Shared house - bills!

krayzechick · 6 March 2007 at 2:09AM

Okay I need advice.

My boyfriend is a year older than the other people in his student house. There are 5 of them in total.

Because they've just moved out off halls he offered to organise all the services (internet, leccy, gas etc) ...it worked out to be £30 a month each exc rent (dealt with by the landlord) not too bad eh?

I was organised back in sept that the 1st of the month bill money was due and everyone was to deposit their £30 into the house bank account account. They ALL have the account details readily avaliable to them.

First month was fine, but increasingly its harder for my bf to get money other of his housemates. One owes the account (in my bfs name) £200! they are on final demands for 3 bills now.

My bf is at his wits end. All these bills are comign through and he has no way to pay. One he pays on time. The girl is normally about 2 days late (not really a problem). One guy is hit and miss; sometimes he pays on time, others its 2 weeks late. The other 2 guys are just terrible. When he asks for money they just laugh at him or call him offensive names!!

What makes matters worse is they spend roughly £50 a week on weed so its not like theyre strapped for cash! The worst offender has just bought new speakers at £150 even though he owes the bills £200!!

<b>Any advise on what to do???</b> This is obviously going against his credit rating (which is totally unfair as he pays all he can on time). These guys used to be his best mates at uni.

thanks.

Oldernotwiser · 6 March 2007 at 8:19AM

This shows why it's not a good idea to have all the bills in one person's name, although that's no help to your BF now. Can't the 3 good guys all put pressure on the 2 bad guys as they'll be affected when the electricity is cut off?

Blacksheep1979 · 6 March 2007 at 9:56AM

get your boyfriend to point out that they are on the verge of being cut off and that it is affecting his credit rating. Also say that if they continue to refuse to pay he will have no option but to take them to the small claims court to recover the money and a ccj on their credit file will be very damaging for 6 years. Might scare them into action.

kittiwoz · 6 March 2007 at 3:21PM

When people have been late with bills in our house I have always found it effective to say that if we get cut off it'll be the ones who haven't paid who have to pay the reconnection fee.

One possibility is to demand that they set up standing orders to the account or else threaten to cancel the contracts with the suppliers. Then they freeze in the dark while he spends all his time in the nice warm uni or round yours. He could see if the landlord would take over the bills and chase the other tenants for payment. The bad housemates might take invoices from him more seriously but I don't really see why the LL should help. Your bf could also see whether the landlord would let them have pre-pay meters fitted. If it is as bad as it sounds he might need to find a way to contact their parents.

I do realise that there are problems with all those suggestions but they are the best ones I can think of. He's got my sympathies anyway. That's a horrible situation to be in, especially when they used to be his mates. People being tardy payers because they are disorganised or skint is one thing but people refusing to pay and being abusive about it is quite another.

tanith · 6 March 2007 at 3:26PM

This happened to a relative of mine and the guys he lodged with were so called pals, at the end of the lease I think at least 2 of them disappeared without trace leaving bills unpaid and in the end everyone was chasing my relative for payment... he had no alternative but to pay as it was affecting his credit and he had no idea where the people were.. some friends.. :eek:

I don't think he will ever 'share' with friends again....

claire738 · 6 March 2007 at 4:30PM

Right its time to get tough. Here's some ideas we used on our non-paying housemates- some of them are crazy but they might just work.

This isn't fair on all the paying people in the house but for the others to pay up the everyone who has paid needs to get on their case.

1: Firstly, out of all the bills and things think of one think you could do without- we choose the internet- and ask the supplier to turn it off. Tell the rest of the house the supplier have turned it off because you didn't pay and they are sending the baliffs round. Make sure only u and your bf know the truth. Now this should !!!! everyone off and they should start moaning at the people who haven't paid. Take any money the non-payers will offer you but tell them the electricity is going to get put off if they don't pay all the money they owe.

2: A mate of mine actually did this one- Ask a friend of a friend if they would be willing to pretend to be a baliff- there is always someone carzy enough to do something like this (try drama student but make sure they are big & burly or have a skinhead or something). On a night when most people are in, get them to knock and shout through the letterbox 'this is blah blah from blah blah baliff company, please open the door'. Make sure no body opens the door, tell them not to, say its a baliff and if we open the door they'll barge in and take stuff like our computers etc.

3: Early in the morning turn the electricity off by the flip switch and go back to bed. When everyone wakes up, say you'll ring the electricity company. Tell everyone they'll only put it back on when the bills paid. Obviouslly if they don't pay you'll have to put it back on but try and keep it off for as long as possible.

4: get their parents phone numbers and ring them up and tell them whats going on. Most parents would be really angry and force them to pay.

5: As a last resort lock them out. Do it with a big group of your friends so that no fights or anything start, make it controlled and say your not letting them in until they've paid and if they won't pay tell them to come back tommorrow and all their stuff will be packed and ready for them to leave- minus enough of their things to cover the money they owe. Tell them you've discussed it with the landlord and even have replacements for their rooms.

If none of this works i suggest you both pay it off, then get everything cut off so nothing more can be billed to your bf and move out. (I'm not advising you to do this, but it was me and it came to this i would recoup my losses by taking some of their stuff with me- ipods, mobile phones, computer games, anything of theirs that i would cover the costs an if they threatened me with the police or anything i'd reply by asking what the police would say about their weed smoking)

If any of these things do work i would still suggest that your boyfriend stops paying all the bills as soon as these bills are paid and moves out because it sounds like your bf is always going to be out of pocket even if he gets his money this time.

I hate people like this, you and your bf have been trusting and they're just taking what they can get. Do something ASAP or the bills will just get bigger.

