Payment of bills after death

Lindsay17

Hi
I was just wondering if my husband and I were liable to pay for his deceased mothers gas/electric bill? She passed away last Autumn and now we have received a letter through our (new house) front door with her name on it asking for payment or they will get the bailiffs round etc etc-you know how these letters are!
The thing is my husband has not been registered at her address for over 10 years. I do not have a clue as to how they got our details as we have just moved before Christmas.

Any help on this would be greatly received.

Thanks
Lindsay

antrobus

Lindsay17 wrote: »

Hi
I was just wondering if my husband and I were liable to pay for his deceased mothers gas/electric bill?...

No. The deceased mother's estate is liable for the bills.

lithopsian

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about how a debt collector found you. That's what they do for a living and they're obviously quite good at it.

If you were living in the property at the time then you could still be liable for the debit even if you are not named on the bill. If your mother's estate was insolvent (insufficient funds to cover expenses) and nobody else was living at the property then the energy bill should be written off. You'll have to tell the company though and provide a certain level of documentation. This is something an executor would normally do. At this late stage it could take a while and some wrangling though paperwork to call off the debt collectors.

On the plus side, unless you were actually living at the property then or inherited money from your mother then you're unlikely to be liable for the bill. Certainly it seems unlikely that they have something like a court order against you although take it very seriously if they do.

dogshome

This something the Executor should have dealt with, but to be fair it's a difficult job and everything cannot be done at once.

If you are not the Executor, let the Utility Co know your mother has died and tell them the Name & Address of the Executor

If you are the Executor, again let the Utility know the circumstances, but in writing, enclose a copy of the Death Certificate with advice that the estate is still under probate and funds can't be released till probate is granted.

If probate has been granted but there are not sufficent funds in the estate to meet this bill or any other, you are not responsible for paying them

Terrylw1

Give them the executors details and they will record them on the account and ensure all contact is with them. Its up to the executors to determine whether there are funds to pay as said on other posts.

I find t strange that the ddbt company arre chasing you. Have they put the debt in your name or is it still the mothers? I'm just wondering whether they have used info maybe from such as a neighbour to contact you but thy should deal with a deceased customer differently to tracer a non payer.

[Deleted User]

Hi lindsay17. I was the executor of my fathers estate 15 years ago.there is a strict order of settlement of the estate if I remember rightly. Funeral expense,Taxman,Debters then anything left over is paid according to the will, or if intestate also.I had one year to wind up the estate.I understand that the utilities are not above selling on the debt to the usual sort of "debt collecting companys " nowadays.Possibly if you have been a beneficiary before any outstanding debts have been settled,that would be a problem

st999

Did no one inform them that the account holder had died?

When my father died I phoned up, at that time Hydro Electric, and was asked for a final reading and who was dealing with the estate and not to worry about rushing to pay the bill and if there was no money to pay the bill just inform them.

Of course this was before privatisation.

Terrylw1

sacsquacco wrote: »

Hi lindsay17. I was the executor of my fathers estate 15 years ago.there is a strict order of settlement of the estate if I remember rightly. Funeral expense,Taxman,Debters then anything left over is paid according to the will, or if intestate also.I had one year to wind up the estate.I understand that the utilities are not above selling on the debt to the usual sort of "debt collecting companys " nowadays.Possibly if you have been a beneficiary before any outstanding debts have been settled,that would be a problem

This is most common on closed account debt as they need to trace people and its far cheaper and easier to sell the debt. They can recall mistaken debt though and I would expect they will for a deceased case. Its most likely its just treated as a standard debt since harsh treatment of deceased can damage their reputation quite publicly.