Bill probs in student house

Lady_K

My daughter is in a student house with 3 others, they split the cost of the water bill between them and all gave the only lad in there a cheque each so he could pay it, this was in september. They recieved another bill last week still in the name of 'the occupier' so it has now become obvious despite his denials that the bill has not been paid.

I phoned the water board as they all have mobiles and its too expensive for them to ring and they have traced the account number and address and it is unpaid, the only correspondance reguarding this account has only been by me on record. I rang anonymously and did not give them my daughters or the others names apart from the lads as I do not want them to find they have to pay twice. The way they are doing it is one of them has the gas bill in her name the other has the elec in hers and the other the internet and he agreed to have the water bill in his but obviously he has not changed it. The plan was to collect money from each person when bill was due and pay it.

The water board would not send the bill in his name without him personally calling them but they have now found his name on last years bill listed as a tenant even though he actually told them that he had moved out. They said because of this they can now send him a bill in his name without him informing them, this new bill will be a bit higher due to arreas left over from last year (daughter and 2 others only moved in this year) He has yet to recieve it.

I am concerned about this even though the bill will be in his name, he could still add the others girls on and if he doesnt pay they may find themselves being chased for payment again. They wouldnt have minded being listed on the bill so long as it was paid which it hasnt been. He has just kept the money by the looks of it

Is it easy to go to the small claims court? they will each have to pay £5 to trace the cheques but they are student nurses and have really heavy courses they dont have time for this and have all this extra worry now.

Also the lad had told them that the tv license was still covering till the end of november but they have had letters from tvl for some time now asking for payment but again he said it was a mistake. They will need a new one now I know thats if the other one ever existed but 2 of them have gone home for christmas leaving my daughter and the lad there and she doesnt know what to do about getting the license, she cant trust him no matter what. She cant get one on her own as she cant afford it and she prob wont get the money back.

Also the elec bill came and the girls have all put thier money in but he hasnt so far its all such a worry

My daughter was going to stay there next year too till the end of her course but she said she cant live there with him like that its all unecessary worry and stress on top of a stressfull course

silvercar

they need to have a rule whereby whoever pays the bill then files it, with the paid markings, in a central file. that way no one can make accusations and every one knows that the bills need to be produced.

I don'y know why the landlord didn't notify the water board of the names of the new tenants.

your daughter could take the lad to court, but I don't think it makes for harmonious living arrangements if your suing the person you live with. Did she make the cheque payable to the water board or to the lad? It is going to be difficult and I don't know how to persuade him to pay the bill. Maybe speak to him yourself?

Mrs_pbradley936

Oh the joys of student offspring! I remember it well. In my sons' student house they had the electricity on a key meter and if nobody had a fiver they sat in the dark and oh horror could not play computer/playstation games.

Robert_Sterling

If it is possible students should not accept joint and several liability but should only accept liability for their fractional proportion of bills.

Lady_K

She and all the others made the cheques payable to the lad himself but they will all work out put together to the amount of the bill. The original occupier bill will be a bit less than the new one due to the slight arrears from last year so the cheques they wrote wont work out at the exact amount of that one and I'm not sure if the water board wipe that bill off the system once the bill has got a name to it so they need that bill for the record. I did tell her to get the bill off him and scan it but he hasnt given it to them and probably wont. Even when the new bill in his name arrives if its paid or unpaid they have a right to see it as they have given him the money to pay for it. Its stealing, hes taken thier money and kept it for himself.

Believe me if I lived near there I would be round to try and get this sorted. They do have his parents number but its best when they are all back there after christmas although they didnt want the worry to continue. They did have to contact him at his parents once before and from the reception they got I doubt very much that they will be any help whatsoever, they were nasty even though they didnt know who it was who rang and what for as though they were ready for anything.

