This is the information on the AEMO website…
In relation to reading the meter when moving, this should have been a special request made by those involved in the property transaction. It can be the buyer or seller. One shouldn’t assume the other party will organise it as it is often forgotten. When the request is made, the meter should be organised to be read as close to settlement as possible. When read, the reading ‘draws a line in the sand’ in relation to who is responsible for usage (the seller before meter is read and the buyer thereafter).
Establishing a new account, which occurs at the time when one purchases a property doesn’t automatically result in or trigger a meter reading. This is because a new account could be someone changing electricity retailer, without the home ownership changing. A electricity retailer does not know a property has changed owners - they don’t have access to this information. That is why it is the responsibility of the seller/buyer to request a special meter reading.
Some retailers, including Origin, have special teams which deal with moving/properties. These teams organise special meter reading for old and new properties and transfer of accounts from old to new. This possibly is about retaining customers as much as helping their customers. But, one needs to directly engage these teams as it again isn’t an automatic process.
If someone is changing retailers, but ownership is the same, the bills are estimated for the time the account closes and new one opens. The usage is then corrected at the next meter reading used for billing. It appears that this is the process which has been followed if a special meter read on settlement was not carried out. As a special read was not carried out, the new retailer assumes a continuation of usage and historical usage is used for estimating usage when account was opened. Unfortunately you may have to wear the estimate at settlement if you didn’t request a special meter read. I just hope for you financialy the previous owners weren’t heavy users, and used significantly more than your household.
If you made a request for a special meter reading for settlement and this was not organised by Origin (say an oversight by Origin), you may be able to negotiate a reasonable usage estimate from settlement to the first bill/meter reading. It might also be possible to negotiate usage waiver if Origin failed (negligent) to read the meter when a special and specific request was made for settlement.
