Transferring bill to someone else - Temporary basis

sshnuke

Hi There

There's a chance I might needs someone to look after my property for about six months. Do you know if it's possible to transfer my electricty or gas account into their name temporarily for the six months? This will not be their main residence while they are staying here so I'm not sure what to do.

Many Thanks

zzzLazyDaisy

If this will not be their main residence, why would they want to take full responsibility for the bills in your house, since they presumably will continue to be responsible for the bills in their main residence?

If you want to do this simply as a way of making sure the bills are paid, you can take an on-line tariff and pay by direct debit. Your friend can take meter reading and input them if you give them the password (or e-mail them to you so that you can do this).

Apologies if I have misunderstood the problem.

EDIT - to answer your question, there is nothing to stop someone having two homes and being responsible for the bills in both homes - this is what happens when someone has a holiday home, for example. In essence they will become your tenant ... but that brings with it a whole lot of landlord responsibilities.

sshnuke

Thanks for all your advice and for taking the time to clarify if someone can have bills at more than one residence. It is actually I who would like them to take full responsibility for these two bills. It would be easier all round in the long run. I'm just not sure what's involved.

Premier_2

I'd like David Cameron to take care of my bills for the next 6 months too!

If you can find a way to make this happen, please let us all know, I'm sure others would be interested likewise.

You could always ask for a different mailing address on the account if that would help you.

zzzLazyDaisy

I think your problem would be that the person has to have liability for the bills.

If they are not a tenant or owner of the property, it is difficult to see how they could have liability. Assuming these are utility bills, the utility company will want to know the date that you move out and they take over the property. In essence that means declaring the person as your tenant, which brings with it a whole host of other issues.

However, it is still a mystery to me why anyone would agree to accept legal liability for the bills at your house, when they already have their own home and bills to pay for.

I guess there is more to this than you are telling us. That is, of course, your perogative, but it does mean that the information that you are not divulging could significantly change the advice you are given and to that extent you should take all advice with a pinch of salt, since without full information, we are just guessing.

KimYeovil

You trust them with your home for a temporary period but are worrying about them honouring utility charges they rack up. Why, then, are you considering handing them your keys?

sshnuke

Premier: lol. Well, I've found 'em but it looks like it's a little more complex than we thought it would be.

LazyDaisy: It is a little complicated to go into detail but the question itself and hence your answers would remain the same. The only thing perhaps that would make it easier to understand is that they would actually prefer to stay at my property rather than their own for reasons of comfort and convenience. As I said, it would only be for a temporary period.

It does sound like changing the name, even temporarily, might be more hassle than it's worth. I'll call the respective utility companies tomorrow and ask. Thanks for all your help.

Kim: A good question and one I thought might be asked. TBH i think you can trust someone with one thing but then not completely trust them with something else. I trust them wholeheartedly with many things but this is just one area I do not.