empty house - canceling house hold bills

lohan1986

Hi, any info would be much appreciated.

I am a single mum, have a mortgage on a very good rate so would like to keep my house.
Since ive had my baby ive been living back at the parents for a little extra help and popping home to check on my house for the last 6 months. Only problem is its gotten very comfortable back with the parents and im not ready to go back home yet and my parents are happy to have me until im ready to go back home.
I dont want to rent the property out as i work for the mortgage company im with and would lose my very good rate, plus im hoping i will be happy enough to move back within the next 6 months.
Can i cancel any of my house hold bills whilst im not living there? Such as gas, elec, water, sky tv and council tax etc?

Caz3121

lohan1986 wrote: »

Can i cancel any of my house hold bills whilst im not living there? Such as gas, elec, water, sky tv and council tax etc?

I assume your gas and electric are metered so the bills will be low, do you still have fridge running, turn lights on when you pop back? If paying by DD they should adjust these down when they see the current usage

Water - don't think you can avoid that

sky TV - as long as you are not within your initial contract you should be able to cut that

Council tax - I think you can have an exemption for up to 6 months id the house is uninhabitted and unfurnished, if your stuff is still there then best you can hope for is the 25% single persons

Mankysteve

Just get on a no standing charge contract for the utilities and switch your main breaker and main gas valve off. You wont use anything to pay for.

Just be aware that when the weather get cold you risk frozen pipes and a damp house when you return.

Also be aware of implication for your house insurance might be invalidated by you not being there, increased risk of bulgery and possibility of squatters. Make sure you take measure to alleviate them.

Leave fridge door open ect.

spiro

Mankysteve wrote: »

Also be aware of implication for your house insurance might be invalidated by you not being there, increased risk of bulgery and possibility of squatters. Make sure you take measure to alleviate them.

I agree, I think most policies have something like a '30 day' clause in them.

JasX

spiro wrote: »

I agree, I think most policies have something like a '30 day' clause in them.

The Post Office is 45 days, one of the few i found with a longer limit, still well short of what the OP needs

Premier_2

Caz3121 wrote: »

...Water - don't think you can avoid that

...

Council tax - I think you can have an exemption for up to 6 months id the house is uninhabitted and unfurnished, if your stuff is still there then best you can hope for is the 25% single persons

If the property is unoccupied and unfurnished, it may be possible to avoid water bills (check with your water supplier)

As you imply though, council tax will be payable at the full rate if the property remains unoccupied and unfurnished after more than 6 months (I'm presuming the OP was previously getting 25% discount as a single occupancy)

However, I suspect the OP has left the property furnished.

So, yes, water will still be billed.

Council tax, depending on where the property is, may be reduced by 50% (no eligible persons resident, registered elsewhere) or may be reduced by only 10% (usually those authorities that suffer particularly badly with numerous empty second/holiday homes)

Premier_2

Mankysteve wrote: »

...Also be aware of implication for your house insurance might be invalidated by you not being there, increased risk of bulgery and possibility of squatters. Make sure you take measure to alleviate them.

Leave fridge door open ect.

Yes, the property needs unoccupied buildings insurance. Difficult to obtain, but not impossible, available from some specialist insurers. Typically costs 2-5 times that of usual buildings insurance ... and may have some nasty exclusion clauses.

Premier_2

lohan1986 wrote: »

...I dont want to rent the property out as i work for the mortgage company im with and would lose my very good rate, ...

Have you informed the mortgage company that the property is currently unoccupied?

It may also be that as you are not using the property as your main residence, the terms of the loan are also not being complied with. The mortgage company should be able to advise you on this when you inform them that the property is unoccupied ... and if you are affected, will hopefully advise you of available alternative options they can offer you.


Edit: it may be best to try to occupy the property yourself. This can usually be achieved by spending at least one night evry 28/30 days at the property - invite your parents along for that night too if you wish