Student in need of HELP!

bfrost1

Hi,

Basically I live in a student house with 5 other people. We received our first Gas and Electricity bill last week and because I was away I only picked up the letter today as I was at home and all bills are in my name. I have received half of the payments but I am still waiting for the other 3 peoples contributions. I cannot afford to pay the bill without the money of the other upfront so I am just wondering how long we have to pay the bill before more complications arise.

Thanks for your help

Swipe

You need to get the other students names on that bill. You are liable for the entire amount if the others don't pay up and they will get off scott free.

thegirlintheattic

You also need to ensure that you are given the money ahead of time to prevent these problems occurring. How about putting away x amount when the student loan comes in.

t0rt0ise

You still could be liable for it all even if all names are on the bill. If you're the one the company finds, then you're the one they'll chase for payment.

annie_tanks

Ah students and paying bills..had the same sorry saga with both my sons at uni for years..with subsequent years of their names being blacklisted because other students in the same household never paying their dues..they had other household members who say..well I didn't use that because I was not there, causing many arguments...
Most times my sons just moved on because of the aggro..choosing more carefully with whom they shared a house with..
All the above advise is good,with all your names on the bills, but unless you get money from the other household members,for the current bill, you are liable.
Bye the way..hope your house has a smoke and co2 detector..as some of the houses my sons lived in at uni were.. .lets say..were somewhat lacking in safety features..hope your house is different.
Good luck..

spiro

Agree about name and who supplier will chase. You need to estimate your bills by putting your readings meter into a spreadsheet every week and calculate how much it cost and collect 1/6th from each person. That way you aren't chasing for the money every quarter.

Even better would be to pay the money into a back account every week and then move onto a DD tariff as these are always cheaper. You may also want to consider a variable DD monthly billed tariff.