Problem with an overdue Utility bill - Long story but reall need help!!!

toby316

Hi
Newbie to the forum and was directed here by a friend who said he often receives pretty good advice and help from the folk on here. I’m hoping I may be able to get the same…
My girlfriend’s been experiencing a problem with a Gas and Electric bill from a shared student house she lived in back in 2009/2010. It’s somewhat of a long story but I’ll try and stick to the facts. The problem she has isn’t so much in relation to the company as much as it is to one of the people she shared the house with. Any information, advice or support you could give is welcome. Here goes;
My girlfriend shared a student house between August 2009 and August 2010 with 3 other people. Just before moving out, the house received a gas and electric bill (combined bill from a company that supplied both utilities). Although 2 of the people she shared with had already moved out (but still on the lease until August 2010) they all agreed to pay their share. The first person had apparently done this herself. The second person from the house left money with the third person for her to pay in his behalf and my GF paid her share over the phone.
Shortly after moving out, the utilities company contacted my GF saying more money was owed. Part of this was due to overdue charges. After several phone calls and allot of messing around, everything was figured out and a helpful representative from the company helped work out my GF’s share of the bill and charges which my GF then paid for there and then over the phone. She did note down receipt numbers for the payments but has since lost these. Done and dusted as far as my GF was concerned. At the time she did ask for her name to be taken off the bill and she didn’t want to be contacted again. They said they couldn’t/wouldn’t take her name off of the bill, despite the person who (as mentioned above) had paid her share and had her name removed from the bill.
A couple of months later, my GF receives another phone call demanding money. She explains that she’s made her payment which the company say they have no record of. We visited her bank who went back over her records and provided dates and amounts that were paid, which she passed onto the company. Again she asked for her name to be removed which they wouldn’t/couldn’t do. She also asked them to stop calling her now she had paid her share. After this, she heard nothing from the company again.
After moving out, my GF had little to no contact with the three people she had lived with. They didn’t get on and she felt it was a good time to break away from them. From what the representative from the utilities company explained, it didn’t seem like two of the four people from the house had paid their share. Couldn’t confirm that as the representative didn’t want to give out direct information, and obviously my GF wasn’t in contact with them now anyway.
Now, at the beginning of June 2011, the third person from the house contacts my GF saying £1000 is owed and the others have agreed to pay their share. She wanted my GF to pay her the money so she could “pay it all in one go”. My GF refused to do this and asked for copies of the statement from the utilities company so she can see what’s what. Despite saying she’ll post them, no statement copies ever arrive. GF asks three times for copies of the statement and receives nothing. Then, last night, 06/07/2011, this third person drops into my GF’s work and hands her a statement from the solicitors chasing the money and some invoice from her (the third person). The statement is out of date – original date it was sent is 15th May 2011 and the due date on this statement is the end of June 2011. The value is not even £1000, but just over £900. The invoice says my GF is to pay £250. No idea how this was worked out.
I should just point out that the invoice is just a bit of paper they’ve typed up demanding £250 and is so poorly worded and unclear it’s almost funny.
Now we have reason to believe that this third person is trying to pull a fast one. The names on the statement from the solicitor are only hers and my GF’s. No mention of the other two people. The address is the third person’s address, which my GF has never even visited let alone lived at. We are aware that while living in the shared house during 2009/2010, this third person was still receiving demands of payment for gas and electric from her previous address from exactly the same utilities company. Obviously, she may have paid this since. We also know, for a fact, that when she originally received this bill in May, she tried to find out my GF’s address (we live together) so she could pass the bill directly onto my GF and avoid this herself. I know this because she lives with the brother of a close friend of mine and used my close friend to try and obtain our address. After questioning, I found out what they were trying to do.
Trying to think openly, it could be possible that there was still a bill to come for the last period of time the four people lived in the house.
We are however, pretty certain that this third person has tried to avoid paying her share of the bill from the beginning and we have a feeling that this bill is simply down to her not paying anything when she should have and now, threaten with court proceedings, wants to get money anyway she can.
All we want is a breakdown of the value that owed so we can see what’s owed and when it’s owed from. That way we’ll be able to see if my GF is being stitched up or not. Obviously if it’s a bill form the last period of their stay in the house and subsequent charges for overdue payment, we’ll be able to see that and pay what’s owed. What we don’t want to do is accept any responsibility for any part of the bill if my GF has already paid her share. We don’t want to contact this third person again, despite the fact that we believe she’ll have had said breakdown’s at some point, as we know she’ll try and pass the buck and lie as much as possible. We’re also worried that the utilities company may have added on the charges that the third person owed from her previous address (before the shared house she lived in with my GF).
So, could anyone advise me as to what steps/actions I should take next? I’d appreciate any help from anyone. Sorry for such a long post too, I honestly have tried to keep it short.

