paying bills for previous OWNER????????

myright

Hi guys,

I've got a friend. He basically was living with his parents and was working etc to pay the mortgage on his parents name. (as he was unable to get a mortgage on his own name). The parents agreed they would do this for him and also pay the bill, seen as they would live with him.

Anyway. They transfered the house on his name early this year and walked out and moved back to their own house (not getting along with each other). The energy company Wrote a letter demanding his 'parents pay off a year worth off supply' that they were not really paying!!

James rang the energy company to give his parents new address to settle the account and they said he was now liable to pay for the Bills, despite the house was previously owned by his parents and the bills were on their name.

The reason being his parents never CLOSED the account and simply transfered it onto James name, without telling him.

Can this be done?

undaunted

The whole thing seems odd to me. If he couldn't get a mortgage how can the house have suddenly been transferred into his name?

As to the electricity there was a thread quoting joint & several liability recently but as he wasn't an owner of the property or named on the utility bills I think he should seek some proper legal advice on this. You can't normally just transfer your debts to someone else at will and without their knowledge or consent.

chanz4

Just provide a copy of the landregistry document, that states he has only just taken ownership

myright

hi undaunted, basically he coudlnt get a mortgage due to credit problems, but he was paying his parents to do it in their name.

They stayed with him , whilst they were making money from tennants staying at their original house. They transfered the property to james name (as he effectively was paying for it). however they never paid the gas/e elec bills whilst they were staying at his house and the bills were on their names. but at the end they played him by not paying them and profiting from the tennants from the other house.

Terrylw1

They sound like great parents!

The supplier is at fault here as well, without proof they should not alter names. They should create a new account for your friend from his handover date. Up to that point, the owners are liable for the bill and any dispute between the parents and your friend is a third party one and not the suppliers concern.

spiro

Given that his parent have done the off with his money rather than paying the bills what happens next will depend on a number of factors which will help prove or not that they are liable:

1) During the period they (parents) lived there what was their address of the electral register - their house or the shared one?
2) During the period we he on the electral register at that address?
3) You say the mortgage was in their name (hope they have paid that) and that he now owns the house. Does this means he bought the house from his parents and now has his own mortgage?

The reason the points are important is the parents (if they are trying to do the dirty) will try and claim they lived elsewhere and therfore the son is liable whilst the son needs to prove they lived there and are therefore liable. At worst they will chase him for the money and he will need to take his parents to court as it will then be a third party dispute (they stole his money).

A.Penny.Saved

With parent's like that, who needs enemies? lol

JimmyTheWig

You say they weren't getting along with each other. How badly? Are they on speaking terms now? Friendly terms? Or did it all go horribly wrong and the relationship has broken down?

I ask because I think the best thing to do would be for your friend to speak to his parents and find out what they did.

I don't think you'd be allowed to transfer a bill into a different name without consent.
Might your friend have given consent without realising? (e.g. "sign this to get the bills in your name, as agreed")
Might the parents have forged the consent?
As long as he is on speaking terms with his parents I'd say it would be best to clear this up with them before going to the supplier.
If they can't sort it out between them then it's going to mean either your friend pays the bill or someone (your friend or the company, depending on what happened) taking his parents to court. Probably best avoiding it getting this far if possible.

Were solicitors involved in transfering the house from the parent's name to your friend's name?
Were they involved with the bills at all?

Terrylw1

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

You say they weren't getting along with each other. How badly? Are they on speaking terms now? Friendly terms? Or did it all go horribly wrong and the relationship has broken down?

I ask because I think the best thing to do would be for your friend to speak to his parents and find out what they did.

I don't think you'd be allowed to transfer a bill into a different name without consent.
Might your friend have given consent without realising? (e.g. "sign this to get the bills in your name, as agreed")
Might the parents have forged the consent?
As long as he is on speaking terms with his parents I'd say it would be best to clear this up with them before going to the supplier.
If they can't sort it out between them then it's going to mean either your friend pays the bill or someone (your friend or the company, depending on what happened) taking his parents to court. Probably best avoiding it getting this far if possible.

Were solicitors involved in transfering the house from the parent's name to your friend's name?
Were they involved with the bills at all?

If the parents had agreed liability up to a date they transferred to the son, a supplier would create a new account to allow seperate payment.

The supplier doesn't need consent to change the name, they just need to be satisfied they have enough proof.

myright

thank you all:

It started off with a dispute in terms of the date he was liable to pay the bills, despite previous owners (parents) were staying at the home and were the gas/elec bill payers (which they didnt pay).... now my friend is liable to pay all the bills.

However the gas company has decided that James (my friend) has to pay for the bill at the time the house was taken over, regardless his parents living there and the bill was on their name.

He now owes about a years worth bills as his parents have conned him.

All the bills are based on estimates. If my friend provides a meter reading, from the day he took over, can his parents contest this figure?

macman

Yes, if there is no evidence one way or the other by way of a closing reading.