The lad when they first moved in tried to get ntl installed and was refused so it is clear he has bad credit rating and wont be bothered about it as he had 5 student accounts once and ran up arrears on them all, his credit rating is bust anyway so he doesnt care. There is probably a lot we don't know that hes done but hes a complete liar. He said he had proof in his bank account that it had been paid but he wont prove it or give the autho code and then he said he had rang them again and they had got muddled up with next doors house and they will send a reciept in 8-10 days. He also said they had told him to send it off in writing to get the bills sent out in his name but he forgot to write so thats his excuse for it not being in his name.

All of these things the water board have told me are total rubbish and it cant be mixed up with next doors and they dont ask people to confirm in writing to have the bill changed into thier name and whatever way hes supposed to have paid they can trace it even with a lost reciept so everything is lies. They confirmed I am the only person to ever phone about that bill hes never rang at all

I think there isnt going to be a harmonious atmosphere anyway seeing as he has stolen from them and in fact it could get worse he seems to want to avoid paying any of the bills at all so taking him to court wouldnt make that much difference. I just wanted to know how much is involved in doing this as far as time is concerned because they have such full courses and will it cost them anything?

lynzpower

Could they cancel thier cheques to him and pay the water company directly? Making notes on the account who remains liable, ie- the lad is the only one who hasnt paid?

Personally if I were them Id either
a) move out and leave him to it
b) move out and leave him to it
c) move out and leave him to it

I had LAODS of probs like this at uni, and there really is very little anyone ca do to force someone to pay if they dont have or dont want to find the money for this sort of thing.

Lady_K

They paid the cheques to him in September way too long ago to cancel but it took the water board all this time to send another reminder bill.

Cant move him out its not easy doing that for any landlord and the landlords dont care as long as they have the rent anyway.

My daughter cant move out anyway as she has signed a contract like them all for 1 yr

The water board still chase up everyone at the property even if 3 paid and not 1 they hold them all liable. but in this case 3 have paid the lad and he hasnt paid any of it

My daughter has a clean credit rating like all the girls in the house, its just him and hes not bothered.

Can the girls ask the landlord not to renew his contract next year so they could find other girls to move in? At the moment the lad is planning on having his old mate in from last year back in the house so that would be 2 of them to put up with and be even worse. Can they get him out that way?

lynzpower

Possibly, this is worth considering.

Or, once its hit the new tenancy year, they can leave him and his scummy mates to it. Personally i think this will be better. the landlord wont be interested unless hes not getting his rent.

greencat_2

Bolting the door after the horse has bolted I know. But next time, everyone should make their cheques out to the utility company or use a PayPoint card (you get a receipt and you don't have to pay the whole amount so each person can go down to the local shop and pay their bit themselves).

Even when a previous landlady used to divvy up the bill and collect payment I was always careful to write a cheque to the utility company and not her.

As for the lad - perhaps a few weeks of the cold shoulder treatment from the ladies might bring him to his senses. I'm not sure I'd want to encur the wrath of three lasses for an indefinite length of time. He has effectively stolen from them and needs to make amends pronto (perhaps he has something to sell to raise the necessary cash?).

Lady_K

Hes very immature and I don't think he will do anything much, I'm going to call the water board agaoin tomorrow maybe to see if they have actually got a payment yet but its gets quite difficult as I am staying anon and they wont tell you much once the bills in a name other than occupier

My daughter has said she has to move but not because she wants to, it will be a big upheaval to do it. Moving all her stuff to another place and having to find one isnt easy she has nurse placements that go over the summer so she really wanted not to have to do that. It also takes some time looking around fr somewhere

irnbru_2

Lady_K wrote:

Is it easy to go to the small claims court?

Yes, search EagleLearner's thread.

Lady_K wrote:

they will each have to pay £5 to trace the cheques but they are student nurses and have really heavy courses they dont have time for this and have all this extra worry now.

They're tracing the cheques to see which account they were cashed into?

Lady_K wrote:

They do have his parents number but its best when they are all back there after christmas although they didnt want the worry to continue.

Do they have the parents address? You might be able to serve court papers at his parental address as part of the small claims court.

Have they all signed individual contracts with the landlord?