Check if you’re responsible for paying an energy bill

This advice applies to England. See advice for See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Scotland, See advice for Wales

You usually have to pay for any gas or electricity you’ve used - even if you haven’t signed a contract with an energy supplier.

If your energy supplier didn’t send you any bills for over a year, you might only have to pay for the energy you’ve used in the last year. Check what your supplier can charge after a year.

If you pay your landlord for energy

You don’t have to pay the energy supplier as well.

Tell the supplier you’re not responsible for paying the bill. They should send the bill to your landlord instead.

If you’re not sure whether your rent covers energy bills, check your tenancy agreement. If you don’t have a copy of the tenancy agreement, ask your landlord for a copy.

If you can't agree with your landlord about who pays the bills, you can get advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service.

If someone else put your name on the bill

If someone signed up to a contract without telling you, you might not have to pay the bill.

Contact the Citizens Advice consumer service to work out if you have to pay the bill.

If the bill is for the wrong dates

What you have to pay depends on if the bill is for before you moved in, or after you moved out.

If the bill is for before you moved in

You don’t have to pay for energy that was used before you moved in.

Tell the supplier you moved in after the energy was used. You’ll need to:

tell them when you moved - if they ask for proof, send them a copy of your tenancy agreement or mortgage contract
ask them to send you a new bill
give them a meter reading to make sure the new bill is right

If the bill is for after you moved out

If someone else moved in after you, you shouldn’t have to pay for energy they used after they moved in.

If the bill is for after they moved in, tell the supplier. Tell them the date the other person moved in, if you know it. Ask the supplier to send a new bill to the person who lives there now.

If the other person didn’t move in straight away, you might still have to pay for some of the energy before they moved in.

If no one else moved in straight away

You usually need to pay for energy until 2 days after you told the supplier you were moving.

If you contacted the supplier the day before you moved, or after you moved out, you might have to pay for some energy after you moved.

If the bill is charging you for more than 2 days after you told the supplier, contact them. Tell them the date you told them you were moving. Ask them to explain why they’ve charged you for more than 2 days after that date.

If the supplier still says you have to pay the bill, you can contact the Citizens Advice consumer service to check if you have to pay it.

If you have to pay the bill

If you’ll struggle to pay, the supplier has to help you find a solution - find out how to talk to your supplier if you’re struggling to pay the bill.

You’ll usually have to pay the whole bill and try to get the money back from them afterwards.

If you’ll struggle to pay the bill, your supplier has to help you find a solution - find out how to talk to your supplier if you’re struggling to pay the bill.

If the other person won’t pay their share, you could take legal action against them - called ’making a small claim’. Legal action can be expensive and stressful, so you should decide if it’s worth making a small claim before you start.

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Page last reviewed on 13 April 2021