Shared Accommodation & house mate not paying bills

Finalv

Noobie post

Just a quick question really.


I'm a student and have a short-hold tenancy agreement in a shared house. in total there are four of us in the house, with one of the house mates being a total !!!!! about paying bills.

All of the bills are in my name as everyone else was far to lazy to set them up when we moved in. I gave the water rates to another house mate to set up in his name, several months on this was not done so I have had to do this too.

the other two housemates are brilliant and will pay up whenever the bills are due. However the one that is a problem is always late and has gone away from 2 months over Christmas leaving me to pay his share. the gas and electric are paid quarterly and have both come in an are defiantly costly unaffordable for me to pay his share.

What I wanted to ask was what rights do I have about claiming this money from the person/ what rights do I have as the bills are in my name. I'm responsible for them but don't want to be for his share. he wont answer calls, texts or facebook messages regarding the money.


Cheers

BitterAndTwisted

Rock and a hard place. I would advise you in the strongest terms possible to get the other two co-tenants to take on a bill each. That way, the dodgy shyster will have three people on his neck not just one.

The only way that I can think of is to threaten him/her with court. You've got access to his tenancy agreement so there's no denying that he/she lives there.

Got any contact details for the parents?

Finalv

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Rock and a hard place. I would advise you in the strongest terms possible to get the other two co-tenants to take on a bill each. That way, the dodgy shyster will have three people on his neck not just one.

The only way that I can think of is to threaten him/her with court. You've got access to his tenancy agreement so there's no denying that he/she lives there.

Got any contact details for the parents?

Thanks for the advice. I will defiantly try get in contact with his parents. his is in arrears with the landlady already. have I got the right to refuse him entry to the house until he pays up? as I don't want him coming back and using our electric/gas etc. He has no plates/pans etc and has always just used ours without asking.

Any ideas on energy suppliers that offer student deals, i.e split payments/responsibility? as BritishGas told us this was not available.

thanks again

Zorz_2

Finalv wrote: »

have I got the right to refuse him entry to the house until he pays up?

No, definitely not! Don't even think about it, because it is a much bigger offense that what he is doing. Unfortunately though, his behaviour as you describe smells nothing but trouble.

Emmzi

no utility co will split bills as you describe. you need to get a bill in each name. one of you has water, one tv licence, etc.

dawyldthing

we had a housemate doing the same. Best thing i can suggest is for you to put all bills in everyones name (we was with southern electric and gas and had everyone listed on the bill), you all pay your 1/4 (they will allow you to do this, esp online) then when it comes to taking your name off you can as you can pay your quarter over the phone and say that yours is now covered so can they take your name off the bill. Thats what i did in all my student properties and if he carries on not paying he will have them all sending demanding letters

Emmzi

trouble is that way if one doesn't pay they just chase the other three. so instead of one oerson getting a default on their credit report, all 4 do, 4 names on the bill doesn't split the liability legally.

BitterAndTwisted

He's in rent-arrears? Are you all four on a joint-tenancy together or do you each have separate ones?

Professional

Now that you've taken responsibility for all the bills you might struggle to move away from that.

What I would say is with the dodgy geezer is you should keep track of how much he owes you and write him a letter. In this letter you inform him that he owes you "x" amount and break down what it is for. Then you give him a reasonable amount of time to reply/get you the money. If he fails to do so you will take up legal action. Send this letter to his parents too. Before you do this speak to the parents and also to the geezer and tell them that you will be sending them a letter about the money owed.

An even better thing to do would be to write this letter and take it to a solicitor tell them your problem and ask them if they can re-write the letter for you and discuss option with them as to legal action if he doesnt pay.

In all likeliness a formal letter from a solicitor will scare the crap out of him and his parents and they will pay.

Long term you should perhaps send a bill for the amount due every month to him and his parents. Tiresome I know but unfortunately in your good nature he is taking the !!!! and will carry on until you make sure its no longer an option. You should also have a word with the landlord let him know that this guy doesn't pay his bills, the landlord himself is having issues with him so presumably at the end of the term you can both get together and get rid of him (might be worth lining up another mate to come straight in, that would help put the landlord at ease).

Hope that helps. Good luck

G_M

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

He's in rent-arrears? Are you all four on a joint-tenancy together or do you each have separate ones?

This is a critical question. If you are all on a single 'joint and several' tenancy agrement, the landlord dos not 'apportion' your rent. The LL could demand the full amount off any one, or combination, of you.

If sonny boy does not pay his rent and the LL has difficulty finding/chasing him, he'll just come to you fo th arrears.

Ulfar

The best advice I can give as I have been through this situation with people I thought were friends is to move.

You may end up covering his portion of the bills up to when you move, when you move take meter readings and notify the utility companies that you are not the bill payer any more. They will then send bills to the occupier.

Also hopefully you are not all on a joint tenancy contract but separate ones otherwise things could get even messier if he is in rent arrears and when it comes to the deposit.