now but you should certainly take a reading when you move out and keep a record of this. It would be worth taking a meter reading now as well so that you will at least have a rough idea about how many units you use each day.

As for what else you can do now, in your shoes, I would simply write "no longer at this address" on a few of the unopened envelopes, put them in a post box, and leave it to the electricity company to sort something out. It's worth putting a few pounds on one side in case they decide to send you a bill but if you hear nothing in the next 12 months, you should be thankful to the previous tenant for not caring about his money and paying the bills.

You should be sure to take meter readings and notify suppliers when you move in to the next property.

I entered a tenancy agreement last October which is coming to an end in a few days. I was told that they will arrange for all the utilities/council tax etc to be switched, so I just waited for any bills, paid them once I received the letters etc.

As I was collecting all my papers together (I keep an archive for all bills etc) I realise that during this period I did not pay any electricity. So I wondered what happened. Initially I thought that maybe this was included in the rent and thats why I never received anything or anyone chased me about it.

Now I understand this is partly my fault so before I go on I am not looking to blame anyone just looking for advice.

I also saved all the letters that came to the house for the previous tenant as I didn't have a forwarding address and was hoping that he will come at some point and pick them up. So going through the envelopes now I realised there is a few from an electricity provider. Although I know legally I shouldnt be doing this I opened up a couple of envelopes that were addressed to the previous owner from the electricity provider only to find out that he was still paying by direct debit and probably never realised.

What do I do in this situation? And who is at fault here? Is it me for not chasing? Or the previous tenant and letting agents who never bothered to notify the electricity company of the switch?

And how should I go on about this?