Cardew

After several phone calls and allot of messing around, everything was figured out and a helpful representative from the company helped work out my GF’s share of the bill and charges which my GF then paid for there and then over the phone

Welcome to the forum.

In such cases - and there are many similar posts from student accomodation - the normal situation is that all occupants are 'jointly and severally' liable for the bill.

As far as the Utility company are concerned it is a 'third party dispute' and I am surprised that the call centre would help work out and take your girl friends share! They would never normally get involved as they have only your girlfriend's version of how many lived in the house, for how long and who had paid what!!!!

Even if they did accept a part payment from your girlfriend it would simply reduce the outstanding balance(e.g. bill £1,000, GF paid £250, outstanding £750) and all occupants would still be jointly and severally liable - including GF.

The Utility company should be able to provide back copies of the bills.

As for the legal side, you might get a better response if you put the same post in the 'Dept free wannbe' forum on MSE.

toby316

Hey,

Thanks for the advice, I'll post the same in that part of the forum too.

If it's third part will that mean it goes through small claims/needs to be sorted out through the parties concerned?

From what you've said it almost sounds like it could a case of "tough luck" and "get it paid"? I have a horrible feeling it'll come down to that such is the nature of what the people concerned seem to get away with.

davidgmmafan

I don't understand why they have removed one name from the bill, that sounds to me like a major mistake and one which makes it unfair on the remaining named persons. The only way they should do this is if they have the permission of the person asking to be removed and the other people, since the remaining named persons are effectively saying yep we'll cover any bill.

Was everyone named on the bill originally?

Is there a tenancy agreement to prove who was responsible and when?

Given that the balance seems to kepe changing you really need to establish if the account has been closed. If they wouldn't take her name off it then it may just have kept building up. Its a bit of a pain to sort this out, they definately should be backing up thier claims will clear bills and so forth. To cover all the basis personally I'd consider looking for some proof of when your GF moved out in case the scenario I've speculated on above is happening.

There might be some stuff I've missed, there was a lot of info in you post

toby316

They've actually removed 2 names from the bill.

Originally it was in the name of all 4 persons living at the address. Now, the letter from the solicitor chasing the money on the utility company's behalf, is addressed to the third person mentioned above, and my GF.

There should be a tenancy agreement with all 4 names on it from the landlord (hadn't thought of this before). Might be a case of having to dig it up.

I'm beginning to think we may need to request a full statement/breakdown of the bill from the utility company, without initally accepting any responsibility if that makes sense, to see where things have gone wrong.

Sorry about the long post to beginning with, as you say, allot mof ino to take in :-)

davidgmmafan

I would because at the moment they seem to be picking and choosing who they pursue...

That's part one, part two is finding out if they are still billing her and how to get the name removed if they are...

macman

They're fully entitled to pick and choose whom they pursue since, as Cardew pointed out, all those named are jointly and severally liable. Your gf paying any share now direct to the utility co. (or simply contacting them) will just encourage them to come after her for the full balance owing-which they're quite entitled to do.
If the other parties involved want her to pay a proportion to them, then they need to supply proper and up to date copies of the bills.