Apparently I don't owe the new providers anything anyway - they said they spoke to 'someone' who changed it over on the 20th July, which was definitely not me as it was 5 days before I moved in, but they said it wasn't due to take effect until the 31st October (the person I spoke to said this was the strange part, as it only takes a month to transfer it over so she had no idea what had happened). I did double check that I didn't owe them anything, which she confirmed, so as long as I don't have to pay to move back to my previous provider everything should be fine...

:)

It is confusing isn't it?I'm just glad that it all seems to be getting sorted out, and i'm not going to have to pay anywhere near as much as initially anticipated!

I'm just waiting for my landlord to call me back today so hopefully i should be able to get in the cupboard this evening or at the very latest tomorrow - I will make a note of the serial number when i get in there as well...

Thanks again for all your help

:)

It seems to be common practice for tenants (or owners) in blocks to not have access to the electricity meters but all you have to do is ask the management company for your block for a reading and they provide it along with the meter number which should agree to your bill.I've lived in two blocks now and they both operated in the same way and I've had no problems with large bills but I did get a reading done on moving and every time I received a bill. Don't be surprised if you aren't allowed a key but you should be able to have access with a member of staff from the management company.

If your landlord got a reading done when he moved out then it should have appeared on his last bill so he should be able to tell you what it was and you can then go back to the supplier with this information.