do bills die with the deceased?

fellakel

hi all,

my grandad died last year with an enormous leccy bill (£1500). My dad inherited the property and has basically left it emptyu until rcently and just accepted the estimated bills. We have just read the meter and came up with this huge bill.

who is liable - i.e. does my dad also inherit the leccy debt along with the house or is it written off??

thanks

gerrardfan

i can only speak for my company e-on,so other suppliers may be different,but with us next of kin is asked to pay debt.if there is no funds available from savings, house etc then we ask the executor of account,normally next of kin to send in death certificate and covering letter and debt gets wiped.phone whoever was their supplier to check exact details.

littletommytucker

Did your grandfather have a solicitor sort out his estate? If so the money should come from them to clear the balace. If there isnt anything, then it would get writted off. Did your dad inherit his property? If so you need to ring your supplier and give them a reading from the date your dad inherited the house.
Hope this helps.

Magentasue

From my own experience, suppliers don't ask next of kin. The bill goes to the executor or, if there isn't one, the relative dealing with accounts. It's then settled from the estate. However, if your father is inheriting the house which is part of the estate, it might be more complicated. We were given a booklet with these sorts of questions answered. I think the same info is here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/WhatToDoAfterADeath/DG_10029808

savers_united

The debt usually comes out of your late grandads estate, a solicitor will sort this out.
However if there is no estate then the debt will get wiped, in your situation with your dad taking ownership of the property then as a family member and having inherited the property could be liable for paying the outstanding debt, he will almost certainly be responsible for part of it, since he took ownership of the property.

Premier_2

The debt lies with the estate of the deceased.

How did your father manage to inherit the property before the estate had settled all the outstanding debts?

You need to refer to the executor of the will or administrator of the estate (if no will was left) as to how that happened.

1carminestocky

It's entirely finacially prudent to die absolutely broke, of course.

moonrakerz

gerrardfan wrote: »

i can only speak for my company e-on,so other suppliers may be different,but with us next of kin is asked to pay debt.if there is no funds available from savings, house etc then we ask the executor of account,normally next of kin to send in death certificate and covering letter and debt gets wiped.phone whoever was their supplier to check exact details.

This just goes to show how the energy companies work and their total ignorance/disregard of the Law. Cheeky b******s !

Next of Kin have nothing whatsoever to do with any debts of a deceased person. Who decides who is "next of kin" ? I can nominate anyone as my "next of kin", in fact I can nominate different people for different subjects.

Legally, the energy companies have to wait their turn with all the other creditors of the estate.

gerrardfan

i didnt realise saying next of kin would get up everyones nose so much.next time i'll say executor or solicitor of estate.

the person who asked for the advice thanked me for my comment.

can everyone else stop nitpicking and being so sarky with it.

i post things on here during my own spare time and i get enough people moaning at me at work without getting it out of work as well.

p.s merry xmas

moonrakerz

gerrardfan wrote: »

i didnt realise saying next of kin would get up everyones nose so much.next time i'll say executor or solicitor of estate.

the person who asked for the advice thanked me for my comment.

can everyone else stop nitpicking and being so sarky with it.

i post things on here during my own spare time and i get enough people moaning at me at work without getting it out of work as well.

p.s merry xmas

I risk being called pedantic here, but ................................. "next of kin" is nothing to do with "executor" - if your company isn't sending bills for deceased persons to their next of kin, perhaps you would like to put the record straight.

I certainly am not being "sarky" either. The last thing a bereaved relative wants is a bill from Eon saying "YOU owe us x £hundreds" - in very poor taste and totally without any legal backing !

Magentasue

I think moonrakerz is making a fair point - post 2 did say that next of kin is asked to pay the debt and that is misleading.

It's not being pedantic - when my mother died, I stayed in her house and answered the phone to all and sundry telling me that me and my brothers were liable for this and responsible for that. To the OP, don't ring - write with a copy of the death certificate (and be ready for a reply asking for a copy of the death certificate). It's very hit and miss when you ring - you can get someone helpful and efficient, but you can also get someone who says they'll close the account and doesn't. Do it all in writing.