In a flatshare legally who has to pay the bills?

Roses83

I moved in to my flatshare last June. Since then the two girls I moved in with have moved on and two new girls have moved in. The bills have become very expensive and I was wondering who would be liable for paying those bills?

We're in a new well insulated 3 bedroom flat, I'm at the flat on average 3 days a week at which time I'm mainly at work yet we've been getting bills for up to £600 a quarter for the elctricity. It turns out that the girls have been keeping the immersion heater on 24 hours a day. I did some research and have come to the conclusion it should only be on when hot water is needed.

I contacted the landlord to ask about having a timer fitted and spoke to the girls about switching the immersion off. They weren't keen but I asked if we could just do it at first for 3 months to see if the bills came down. It turns out that when I'm away at the weekends they've been keeping it on all the time as well as leaving electric wall mounted heaters on for up to 14 hours a day when they forget to turn them off.

We've just had another 1 month bill through for £190!

The bill is registered in my housemates name and I have not signed anything to say I would pay a third of the bills, therefore as I'm at the flat for less than half the week and I've made an effort to reduce the bills and they haven't gone along with it legally do I have to pay a third of all the bills?

Premier_2

The supplier will only pursue whoever is the named account holder(s)

However, in a house share, unless you have any other agreement in place, it would be normal for each sharer to pay their share. Expect your flat sharers to pursue you if you don't pay your fair share (not to mention getting them annoyed with you which'll probably induce more stress than paying the bill)

If you don't have anything agreed, but you want to change the norm of paying your fair share, you should negotiate that with your fellow sharers before the event not after.

If you can't come to any agreement, consider moving out and getting a place of your own - then there'll be no arguements about who owes what

basmic

I'd work it out as follows.

You live there 3 days out of 7 - so you should only have to 3/7 of the £190. That's £81.43 so far.

Three people live there - therefore you should only pay 1/3 of the £81.43, which comes to £27.15.

See how they like your calculations, but £27.15 is the most they'd see from my pockets towards the bill.

(((190/7)*3)*(1/3))

[Deleted User]

basmic wrote: »

I'd work it out as follows.

You live there 3 days out of 7 - so you should only have to 3/7 of the £190. That's £81.43 so far.

Three people live there - therefore you should only pay 1/3 of the £81.43, which comes to £27.15.

See how they like your calculations, but £27.15 is the most they'd see from my pockets towards the bill.

Just because you aren't in the flat for those 4 days a week, doesn't mean you can shirk your responsibility for paying bills on those days. Does your landlord only charge you rent for those 3 days? i don't think so

basmic

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Just because you aren't in the flat for those 4 days a week, doesn't mean you can shirk your responsibility for paying bills on those days. Does your landlord only charge you rent for those 3 days? i don't think so

But we are not talking about rent, are we? We are talking about a measured bill, which in this case is the electric bill.

That's like asking me to buy food in for a week, and let everybody eat what's left while I'm away for 4 days.. :think::rotfl:

Pee

You are all jointly and severally liable if your name is on the bill.

[Deleted User]

ok, put it this way then - 3 people in the house paying 1/3 of the bills each.

So, I'm happy paying my 1/3rd of bills, but suddenly one of the housemates decides to go away for 4 days a week. Now, instead of 33.3% of the bill, i'm now liable for 41.1% of the bill (3/17). I'm not using any more heat, but because they aren't there they think i should pay their portion of the heat.

Unless you put that proviso in the original tenancy agreement, you are liable for 1/3 of the bills - however stupid they are. And yes, i've been in the exact situation (i was paying rent on a shared flat in London, working in Dublin 3 nights a week and at my girlfriends 2 nights a week). My flatmates were also irresponsible idiots.

Bite the bullet - if you don't like it then move out

tattycath

Even when people aren't in some electricity will be used if they have a fridge or freezer or electric clocks, washing machine etc etc or if some sockets are just left switched on at the wall.

Cardew

Firstly, having the immersion heater on 24/7(rather than timed) will only make a small difference to your bills. probably less than £1 a week, and that heat loss from the tank in winter is not lost as it heats the house.

Secondly you should just move out if you cannot reach agreement with the other girls about your 'lifestyle' and how to share expenses.

We have had so many threads on this theme - 'Girl X has her boyfriend staying overnight twice a week, should she pay more for heating, water' etc!!!!

Fire_Fox

basmic wrote: »

But we are not talking about rent, are we? We are talking about a measured bill, which in this case is the electric bill.

That's like asking me to buy food in for a week, and let everybody eat what's left while I'm away for 4 days.. :think::rotfl:

What about standing charges? Or the electricity necessary to run things like the fridge/ freezer? Perhaps the OP has longer showers than the other two or does more laundry, does she pay more against the water bill? House shares aren't fair that's why so many of us get our own places, and then moan about rising council tax or !!!!!! banks increasing interest rates. :rolleyes:

dekaspace

ringo_24601 wrote: »

ok, put it this way then - 3 people in the house paying 1/3 of the bills each.

So, I'm happy paying my 1/3rd of bills, but suddenly one of the housemates decides to go away for 4 days a week. Now, instead of 33.3% of the bill, i'm now liable for 41.1% of the bill (3/17). I'm not using any more heat, but because they aren't there they think i should pay their portion of the heat.

Unless you put that proviso in the original tenancy agreement, you are liable for 1/3 of the bills - however stupid they are. And yes, i've been in the exact situation (i was paying rent on a shared flat in London, working in Dublin 3 nights a week and at my girlfriends 2 nights a week). My flatmates were also irresponsible idiots.

Bite the bullet - if you don't like it then move out

I was in a similar situation last year as I was away a lot but had 1 flatmate who used an electric heater on full and gas on full yet kept on not paying their share and their room was so hot even they opened their window in the middle of winter!

However my situation was "worse" I was away for 3 whole months and I had zero food in the fridge, turned off everything including heating in my room and when I came back the room was so cold that when I slept there that night, the next mornign the walls became damp.

I was "fair" and offered to pay some towrads it i.e instead of £20 a month that I was putting in before, id put in for 3 months £35(which I couldnt afford) and was told I had to put in the whole amount which I found is unfair especially as my usage was very low anyway as I just moved from a flat and paid more than I did there for less.

I think your idea is wrong in many ways as theres nothing to say that when the person isnt there the heating is on, and even if they did pay the 7 days they are supplimenting the other people in the house.

Though the situation is difficult as its hard to prove someones usage