Enel charge / reconnection

12/01/2010 - 18:07

Enel have sent a bill €266.31 They say it is for non payment of my previous bill.The house was purchased earlier in the year with power connected but not occupied.The property agent say that the previous owner finalised his bill.What i dont understand is why i would get a bill when the house was unoccupied and not useing power.At the moment the builder cannot start renovation works till the bill is paid and electricity is reconnected. Any advice!

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The property agent is being economical with the truth. It is up to you to change the contract into your name, or your estate agent should do it for you, with the reading on the day of the act so the old supply can be terminated and you take over. If you dont do it you could end up with a swingeing bill. HOwever, ENEL do the change over, and charge you. You will pay per kilowatt for the new supply in the new name, and then ENEL will also charge you a returnable deposit to cover your first few bills, which is knocked off subsequent bills in dribs and drabs. You should have had your contracts, filled in and returned within 40 days. Bills in Italy are on the property not the property owner. Find out from the agent when the voltura was done.

A small price to pay to get the electricity back on. Although it sounds like the bill wasn't fully paid up to date. ( We paid about 110 to reconnect 3kw supply). Remember there are a number of standing charges which must be paid whether the electricity is used or not. The bigger the supply the bigger the standing charge. Get a direct debit set up and keep a close eye on your meter. As a rule of thumb, I reckon on 20p per kw used taking all charges into account. There is a lot of good advice on this forum. Good luck with the project.

I bridled at Ram's comment that your property agent was 'economical with the truth'. I know where he is coming from (he is a very good property agent) and he would have alerted you to the necessity to set up a new contract - but Ram deals with foreigners and knows that he must answer questions which you wouldn't have thought of asking! (So that's why I'm unhappy about his comment). Enel will make a charge (I think about €80) for changing the contract: they will also want a 'deposit' which will be eliminated (or refunded) as soon as you set up a banker's direct debit. Now whether you are actually being charged for something the ex-owner didn't pay - I dunno - but holding up a job for a couple of hundred euros makes no sense at all.

sorry Fillide - To my mind, it doesnt matter if the previous owner finalised hisbill, its the voltura that protects the buyer. We, as an agency, automatically handle the volture for all our clients, and most agents I know do. I was responding to the original post that the agent told the buyer that the previous owner had finalised his bill - if he didnt add that the voltura needed to be done he was being economical with the truth, but I happily accept Fillide's word that he would have done so!

Thanks Fillide and Ram for your comments. My agent did say that the change had been made,but it seems the bill went to the property which is not occupied instead of to them,this they have now sorted with the local post office and my mail will be delivered to the agents office.At the moment i have not set up a bank account (this will also need some thought) Your comment Ram of the word "voltura" is helpful,i will ask the agent the question.Thanks for your input.

We had electricity to the property but needed to go to the local ENEL office in Alanno to arrange it to be switched on I was given a unique client number and I also set up a direct debit thro the bank.I think it cost about 260 euros which sounds like the amount you are being charged. www.myabruzzohome.com

Thats reassuring "myabruzzohome"the charge from Enel is the same, I think maybe my agent did complete the change of ownership but just did not explain about the charge (lost in translation) will still ask about "voltura

We were also recently charged around 200+euros so that seems to be a standard charge. Readings were all completed correctly.

The actual charge for a voltura of 3 kw is about 90 euros - however, the charge will be based on previous usage - so if the house has not used electricity you will pay the lower limit. If the house has been inhabited then the charge will rise, on the assumption that you will have consumption. You can do any voltura over the phone- all you need is the meter reading and the client number, either from a previous bill or from the meter (if its a white digital one)

The house was not occupied but power was connected because the owner switched the light on and the agent showed me the meter which i remember was white,at that stage the agent said they would sort the meter reading. What they did not explain was the charge.Still awaiting a reply on the voltura question that you suggested from my agent.The house is in the process of first renovation work and is still not occupied. I am still living in England and rely on communication with the agent.Think some of it gets lost in translation.Your suggestions with Italian terms are of great help.

I got hit with not paying the bill on time and the leccie was cut off. They had not posted the bill to UK as requested. As I knew this might be the case, I over paid (I was told this was not permitted). It went on as a credit on my bill. I was told they woudl send this back to me but they did not and just took the standing charge out of it. With the cost of a bank account being about £120 a year, it is cheaper for me to ensure that I have paid in advance rather than have a local bank account. I know that the fees are about 16 Euros a quarter, more if we are there. So it is a safer way of handling it and cheaper in the long run.