Ex-partner didn't pay bills

taconite2 wrote: »

Just my initial.

I don't know what's on the account. I haven't seen anything yet. My only reference is the letter. To be honest I didn't even know SSE supplied her property!!!!

Just a quick question. Not happened but..... If she found a way to put my on the rental agreement i'm jointly liable? What's the best way to settle this? Why should I give this debt recovery anything? My deal is with the utility company...I didn't ask for it to be passed on. Don't forget I've never seen a bill previously. I just find it so strange they've jumped to the debt recovery stage


They asked for proof I live elsewhere like the electoral roll, I've given it them. See what they come back with

Your either liable for the electricity bill or your not. If you are & want to settle it with them then you'll probably now end up having to pay that admin charge. If you maintain you're not liable then who says they are adding what isn't all that relevant. It will be for someone - probably the supplier - to file a court claim with details of what that is for & then prove it. You will have your chance to defend it, partially admit etc when it reaches court action. No real need to get hung up with arguing or even discussing this with third parties if you don't admit any liability.

taconite2 wrote: »

I don't know if the debt is mine, as far as I know I didn't sign the tenancy agreement at this property as I was only a "guest" staying over maximum a few nights a week.

This is why I've asked for evidence they think it's me.

If they come up with something I've overlooked and would be hard to avoid in court I'll pay up! But they aren't getting a penny without some sort of explanation! Sending a letter saying "SSE" and "£770" isn't enough, I want bills etc..

Your starting to sound rather shady about this now!

Either you lived there or, as you originally claimed, you didn't - you just stayed over an odd night each week with your girlfriend.

Forget about whether you signed the tenancy & just pay up if the truth is that you were in fact living there with her, just not officially so. After all,. you say you want it over & done & if they can prove this was the case you will only incur extra costs attempting to evade the facts.

If you didn't live there then you aren't liable end of. Surely a quick call to the landlord will tell you what he'll say was the case re the tenancy agreement?

taconite2 wrote: »

Guys, seems my name was on the tenancy agreement. But I didn't sign it.

...

How odd.

Any landlord I know would only let their property to someone after they had obtained ok references of some kind, whether that be financial (bank, employer and/or via credit reference agency if appropriate) and/or personal.

I wonder how all that happened without your consent too?

I suggest you seek independent legal advice.

Good Luck!

sacsquacco wrote: »

All this talk of "courts " is ridiculous.There will be no courts or prosecutions involved in by todays standard a pretty average debt.The last thing any supplier want is both the Police and the Solicitors butting in racking up the price. If you wont or can t pay the usual method is to install a prepay meter and collect the money at a very reasonable £4 to £16 a week..Suppliers will sell the debts on rather than bring in the lawyers or even take civil action

The OP does not live in the property. So how can a prepayment meter be installed?

If a debt is disputed who do you think decides whether it is a valid debt or not?

sacsquacco wrote: »

As far as the supplier is concerned it is a valid debt ...

and what if as far as the OP is concerned it is not a valid debt of his?

... and will pursue via its usual channels.

What do you think the "usual channels" will involve in cases where the supplier cannot fit a prepayment meter?

I cannot speak for SSE but I know from experience npower certainly threaten court action as they recently threatened to take me to court over an alleged debt of around £150. Do you think npower's talk of court action was "ridiculous"? I don't. And for an alleged debt of over £700 I would normally expect a supplier such as SSE to take court action.

(Note that this would be a civil action, with a low burden of proof. I know you often see clear evidence of criminality yet no crime is prosecuted. That is different. The high burden of proof is probably deterring suppliers from taking action. I think suppliers will be much more likely to take civil action against debtors, otherwise they ultimately will be unable to legally enforce the repayment of debts.)

The court fees in small civil claims cases are not high, and can be recovered from the losing party. In addition there is no need for either party to involve solicitors so each party can keep their own costs down.

You can only get a ccj against someone after taking court action.

They won t get involved in third party disputes like this one.

If the OP disputes the debt is his then that is not a third party dispute. It is a dispute between him and SSE.

If the OP can convince a court on the balance of probability that he did not enter into any supply agreement with SSE and never had any financial responsibility for the property then the court will agree that the debt is not his.

However, depending on the evidence, the court might agree with SSE. If for example SSE have a tenancy agreement with what looks like the OP's signature on it then I expect the court would start from the assumption it was a valid tenancy agreement. The onus would then be on the OP to prove it was forged perhaps by showing that the signature on his passport or driving licence was very different. If SSE had further evidence then that would be taken into account as well and so on.

Its now up to the OP to open up a claim of fraud by forgery and recover his debt from the ex.

If the OP can prove on the balance of probability he is not liable for the debt then he will not have been defrauded.

The Police are nt interested in chasing her, so he may pursue by civil small claims courts.

I agree the police won't be interested in chasing her. However if he feels she forged his signature I think he should still report the matter. (Just as you would be expected to report a theft if you were making an insurance claim, but in many cases I doubt the police do much.)

He could try making an offer of , say 50% of the debt to the supplier and try and squeeze something from his ex by threatening a fraud charge.

This is one option. However the OP should note and consider brewerdave's warning.

If I was sure the debt was not mine I would not make an offer without seeing the other side's evidence. (If I thought, although right, my evidence was not great I may consider making an offer. But only if I found a way around the risk that this might be seen as implying an admission of liability.)