shared bill??

ezzie1uk

long story short...

my son was in a student house 2 years ago, the swalec bill wasnt paid by them :mad:

i sent swalec details of all names and follow up addresses as the bill with all their names on came to my house months after they had left there

after much jumping up and down by myself i was told by the students it had been paid, my son paid his share to them...

today a bill arrived at my house with 4 names on it for 307, i have rung up and swalec say if my son pays his 'share' of the bill they will remove his name and stop any bills coming to my house, they have said they will put this in writing.

i really thought it was a joint responsibility by all of them until the bill was paid in full ???

grrrrr students

sporty_han26

I think it would be the responsibilty of them all to make sure it is paid.

Terrylw1

It is the responsibility of who is on the tenancy agreement.

If your son put his name on only, he would be completely liable and would need to get the money. The Supplier can legally hold him responsible and it's a 3rd party for him to get the funds.

If the tenancy reflected multiple tenants, they all get ba split bill. However, how does your Supplier know that he paid his share via the others? If the whole bill hadn't been paid, only the students know and this is not your Suppliers problem.

Can you trace any way he has a receipt for payment? If not, it's very difficult because it's down to good faith now. You can only speak to the Supplier and see if they can offer any advice / goodwill. It's really not their problem but they will try to offer advice.

If the other students will put something in writing, you could get his name taken off this bill.

Honestly, this happens loads. Good luck, not an easy thing to resolve.

ezzie1uk

incase anyone else has shared bill problems i thought id post an update

i have paid (again :mad: ) one 6th of the bill and they have remove my sons name from it.

im shocked/confused but it seems it can be done

macman

That won't remove liability. If all their names are on the original account, then they are legally jointly and severally liable. You can't pay one fraction of the bill and have your your share of liablity removed.
Swalec don't care who pays, and they won't allocate liability proportionally. They will chase up the first person they can find and pursue them. If no joy they will try the next.

Premier_2

ezzie1uk wrote: »

...i have paid (again :mad: ) one 6th of the bill and they have remove my sons name from it...

How are you sure they have done that?

You can only be certain by having a later version of the bill ... but if they've removed you son's name, your son wouldn't be sent a copy.

As macman indicates, all named parties are jointly and severally liable ... meaning any one can be chased for the full amount owed. It's unlikely a creditor would agree to get involved in third party disputes over who owes what proportion of the bill; for the creditor the entire bill is owed and they will usually pursue whoever they can to get it.

macman

Unless the OP has that split liability in writing from Swalec, I wouldn't believe it.
Big mistake to make a partial payment, once you have done that they will pursue your son for the rest, as they know that there is money to be had.
PS: why are you sorting out your adult son's bills and debts? If he's over 18 he's old enough to sort it out himself.

Terrylw1

If each student is on the bill, paying your share and proving this to the Supplier can allow them to take the name off. Then they change the name on account (which can involve some shifting around of account numbers to bill seperate or they just note on the account that Mr A Student has paid his/her share) and it should stop it.

It does all come down to quality though so the name could end up back on there due to an admin error by someone.

Any money they get, they will be happy with. Possible write off of the rest in the end anyway with students as a difficult one to resolve.

The level of consumption is the 3rd party dispute as long as all students were on the tenancy agreement. So, in this case, the Suppliers knows they can't prove who owes what and agrees an equal share of all.

Always worth getting something in writing though.

Make sure you keep ALL receipts for a very long time!

mattcanary

If SWALEC have agreed to remove your son's name and then you get confimation in writing to this effect, then SWALEC will have relinquished their legal right to your son being joing any severally responsible for the whole bebt. Ie: they won;t be able to chase you son for the remaining balance at a later date. Doesn't mean they won;t try necessarily but I am sure that the courts would rule upon seeing the letter that he should not have to pay anything further (if it ever gets to that stage).

ezzie1uk

thank you for the replys.

this is from an articale in the telegraph, it shows they can and do remove names...


Southern Electric has since contacted Ms Davies to say it has reviewed her case and, having carried out additional investigation, has located forwarding addresses for the other debtors and will remove her name from the account

Premier_2

Here's the actual article from September 2008:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/5078077/A-debt-problem-shared-is-not-always-halved.html

...Gina Davies, a 21-year-old student, shared a house with four fellow students from August 2006 to January 2007....

...In a prepared statement made to The Daily Telegraph, Southern Electric said: "We can, if asked, make a note of the customer who has made a specific payment to an account provided we are supplied with reasonable proof that payment was made by that person.

"However, this does not remove responsibility from any or all named parties and no names would be removed from any account until full payment of any outstanding balance has been received."

The statement continued: "We do not view each customer as being responsible for a portion of the charges, rather each named account holder shares an equal responsibility for the full payment of an account.

"We are entitled by law to pursue one, any or all parties named until the full balance of the account has been cleared and disputes between co-named or unnamed occupants would be considered a third-party matter."

Southern Electric has since contacted Ms Davies to say it has reviewed her case and, having carried out additional investigation, has located forwarding addresses for the other debtors and will remove her name from the account, provided she pays the outstanding charges for the period in which she lived in the property...

I'm sure we can all make our own minds up based on the misleading snippet you posted, and the fact you have failed to answer any of the questions posed in your particular situation. :cool: