Received a bill, but I wasn't living there at the time

MissSarah

Hi, this is my first post here so please let me know if this is in the right forum or not.

Firstly for backstory: I was renting a house for six months; for the first three months I was living with one man and his name was on the utility bills and I paid him half and we both were on the council tax bill. Then after he moved out another tenant moved in. The new tenant did not pay rent, nor did he put his name on the council tax bill or pay any utility bills. This meant I was overpaying on the council tax, but luckily that was refunded when the council received proof that two people were living in the property.

I moved south to live somewhere else for work whilst I was still renting the property up north. The tenant was still living in the property, and thus my landlord e-mailed me to say that he was soley responsible for the utility bills. I was still paying 75% of the council tax bill however, because I was living in a number of properties owned by a family friend down south and didn't have one permanent address there (plus the council tax was paid by the family friend, anyway).

I shortly moved back up north but my tenancy had ended so I had to make alternative arrangements. My landlord has not contacted me for payment of any outstanding bills, and if he had done I would have paid my share, I have always paid rent, council tax and utilities (when they were in my name) on time.

Fast forward six months and I have received an 'invoice' from a debt collection agency on behalf of E.ON stating that I am to pay £258.58 pounds. The letter was addressed to myself and the tenant who was living there at the time. It was for the period that I was living down south. This is the first I have heard of a bill, and I've not been contacted by either E.ON, the debt collection agency, nor have I received any bill from E.ON before.

I contacted the debt collection agency who said that I was the first name on the bill, and that they have not been able to (or had not contacted) the other named person on the bill. I explained that I was not living there at the time, but they want proof such as a tenancy agreement for the new property or payment of council tax whilst living in the new property. I can get proof, but will this be enough?

What should I do? I feel as though they are contacting me because I am easy to get hold of and have paid my bills. I'm also a bit shocked, because this is the first I've heard of an outstanding bill, and it seems to me to have gone straight to a debt collector. Will this count against me on my credit report?

Also the debt collection agency are charging me administration fees on top of the outstanding bill. Why? I wasn't aware any bill was outstanding until now, so why are they charging me administration fees?

Many thanks and well done to those who managed to read all the way through this!

spiro

Does the 'invoice' cover the period you were renting the property 'up north' regardless of you actually living there and whose names was on the tenancy agreement?
If you are unsure of the dates the 'invoice' covers ask the DCA for a bill and if they cant provide one contact Eon who have to provide you with one.
If the bill is for the period you rented them you are liable, the comapny can chase any/all of the tenant and once they have their money it is up to the person they 'catch' to chase/sue the other for their share as this is then a 3rd party dispute and the energy company have no interest in it.

jalexa

MissSarah wrote: »

I moved south to live somewhere else for work whilst I was still renting the property up north. The tenant was still living in the property, and thus my landlord e-mailed me to say that he was soley responsible for the utility bills. I was still paying 75% of the council tax bill however, because I was living in a number of properties owned by a family friend down south and didn't have one permanent address there

You are going to find it very difficult to avoid responsibility. Contact Citizen's Advice and/or get legal advice. Or pay.

MissSarah

spiro wrote: »

Does the 'invoice' cover the period you were renting the property 'up north' regardless of you actually living there and whose names was on the tenancy agreement?
If you are unsure of the dates the 'invoice' covers ask the DCA for a bill and if they cant provide one contact Eon who have to provide you with one.
If the bill is for the period you rented them you are liable, the comapny can chase any/all of the tenant and once they have their money it is up to the person they 'catch' to chase/sue the other for their share as this is then a 3rd party dispute and the energy company have no interest in it.

Thank you for your response. The invoice covers a period partly whilst I was renting with them but also partly when I had already moved out.

Can I ask whether I would be soley responsible? The invoice has both mine and the other housemate's name on it. I had already offered to pay my Landlord money for the bill before I moved out because I wasn't aware that it was in my name.

MissSarah

jalexa wrote: »

You are going to find it very difficult to avoid responsibility. Contact Citizen's Advice and/or get legal advice. Or pay.

Thank you for the response. I can get a tenancy agreement for the time I was down South, but at the moment I do not have this to hand.

I don't want to shirk all responsibilty of the bills, I offered money to my Landlord for the utilities as I wasn't aware that they were in my name, but my Landlord said that the other tenant would be responsible for them.

spiro

The supplier/DCA will trace the names from the tenacy agreement and will try and get the money from these people, they wont care who and they can legally chase one person for 100%.

When you say 'moved out' were you in effect renting 2 properties or had your tenancy up north ended because you said "I moved south to live somewhere else for work whilst I was still renting the property up north.". The dates your name was on this tenancy agreement are key.

jalexa

MissSarah wrote: »

my Landlord said that the other tenant would be responsible for them.

In that case the test of the landlord's integrity is that they pick up the tab and sue the tenant.

Unfortunately it is not that simple. The supplier will try to recover from anybody they can who shared responsibility. Unfortunately that appears to be you.

MissSarah

spiro wrote: »

The supplier/DCA will trace the names from the tenacy agreement and will try and get the money from these people, they wont care who and they can legally chase one person for 100%.

When you say 'moved out' were you in effect renting 2 properties or had your tenancy up north ended because you said "I moved south to live somewhere else for work whilst I was still renting the property up north.". The dates your name was on this tenancy agreement are key.

Sorry for the confusion. I never really lived in the house in the first place. I started renting in 1st Jan 10 for a period of six months to 30th June 10. At around 01/03/10 I moved down south and since then I have not lived in the property. The bill is from 01/04/10 - 01/07/10. The new tenant moved in around 01/03/10. I have never met him as I was not living at the property when he was.

There was a period of time shortly before the second tenant moved in on 01/03/10 where it was only me in the house. At this time I tried to put my name on the utility bills but it proved hard to change the name and thus they were in my Landlord's name. I paid him the money I owed for the Utility bills for that period. Then I moved down south on the 01/03/10 and I asked the Landlord what would happen with the Utility bills and he said that the new tenant would be responsible. The bill was never in my name and the correspondence I received from the DCA was the first I've heard of any unpaid bills.

MissSarah

jalexa wrote: »

In that case the test of the landlord's integrity is that they pick up the tab and sue the tenant.

Unfortunately it is not that simple. The supplier will try to recover from anybody they can who shared responsibility. Unfortunately that appears to be you.

My understanding was that he was going to sue the tenant for the utility bills. The tenant has failed to pay the rent and the council tax as well and the Landlord has already began proceedings against him.

I spoke to the DCA on the phone and they said if I had proof that I was living elsewhere they would take my name off the bill. I just have to find that tenancy agreement now.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi MissSarah

As spiro says, if the bill has your name on it and is for the period whilst you were responsible for the property (whether living there or not), I'm afraid we'll continue to ask you for payment.

Where there's a dispute over responsibility, we do ask for a Tenancy Agreement to prove/disprove this.

If you've never seen the bill in question, please let us know and we'll be happy to send you a copy.

What should happen when responsibility changes hands is for one account to be closed down on the date of the change and another opened for usage going forward.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

macman

MissSarah wrote: »

Thank you for your response. The invoice covers a period partly whilst I was renting with them but also partly when I had already moved out.

Can I ask whether I would be soley responsible? The invoice has both mine and the other housemate's name on it. I had already offered to pay my Landlord money for the bill before I moved out because I wasn't aware that it was in my name.

You are jointly and severally liable. If it's you they come after and locate first, then it's you that they'll seek the full amount from. Any third party dispute (with landlord, other tenant) is of no concern to them whatsoever.