# ICP and Iberdrola



## m5rcc (Aug 30, 2011)

Good evening all,

Hope anyone can help.

I have a villa in Alicante which I only come to a few times a year. I have all my utilities and associated bills Direct Debited to my account. However, I have realised that my electricity bill, with Iberdrola, has gone sky high, even though I do not live there and barely use the minimum.

Since 2013 I have been charged:

03/01/2013	-19.53
04/02/2013	-22.54
04/03/2013	-17.79
02/04/2013	-20.1
10/05/2013	-23.06
08/07/2013	-36.42
05/09/2013	-50.19

Going through the forums, I believe the issue to be associated with the ICP. I have never been informed that the ICP was a mandated request and hence it would appear I am being penalised as a result. Iberdrola customer services are awful at best (not much better than the useless lot in the UK). The Iberdrola ‘Atencion al Cliente’ offices in town fob you off to their 902 premium-rate number which on a mobile is €1/min. However I am confused as to what I actually need.

The villa was built in the late ‘60s. My ‘electricity meter’ is just an on/off switch – I have no numbers as you would expect from a typical meter. I appreciate that this is a mandated request and until I do it, my bills will continue to be extortionate, but, shouldn’t I expect Iberdrola to actually contribute to upgrading the meter and installing the ICP itself? Or am I foolish in actually thinking that’s even possible?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

Whats so extortionate about these charges?


> 03/01/2013 -19.53
> 04/02/2013 -22.54
> 04/03/2013 -17.79
> 02/04/2013 -20.1
> ...


At first glance you aren't paying for any electricity actually consumed. 

Seems to me that for the months January through May you were paying the monthly standing charge only, calculated at the number of days within that particular accounting period. and that for July and September you are paying the bi monthly standing charge now mandated by government. Electricity charges went up on the first of August this year which would account for the higher July-September rate. 

Standing charges are due for payment whether the property is in use or not. The actual daily standing charge is based on the contracted power rating of the property.

I find it hard to believe that Iberdrola would allow you to continue to go on as you are for much longer; sooner or later a meter reader is going to report the absence of a meter and you will be liable for all estimated usage during the period that your contract has been in existence. is it possible that you are still on an 'obras' or 'works' contract?

I state all of this because back in 2010, our supplier Endesa finally caught up with us... We signed a works contract with Endesa back in 2005 and during the ensuing reform of our property, the installed meter blew up... an Endesa subcontractor removed the meter and installed a temporary bridge pending installation of a replacement. 
This temporary bridge remained in place until 2010... during this period, despite repeated requests by us for the installation of a new meter, all we ever paid was the standing charge... Our pleas for a new meter were ignored.. We repeatedly asked meter readers subcontracted by Endesa to set things in motion but again our pleas were ignored. 

Matters finally came to a head in Nov. 2010 when we received a letter from Endesa stating that our obras contract would expire in 28 days and that we should set in place a new domestic contract. In order to set this new contract up an Endesa inspection was carried out and they highlighted the fact that new regulations regarding domestic installations had come into force in 2007 and that the requirements of these regulations would have to be met before the new contract could be signed...

Compliance with these new regulations cost us over 1000 Euros... The contracted electrician that carried out the work signed off the new Boletin or Safety Certificate and liased with Endesa on our behalf in setting up the new contract. 

Despite the fact that a new contract was being raised, 28 days after we had received the original letter, Endesa reps cut off our supply by removing the temporary bridge... they refused point blank to instal a new meter until the contract was in place, duly signed by both parties. After a few panic phone calls our electrician got permission to re-instal a bridge and our power was restored. Three days later the same guy that had disconnected us arrived and installed the new meter... 

The real kicker came some six months later when we received a bill from Endesa, based on the 6 months of actual usage, for the entire period of the original works contract... this totalled over 3000 euros. We were given just 28 days to pay and were threatened with immediate court action if we did not comply. Any investigation would have revealed that we had provably been in the house during the period so we could hardly deny our usage.

Seriously you need to get this sorted out pronto... a missing ICP is the least of your possible problems. there is an English Helpline available on 902 322 044 or if you are calling from outside of Spain you can ring 0034 91 649 63 30...

Good Luck...


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