Real Life MMD: Should I split the repayment?

JayD

Very short answer - No!

westergille

Am I the only one who's noticed that in this scenario the employed housemate is not demanding money for HERSELF but for the third STUDENT housemate?

My intial thought on reading the dilemma was "No, you don't have to share as you had to to pay CT when you didn't have a job" but then I reread it carefully.

With our theoretical £1000 CT bill, discounted to £750, each housemate was paying £250, as they had all agreed when they moved in together (reluctantly or otherwise).

Once one of the students had graduated they no longer qualified for the discount so their share of the bill would have gone up to £334 each. No problem presumably for the employed housemate as she was still paying way less than if the bill wasn't split but the third STUDENT housemate would have been paying £84 MORE when her income was the same. Although the now unemployed housemate would also have been paying £84 more (and probably on a lesser income) she has had that refunded and knew she would get it refunded.

That's why the employed housemate thinks it might be fair to share the benefit of that refund with the STUDENT housemate.

I'm not sure whether she should - only she will know how hard it was for the student housemate to find the extra £84, how hard it was for herself to pay her share (or live with the stress of not paying her bills) and also how affordable it is for her now to be generous to her student housemate.

The_Engineer

For me it is quite simple, the arrangement should be whatever was agreed up front before taking up tenancy. Not only for the arrangement be agreed up front in writing it should also be clearly articulated what the arrangement would be if the employment status of any of the tenents changes. Trying to sort these things out afterwards will always be fraught with difficulties.