Blacksheep1979 · 6 March 2007 at 4:53PM

claire738 wrote:

Right its time to get tough. Here's some ideas we used on our non-paying housemates- some of them are crazy but they might just work.

This isn't fair on all the paying people in the house but for the others to pay up the everyone who has paid needs to get on their case.

1: Firstly, out of all the bills and things think of one think you could do without- we choose the internet- and ask the supplier to turn it off. Tell the rest of the house the supplier have turned it off because you didn't pay and they are sending the baliffs round. Make sure only u and your bf know the truth. Now this should !!!! everyone off and they should start moaning at the people who haven't paid. Take any money the non-payers will offer you but tell them the electricity is going to get put off if they don't pay all the money they owe.

Trouble with that is if you are on a 12 month contract they will charge you the remainder anyway.

claire738 wrote:

2: A mate of mine actually did this one- Ask a friend of a friend if they would be willing to pretend to be a baliff- there is always someone carzy enough to do something like this (try drama student but make sure they are big & burly or have a skinhead or something). On a night when most people are in, get them to knock and shout through the letterbox 'this is blah blah from blah blah baliff company, please open the door'. Make sure no body opens the door, tell them not to, say its a baliff and if we open the door they'll barge in and take stuff like our computers etc.

If any of them have any sense they will know this is bollox as you have to be taken to court before the bailiffs can seize goods.

claire738 wrote:

3: Early in the morning turn the electricity off by the flip switch and go back to bed. When everyone wakes up, say you'll ring the electricity company. Tell everyone they'll only put it back on when the bills paid. Obviouslly if they don't pay you'll have to put it back on but try and keep it off for as long as possible.

Not a bad idea but you run the risk of defrosting the freezer and all the other hassles like not being able to use the shower yourself that day.

claire738 wrote:

4: get their parents phone numbers and ring them up and tell them whats going on. Most parents would be really angry and force them to pay.

May work, but will definately turn the others against you and you'll end up in a miserable house (but no worse than threatening them with court I guess)

claire738 wrote:

5: As a last resort lock them out. Do it with a big group of your friends so that no fights or anything start, make it controlled and say your not letting them in until they've paid and if they won't pay tell them to come back tommorrow and all their stuff will be packed and ready for them to leave- minus enough of their things to cover the money they owe. Tell them you've discussed it with the landlord and even have replacements for their rooms.

Illegal on so many levels and could end up with the police envolved and legal action against the boyfriend.

claire738 wrote:

If none of this works i suggest you both pay it off, then get everything cut off so nothing more can be billed to your bf and move out. (I'm not advising you to do this, but it was me and it came to this i would recoup my losses by taking some of their stuff with me- ipods, mobile phones, computer games, anything of theirs that i would cover the costs an if they threatened me with the police or anything i'd reply by asking what the police would say about their weed smoking)

Hmm so the bf would then be liable for his rent still till the end of the tennancy and would be looking at being prosecuted for theft. The police won't give two hoots about people smoking weed and even if they did would have to catch them with it - and its unlikely they would get a warrant to search the premises even if they could be bothered.

claire738 wrote:

If any of these things do work i would still suggest that your boyfriend stops paying all the bills as soon as these bills are paid and moves out because it sounds like your bf is always going to be out of pocket even if he gets his money this time.

I hate people like this, you and your bf have been trusting and they're just taking what they can get. Do something ASAP or the bills will just get bigger.

If the boyfriend moves out - as pointed out above he will be liable for his rent till the end of the tennancy. However he could get the bills put into someone elses name (ie one of the non payers) then offset what is owed by him against that bill or bills if you change more than one into his name.

BigBouncyBall · 6 March 2007 at 6:00PM

Just sit everyone down and calmly and rationaly spell it all out, heres what needs paying, dates, amounts etc. Tell them if it doesnt get paid, they all get cut off and they all go to court and all get in trouble

"Your name is on the bill, it wont be us that gets in trouble" I hear from the back row

This is true of course, however if the bill is being paid out of a joint account, where you are all named on the account, the bill is in essence being paid by all of you. Are there any legal experts who can clear this one up once and for all?

Go to the Citizens Advice. They are very good and i dare say come across one of these cases every week.

Failing all of this just go round and take all the fuses out of the plugs

Blacksheep1979 · 6 March 2007 at 7:40PM

nope, its whoevers name is on the bill that will end up with the ccj against them, it is completely irrelevant as to where the money comes from. Basically all it is, is that the person whos name is on the bill has entered into a contract, by not paying they are in breech of contract. That person can then take the others to court for the money though, but unless they (the person whos name the bill is in) pay the amount owed within (I think) 7 days they will be stuck with that ccj on their credit file for 6 years.

krayzechick · 7 March 2007 at 2:22PM

lots of good sugestions but i'm afraid we've tried them all before

the threats, the talks, the landlord route (they always pay rent late. One lad is 4 months behind!)

..internet is one that could have been cut off/disconnected and used as 'ransom'. they'd probably pay up because they use it 24/7... but my bf is in the middle of his dissertation doing the research part so its essential to his uni work. He lives miles from the city centre so using library is kind of out of the question (he's a big girl and doesnt like walking home from birmingham city centre in the dark!)

krayzechick · 7 March 2007 at 2:26PM

Blacksheep1979 wrote:

However he could get the bills put into someone elses name (ie one of the non payers) then offset what is owed by him against that bill or bills if you change more than one into his name.

This is a very good idea! Can he do this without the person knowing? or should he warn first? Does he need the other persons permission?

Shared house - bills!

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