At war with my Ex over bills!

lilherbz

Hi all

I need some help, My partner and I have split up after 4 years we lived together for the best part of 3 years. He moved out of our rented house full of promises to pay his half of everything for another month so I could find a flat. Needless to say he has not kept his promise. There was extra money in the joint account which we accumilated over the years and decided we would pay off any outstanding/final bills with this money. He has since decided this is not what we agreed and it was all his, so instead of the usual £550 he gave me £140. So now I am suck with all the bills. He has accused me of not telling him how much extra was in the joint account so I could pinch it all etc. Its nice to know that he trusts me after 4 years! If I wanted to pinch it why would I have left it in the account for him to see?... anyways that another story.


What should i do - I can not afford these bills, I am due to move soon and have had to pay out for a new deposit etc. What can I do? Most of the bills are in his name should I tell the letting agent where to send the last bills or should I just leave it? I really dont want this haning over my head when I move as I am going to be on a extremely tight budget without all this as well.

Any help will be gratefully received, thanks in advance. ;-)

JohalaReewi

Do you have your own bank account in your name? If not, get one.
Close the joint account (might be difficult if the ex doesn't agree) or tell the bank you have split up and want the joint account frozen. Cancel any DDs and SOs on the joint account (transfer those that are yours to your personal account). The various companies will come after the person whose name is on the bill if they don't get paid.

It would be better to settle this amicably though.

spiro

Contact the ultility supplier(s) and say that you have taken over from dd/mm/2011 and the meter reading is 'X'. They should then issue finals bills to you ex and if you have a forwarding address provide that to them. This means the final bill when you move out will only be from dd/mm/2011 until the move out date.

The issue will be the amount owed to date because as you both lived there I believe there is something is law that makes you joint liable and they will chase whoever they can get hold of, in this case you. It would then fall to you to get the money from him as that would then be a 'third party dispute'. Not much help I'm afraid.

lilherbz

Thank you so much for your reply.

I do have my own personal account, the joint account was for bills and house bits only. I have cancelled all the dd's and so's now. Can I call the bank and ask them to remove my name form the account?

I am trying to be reasonable with him asking him to help with the rest of the bills but he claims he does not have the money - He houseshares with 2 friends and has a good full time job, so i think he is lying.

The gas and electric is in joint names but everything else is in his name. I am tempted to just go without a word, but where I am going has the same gas and electric supplier so I dont want to get caught and have to pay it alone.

lilherbz

Thanks Spiro, Will that work? I dont have a forwarding address for him but I can find out as my friend has moved in 2 doors up.

I dont mind paying half of the bills but I dont want to be stuck paying for it all.

We bought a sofa and bed on finance too, he didnt ant them so I had to pay them. I have paid the sofa which was in my name but not the bed £300 (this is in his name) should i threaten to not pay it if he does not give me half?

spiro

As you are both on the gas/elec the supplier wont care about your ex. They will come after you for 100%. It will then be down to you to recover the money.

In terms of the bed, thats difficult because its still in your possession. If you have another bed, I would tell him to come and collect 'his bed' and then hopefully they will go after him for the debt. If it remains in your house they could argue that you have use of it so could (note I say could) be partially liable. I dont know how it works in this instance. Might want to try talking to CAB.

JohalaReewi

lilherbz wrote: »

Can I call the bank and ask them to remove my name form the account?

You can, but the bank will only close the joint account if you both agree to it. In the meantime, you can ask the bank to freeze the joint account so no more DD's and SO's can be set up.

The gas and electric is in joint names but everything else is in his name. I am tempted to just go without a word, but where I am going has the same gas and electric supplier so I dont want to get caught and have to pay it alone.

Contact the gas and electric and say that from xxxx date, you are taking over the gas and electric and want the account in your name only from that date. If the account(s) is/are in joint names at the moment (can they do this?) then you will might end up having to pay if your ex doesn't.

lilherbz

I have spoken to the bank and they will remove my name if I write a letter and the account is in credit - which it is. Letter is being posted tonight!

I am moving out Friday and I am still undecided about the bed its a nice bed and the amount outstanding is what it would cost to buy not even a half decent one so I might just bite the bullet and pay it off. As much as i would love the idea of taking it to my new place and making the Ex pay for it (especially as he got in the house the other day and took my microwave :-( )

With regards to the bills I am going to have to pay them whatever so once I move and have the final bills i will have to call them and spend the next god knows how long paying for them, whilst the Ex is debt free and bad mouthing me to the world!! Yeah i am such a bad person paying for your responsibilities!!

Thanks so much for your replies means allot that you have taken the time to reply to my post x