Bill from previous shared accomodation

Viks

During my university years I lived with fellow students. We contacted our supplier at the time to let them know we have moved in. We recieved no bill till after about 2.5 years. However, the bill has now come to me and only me. I am only responsible for 1/5th of the bill and even then it is higher than what it should be.

What do I do. I dont mind paying 1/5th but I will not pay the whole amount. I do not have a copy of the tenancy either however I was not the head-tenant.

Where do I stand in relation to this claim for money?

The period of occupancy was Sept 06 to Jun 07 (according to the tenancy if i remember correctly although we moved out before then).

I recieved a bill dated 10th January 2009 which was infact addressed to my father at his hom as he has the same initial and he assumed they were charging him for something. I do not live at this address. I got a phone call about 2 weeks ago saying I owed this debt and it was the first I had heard. They have just sent the paperwork in the post again to the same address and I have told my father it is for me and he has passed it onto me.

Anyone's advise on this is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

KimYeovil

You are not responsible for one-fifth of the bill. You are jointly and severally liable for the whole bill, unfortunately. The supplier is free to only chase whoever it is easiest to chase.

When living in a flat share it is essential that meters are read every month, cost estimated, and the payments collected from every tenant, no exceptions or excuses. And check the receipt from whoever was sent to the post office to deposit the installment.

Vestra

Did you inform them when you left and pay the final bill?

Joyful

You need to check when the bill was first issued. They can only back bill you for 1 year but if they sent the bill before this and it has just caught up with you via a debt agency it will be due. As has been said, each Tenant can be chased for the whole balance. It would then be up to that person to try and recover their money back from the other people that were at the property at the same time.

Viks

We notified them when we moved in and when we moved out that we were there.

Being students we were never on top of paying bills. These were paid as and when they came. We did what we were advised. However, I am only 1 tenant out of 5 so I cant pay everyones.

Also with regards to claiming one year back. The bill clearly shows it was calculated in January 2009. They have not sent a copy of a previous bill within 1 year of the date of moving out according to the paperwork supplied. The invoice clearly states invoice date as 10th January 2009. Bearing in mind this is 18months after I moved out what should I do.

As stated i dont mind paying 1/5th however if the way Joyful puts it is the only way they wont even get that as I am not really prepared to pay the whole amount if I can avoid it.

How does this 1 year time limit work. Do I just call them and ask for a copy of all data they hold on the account to ensure I have proof they have not raised a bill previously.

Also is the 1 year from moving in or out or is it just 1 year period so they can claim an estimate of the last 365 days from date of invoice related to when I was there?

Vestra

Viks wrote: »

We notified them when we moved in and when we moved out that we were there.

Being students we were never on top of paying bills. These were paid as and when they came. We did what we were advised. However, I am only 1 tenant out of 5 so I cant pay everyones.

Also with regards to claiming one year back. The bill clearly shows it was calculated in January 2009. They have not sent a copy of a previous bill within 1 year of the date of moving out according to the paperwork supplied. The invoice clearly states invoice date as 10th January 2009. Bearing in mind this is 18months after I moved out what should I do.

As stated i dont mind paying 1/5th however if the way Joyful puts it is the only way they wont even get that as I am not really prepared to pay the whole amount if I can avoid it.

How does this 1 year time limit work. Do I just call them and ask for a copy of all data they hold on the account to ensure I have proof they have not raised a bill previously.

Also is the 1 year from moving in or out or is it just 1 year period so they can claim an estimate of the last 365 days from date of invoice related to when I was there?

Anyone named on the account is jointly and solely liable which means the company can hold you liable for the whole bill. You need to make sure they are only billing you up to the date your were responsible and the meter reading you had taken.

To be honest it sounds like you have have not closed the account properly when you left as

1) they are billing you up to a date after you moved out (implies the account was only closed down by someone moving in).

2)they don't have a forwarding address for you and have tracked you down through your parents.

What I suggest doing is making sure the bill is correct (correct dates and readings) find out the outstanding amount and chase up your ex flatmates for payment.

Joyful

If this bill is dated January 2009 but is billed for up to 18 months previously this falls under the 1 year billing code so should not be due.

If they are billing you up to 2009 then they have not closed your account down to 18 months ago. Whether you are due depends on if they have it on their system that you called to close the account down 18 months ago and they did not action this.

ClareMad

I'm in a similar situation to the original post. I've had a letter from a debt collection company asking for an amount for a final bill reading that I never received from Eon/Powergen for an old joint tenancy. Eon are saying they sent a bill on 2nd December 2005 but I had a re-direction set up on the flat when I moved out and never received anything. The agent also had a forwarding address that was obviously never used. Do I have any options if Eon haven't sent me an invoice before the debt collection company contacting me.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi ClareMad,

A few questions about this one,

When you didn't get the final bill from E.ON did you contact them to ask where this was?

It sounds like a final bill was sent, but this didn't reach you.

Did you provide the final readings from when you moved out?

You can still contact E.ON to discuss this final bill and check the readings are correct, they may also let you set up a payment arrangement to clear the balance.

Helena

ClareMad

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Hi ClareMad,

A few questions about this one,

When you didn't get the final bill from E.ON did you contact them to ask where this was?

It sounds like a final bill was sent, but this didn't reach you.

Did you provide the final readings from when you moved out?

You can still contact E.ON to discuss this final bill and check the readings are correct, they may also let you set up a payment arrangement to clear the balance.

Helena

The final readings were provided by the customer (I was told by E.ON yesterday) but I cannot remember if that was by me or the agent as a new tenant went in on the same day.

I can't remember if I phoned and asked for a final bill, it was 3.5 years ago.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi ClareMad,

I would speak to E.ON again to see if they will accept an arrangement, if this is what you would prefer.

If the final readings follow on from previous reads, it does sound correct.

I understand that you will not have copies of old bills now, but you can always ask for a copy.

Did you ask why it has taken so long for you to receive correspondence regarding this?

Helena.