Shared Bill ? My Rights

shekell

Hi Everyone, i am new to the forum and i hope i am posting in the right place.
My son shared a student house last year at uni, he is one of three people named on the gas and electricity bill from e.on. although there were four in the house.
My son and two of his friends payed their share of every bill online (so have a record) One other lad just didnt bother he has left £200 outstanding and a court action letter has arrived at my house for my son. My son has contacted the non-payer who basically doesnt care and has said he is skint.
My question is if my son is liable to pay the bill or any portion of it and if not (as he has already paid) how can we stop action against him.
Thanks for your help
Sheila

Antispam

Its a 3rd party dispute. the energy company are only interested in getting money from the bill payers its up to them to chase the other person for the rest of what he owes.

He and assuming other two are still in contact may have to pay and chase the other via small claims court. If they dont pay they may get a poor credit rating, it may not be worth doing that for £200 shared between 3. I know the other should pay there fair share

shekell

It seems Really unfair that my son who has already paid more than his share should pay for somebody else. The other lads have said they will not pay any more towards this bill and i think they are right. As e.on have record of my sons payments they cant deny he has paid his portion. I cant see how any court can rule against my son.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

As stated above it is a third party dispute which is of no interest to the Utility company.

You need to look up the term 'jointly and severally liable' which applies here. Essentially they can come after any of the 4 occupants for the full amount.

I am afraid it happens all the time in student houses. He can get advice on this from the Student's Union.

Cardew

shekell wrote: »

It seems Really unfair that my son who has already paid more than his share should pay for somebody else. The other lads have said they will not pay any more towards this bill and i think they are right. As e.on have record of my sons payments they cant deny he has paid his portion. I cant see how any court can rule against my son.

Agreed it is unfair.

This is the problem with shared bills, how are the utility company to know what arrangements were made between the four occupants?

In theory the non-payer could have given his share to your son! An arrangement made where non-payer paid the water bill and the others paid gas/electricity.

This is why they will never get involved in third party disputes.

Antispam

Your right it is unfair but some people in life want a free ride and would rather others pay for there lifestyle. Its hard for companies to chase others who aren't implicated on the bills

shekell wrote: »

It seems Really unfair that my son who has already paid more than his share should pay for somebody else. The other lads have said they will not pay any more towards this bill and i think they are right. As e.on have record of my sons payments they cant deny he has paid his portion. I cant see how any court can rule against my son.

shekell

I really don,t know what to advise my son to do here as if i help him pay i am condoning the forcing of someone elses debt upon him which is clearly wrong.
Should he should go to the court with evidence of payment and if they rule in e.ons favour offer a nominal sum per month ?? The person who wont pay was someone the landlord forced on the rest of them they didn,t even know him.

Wywth

shekell wrote: »

I really don,t know what to advise my son to do here as if i help him pay i am condoning the forcing of someone elses debt upon him which is clearly wrong.
Should he should go to the court with evidence of payment and if they rule in e.ons favour offer a nominal sum per month ?? The person who wont pay was someone the landlord forced on the rest of them they didn,t even know him.

Why don't you just advise him to read the advice already posted in this thread? :cool:

Bennifred

I don't suppose you have contact details for the non-payer's parents? I found that it was worth getting all of the sharers' home details at the start of the tenancy - (emergency contacts in case anything should happen to one of them;) ) - and have contacted other parents on (more than one) son's behalf over unpaid bills - they did pay in the end.

If not - contact the university to see if they can help. The utility company will not care that the situation is unfair - they just want their money, and will go after whoever they think will pay.

bryanb

shekell wrote: »

I really don,t know what to advise my son to do here as if i help him pay i am condoning the forcing of someone elses debt upon him which is clearly wrong.

As has already been said, jointly and severally liable means
it is his debt. Not fair I know but that's how it is.

LittleMax

Until recently I worked for a University managing off-campus property which they rented from landlords and sublet to Students. Splitting of bills was a common problem, long after students had left the property.

Although they don't have to, some energy companies will add names of other occupants to the bill as long as there is proof of that person living in the property. Usually a copy of the tenancy agreement. They will then send a copy of the bill to that person. Often they will then pay, there is something more official when they are billed direct rather than a housemate asking for the money.

So my advice would be to supply details of the additional person and their contact details. However joint and several liability does still apply, so if after sending a bill to the additional person, they still don't pay then the others are still liable for the full amount.