Other 'tenant' refusing to pay half the bills

Mrs_Beatson

Hello all! I'm really hoping one of you lovely people can help my young friend.


My friend rents a shared house. She has her own tenancy agreement. Another lady lives there, but hasn't got her own agreement, she has been allowed to take over/move in from the previous tenant. The two ladies agreed verbally, to split the utility bills 50/50.
The local gas board have discovered a fault with the meter and are now asking for £700 in back payments due to this fault causing incorrect billing. Neither tenant was at fault. The bill is in my friends name only. The other lady is refusing to pay this outstanding bill. She only pays half the other bills as & when, sometimes leaving my friend out of pocket for weeks, something she cannot afford.
The other tenant refuses to have any bills in her name and will not sign anything agreeing to pay half of anything, she just pays as she feels.
Is there anything my friend can do to insist she pays this outstanding bill and indeed any future bills?
She has emailed the Landlord and is awaiting his reply

Really hope someone can help.

Many thanks
Mrs B xx

ACG

I know this doesnt help in the slightest, but it always amazes me that people put themselves in crazy situations and then worry when things happen - the time to worry was when the other woman never had an agreement or when she never paid for the first time.

Anyway, no agreement, nothing in place to say she owes half the bills. Short of the landlord being able to sort this out if the other woman refuses to pay the only other route forward is court but even then theres no guarantee.

Your friend could start walking round and turning the TV, lights, bath, hot water etc everytime the other woman tries to use it. But that could become very confrontational.

Mrs_Beatson

She's young and we all have to learn life's lessons, sometimes the hard way.

I have to admit suggesting that myself! I don't think this young lady enjoys confrontation as much as I do though

I think the main problem is this back payment though.

G_M

How far back in time do the extra gas usage charges go? When did the fault arise? When did each tenant move in? Does the gas usage pre-date either, or both, tenants?

If the gas accoun is in tenant A's name, that is who the gas company will demand payment off. And sue.

If the gas bill covers a period pre-dating tenant A's occupation and account at the property, Tenant A should refuse to pay for gas used by the preceeding tenant.

If the problem in the meter was not the tenant's fault, it could be argued that the landlord was responsible for the meter - clearly this is true of any repair cost, but the landlord will almost certainly argue (correctly in my opinion) that the gas was used by the tenant(s) so they should have paid for it (and would have done at the time had the meter been working).

As for Tenant B's liability, there are 3 options:

1) Tenant A swallows her pride, and the full cost
2) Tenants A & B discuss and reach a compromise
3) Tenant A sues tenant B for breach of (verbal) contract, and they argue it out in court.

spacey2012

She needs to take this up with Ofgem.

BASFORDLAD

spacey2012 wrote: »

She needs to take this up with Ofgem.

Why on earth do you think that.......?

CWSmith

My daughter ended up in the same situation a few years back when she was sharing a house.

There were two occasions when her housemate(s) refused (or couldn't)pay a utility bill of some sort. I don't recall there was much she could do about it at the time, but on future bills that they did pay, she "doctored" them - adding on a few quid to cover what she had lost earlier.

That's probably not very helpful .......!

Sambucus_Nigra

If this outstanding bill had been racked up before the lady moved in, why should she pay? Half needs pro-rating between the old tenant and the new; and payment should be sought from the old tenant. Not that they are likely to pay but that's what my argument would be.

Although with the bills being in your friend's name only; it is only her that is liable for the bill. Sorry.

Mrs_Beatson

Thanks for your replies.

To clarify they were both living there in the time relating to this outstanding bill. The meter gave some reading but not the correct reading, so they paid what they were billed and it is now that the gas board has realised it was faulty and not given the correct figures of use.

The gas board has estimated this outstanding amount based on previous use.

I agree its looking very much like she'll have to pay.
The landlord has said he can do nothing to help.

The other tenant is refusing to sign anything to say she'll definitely pay half of anything in the future.

Your help and comments are appreciated. Thank you
Mrs B x

SAHD_Jim

How long ago was the mistake? I seem to recall that any under the Billing Code, any under-billing from more than 12 months ago cannot be rectified, meaning that they are only liable for any unbilled usage in the past 12 months.

I may be wrong though...

Thrugelmir

Mrs_Beatson wrote: »

The other tenant is refusing to sign anything to say she'll definitely pay half of anything in the future.

Then moving out is the only option.