Death of tenant & rent...

redwineguzzler

Hello again!

Yet another question!!!!

Following my fathers death/funeral etc..... he lived in a old persons sheltered housing 1 bedroom appartment, he was 96yrs old and was on housing benefit etc.

I managed to clear out most of his personal bits & pieces etc, then had to pay a house clearance guy to take away the larger items, and pull up carpets etc...

This all happened within 10 days of him passing away, and handed the keys back, so couldn't have really done it any quicker, but I have received a bill for 2 weeks rent = £180....... I will ring them tomorrow to see what I can sort out, I still haven't finished getting all his final bills in for electric, gas etc yet.

My question is can they claim this knowing his rent was being paid for ie: housing benefit before he passed away???

Thanks.....

Torry_Quine

His entitlement to housing benefit stopped on his death and rent is payable until the property is empty. However the estate if there is one is liable for it and also any utility bills etc.

Have you informed the DWP?

redwineguzzler

Thankyou,

Yes I informed them almost immediately.

It looks like I will have to pay the rent, although at this point I don't know if there will be enough money left to pay all his utility bills and the rent at the moment :eek:

Just have to wait and see how much the utility bills come in at. If there isn't enough, does that mean the responsibility fall on to me or can I just tell them there is nothing left?

Thanks

Torry_Quine

redwineguzzler wrote: »

Thankyou,

Yes I informed them almost immediately.

It looks like I will have to pay the rent, although at this point I don't know if there will be enough money left to pay all his utility bills and the rent at the moment :eek:

Just have to wait and see how much the utility bills come in at. If there isn't enough, does that mean the responsibility fall on to me or can I just tell them there is nothing left?

Thanks

If there is no money left then you are not in any way responsible. the debts will be unpayable.

redwineguzzler

Thankyou, I will just have to wait till all bills are in and go from there! Thanks.... x

jackyann

I would get advice before paying up yourself.
Make a quick call to your local CAB / Law centre to confirm - I think it may be his "estate". Did your dad leave a will? If so, Probate Office may advise.
My condolences.

Fire_Fox

Agree all the liabilities are down the estate not you personally, but you will have to sell everything, not keep bits and bobs like jewellery and watches unfortunately. I'd be inclined to pay the rent over the utilities, otherwise it is the taxpayer who takes the hit.

redwineguzzler

Thanks Fire Fox,

He literally has nothing to sell........ and I take your comments on board, I hadn't thought of that!

[Deleted User]

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I'd be inclined to pay the rent over the utilities, otherwise it is the taxpayer who takes the hit.

As I understand it, whatever money is available should be distributed among the creditors, according to the size of each debt.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

redwineguzzler wrote: »

Hello again!

Yet another question!!!!

Following my fathers death/funeral etc..... he lived in a old persons sheltered housing 1 bedroom appartment, he was 96yrs old and was on housing benefit etc.

I managed to clear out most of his personal bits & pieces etc, then had to pay a house clearance guy to take away the larger items, and pull up carpets etc...

This all happened within 10 days of him passing away, and handed the keys back, so couldn't have really done it any quicker, but I have received a bill for 2 weeks rent = £180....... I will ring them tomorrow to see what I can sort out, I still haven't finished getting all his final bills in for electric, gas etc yet.

My question is can they claim this knowing his rent was being paid for ie: housing benefit before he passed away???

Thanks.....

Well, when my grandfather died, the council tried a similar thing, charging full rent because he hadn't given them the full notice period before vacating the premises :cool:. They never got a penny.


Stick them to the bottom of the list. The Taxpayer doesn't lose out one penny if housing benefit isn't being paid for the period.

getmore4less

Sorry for your loss looks like a good innings.

All liabilities fall on the estate and ultimately for the administator to sort out

Sometimes if the estate is broke it is best to not go down the route of administration even if you are the named executor in a will.
A lot of bother for nothing.

But this leaves the issue of how much you do.

Clear and store the assets( allthough even this is questionable).
Notify everyone you can but consider pointing out that there is no administror yet to those that might want a bill paying.


You don't have to pay bills except the things you organise( like funeral removals etc) if there is no money to pay them so be carefull don't sign or agree to anything.

It can be worth checking there are no suprise assets that do make it worth while, depends how well you know the person how deep you dig.