Help!

kate87

I have got myself into a massive mess.
To put a long story short, I am a student and last year rented a house with 4 of my friends. Stupidly I volunteered to have the Virgin contract in my name for our tv and internet.
Over the time we had this contract there were a few blunders, partly a couple of billing errors by Virgin, but the main thing was that we had a massive fall out in our house and it became difficult to chase the money up from my housemates. The whole thing has over time spiralled out of control and I owe Virgin about £300+.

I have been panicking and losing sleep about the whole thing so much that I've just buried my head into the sand and have been ignoring the problem for a while. I realise this is a really stupid thing to do and I need to contact them to sort it out but I'm not sure what to say to them and how to explain the situation. I don't have the money to give them at the moment, I'm at the bottom of my overdraft, and the whole thing has been made worse by the fact that I have recently learnt my student loan is going to come in late due to my application being lost.
The annoying thing is I have a £300 house deposit to claim back, but to get this back I have to give in my final bills, but to get a final bill I need £300!

Has anyone had a similar experience before? What can I expect Virgin to say to me?

GeorgeUK

Have the others not said anything about the bill?

Is there any way you could transfer this to a 0% creditcard such as the virgin money one?

I'm afraid virgin probably won't see it as being their problem and still expect payment to be made. If not, then they would probably apply charges.

BridgetJones_2

Surely the other people who live in the house can't get back their deposits either?

kate87

With the deposits...they have stayed with the same landlord, but have moved into a different house, and the deposit they originally paid has transferred onto their new house, but me and one of my friends are due to move into a new house with a different landlord so we need to claim ours back.
Also nothing is in their name, its all in mine, unlike the utility bills which are joint.

I know I will have to pay it back to them, I was hoping that they would give me the option of paying it back in installments whilst I chase up the money, I am just sick of worrying about it!
I'll learn never to do this again anyway.

RichOneday_2

Kate,

You sound like you're taking the weight of this all on your own shoulders with your housemates getting away scott free.

IMO The way you should approach this is:

1. Write to Virgin and offer them £5 per month explaining that you need time to get hold of the money. Clearly state that you fully intend to clear the balance with a lump sum as soon as you've got the money together. Send the first £5 with your letter. They may huff and puff a bit but it is unlikely they will do anything else if you keep them updated.

2. There is no reason for the LL to withhold your deposit. Bills that need to be cleared are those which may have an adverse effect on future tenants eg Water, Gas, Electricity. TV/Internet bills cannot have any consequences for future tenants or your LL hence no reason to withhold. If the deposit is withheld you should issue a County Court Summons against the LL for £300 plus costs straight away and let him know you are doing so. It can be done online and is very straight forward. Your LL will give you your deposit pretty quickly I would imagine.

3. Your 'friends' are not very good friends if they won't pay their share. They have done the dirty on you, so you must let them know the consequences of their actions and the problems it is causing you. Students will never have spare money so you have to make them realise that this bill is a priority. Tell them Virgin have started legal action against you and you are going to have to do the same against them because you're not prepared to have your credit file ruined through their actions. It may sound harsh but why should you take the hit for their defaults? You don't get anywhere by being a doormat unfortunately.