Am I responsible for paying mum's council rent?

DeeWren

Hello,

This is the first time I've posted so not sure what I'm doing, but here goes.

My mother died in July, she lived in a council house and was receiving housing benefit as she was living alone and only had her state pension, but she received Attendance Allowance as she was disabled.

We cleared the house in three weeks which was pretty traumatic as even with mum's health issues her death was sudden and unexpected. I contacted the local council on 17th August to ask what the proceedure was for handing back the keys of the property and was told the housing officer would call us back. They didn't so I called again the following day to be told the same thing. A week later and still nobody had called me back so I called the council again only to be told the same thing. I pointed out that I hoped I wasn't going to be charged extra rent while I was waiting for their call back and the girl I spoke to said as my previous calls were on their system I would not be charged rent past the 17th August if anything at all. Also I could go to the local housing office and hand the keys over if I preferred. Why wasn't I told that in the first place, it is all I wanted to know after all? I did that on the 31st August, I have a receipt for the keys and was told by the officer I saw that if there was any outstanding charges they would not be charged after the 17th August.

Well, you guessed it, today I received a letter from the local council and not only charging me rent from 18th July when I lost mum, but up to the 18th September?? To add insult to injury they're charging me full rent too £735!! Can they do this and am I liable to pay? Mum didn't leave a Will and had no savings. She did have an insurance policy which paid for the funeral. I am her only child and next of kin.

Any help and advice would be gratefully received, thanks.

C_Mababejive

Were you also a tenant and/or person living with your mum or do you have your own property?

If the answer is no then you are not liable to pay. They may seek to claim off your mums estate but they cant make you responsible for a deceased persons debt.

Just write to them and say that your mum did not leave a will and has no estate.

boultdj

We had this when OH Dad died,and sorry to say, but as far as the council is concerener[sp?] any rent/council tax benifit's stop from the day the person died and they need 4 week's notice for letting them having the property back so they would use the date in August you got in touch with them as the start of the notice date, so yes they can do that and yes you do have to pay,sorry to say.

Memory_Girl

Your Mums estate is liable for all bills - no money in the estate there is nothing they can claim for. Send them the letter stating there was no money in the estate and you should be fine.

Previous poster is correct - "debts die with you" - or at least your estate so they cannot seek to claim money from someone else.

Sorry for you loss BTW

MG

tallyhoh

No, you are not responsible unless your mom left any money. The council will try it on though. Tell them she has no estate.

dancingfairy

It might be worth going to your local CAB or legal aid centre and see if they can help - maybe with a template letter you can send to the council?
df

sgtbush

if your mum has/had an estate, DO NOT SAY to the council that she dosent- that is fraud

zzzLazyDaisy

I am sorry for your loss. I really think that councils need to review how they deal with the termination of a tenancy on the death of a tenant.

The same thing happened to me when my sister died, suddenly and unexpectedly. I phoned the council the next day and asked about the procedure for terminating the tenancy, only to be told that we had to give a month's notice. My sister was on housing benefit, with full rent and council tax being paid, so of course that stopped on the date of her death. I explained that she had left only debts and the person I spoke to told me that if I didn't pay the one month's rent the council would take ME to court for the unpaid rent (I don't know how they expected to do that since they did not know my name or address)

I emptied the house, posted the keys back to the council with a copy of the death certificate and the address of the cemetary, and invited them to sue my sister for not to give them one month's notice before she died. Petty, I know, but I was just so P*d off by their insensitivity.

As others have said, the estate is responsible for paying any debts, from any money left after the funeral expenses have been paid. If there is no money left, then the debts die with the person.

churchrat

boultdj wrote: »

We had this when OH Dad died,and sorry to say, but as far as the council is concerener[sp?] any rent/council tax benifit's stop from the day the person died and they need 4 week's notice for letting them having the property back so they would use the date in August you got in touch with them as the start of the notice date, so yes they can do that and yes you do have to pay,sorry to say.

Hi
I am afraid that this is wrong--unless you are living at the same property. You are NOT responsible for your mothers rent, but the council will tell you that you are. When my father died the council told me that I had 4 weeks to remove his belongings from his flat and that they were entitled to charge for this rent. I asked them to send me the rules (in writing) relating to this. Complete silence. I also did not clear the flat.

This is already a difficult time for you, do not allow them to bully you.

churchrat.

DeeWren

Thank you all so much for your very useful replies, I feel so much better now. Initially I didn't think I was responsible for the debt, (although how can it be called a debt when the person has already died?), but you know what councils are like with their "clauses".

Mum didn't leave an estate, she had an life assurance policy which paid for the funeral and outstanding expenses such as electric, gas and phone so I won't be lying when I tell them there isn't an estate.

Thanks again, your replies have been much appreciated.

nottoolate

not your debt. not your problem. as said. send a letter saying there were no monies in the estate.

if they threaten you for the bill then take it up with the councillors and maybe the local government ombudsman.

nothing they can do against you anyway but they should get away with it.