Partner being held liable for his ex's debt...

owensmum75

Hi,

I'm not sure where to post this so please feel free to move it!

My partner was in the process of starting to divorce his ex wife and moved out of their house in Newcastle and moved back to Bristol. This was in the first week of January 2004. He cancelled all the utilities before he left and settled up the bills.

About a year ago he got a letter from a debt agency saying he owed over £100 for a phone bill at his old Newcastle address. He wrote to BT saying that he wasn't responsible for the charges as he hadn't been living there.

We didn't hear anything for a while then he recieved a bill from BT for his old address. It said that the dates in question were for 22nd January 2004 to February 2004. AFTER he'd gone.

Again he wrote to them and again we heard nothing. Two days ago he got a final demand from Wescot saying if he didn't pay he would be taken to court. He phoned Wescot and was told "It's your name on the bill pay it!". He then phoned BT and was told that the reference number he'd given relates to a reconnection made on 22nd January. He can prove he wasn't living there as he was claiming benefit at the time and had his claim transfered to Bristol. Unfortunately BT have the same attitude as Wescot..

Any ideas where to go from here?

PS.. He has no idea where his ex is living now..

JohalaReewi

Get legal advice. See the Citizens Advice Bureau or similar.

dunstonh

Just because he wasnt living there, doesnt mean he doesnt have to pay.

If his name was on the bill, then he is liable for the debt.

Clive_Woody

dunstonh wrote: »

Just because he wasnt living there, doesnt mean he doesnt have to pay.

If his name was on the bill, then he is liable for the debt.

Surely not if he closed the account that was open in his name then moved out.

If an account was then opened in his name by somebody else surely this is fraud?

artic_fox_2

if he canceled the account surly he cant be held responsible if bt allowed someone else to reopen the account i would say write to the head of bt including dates that he canceled account and the proof that he moved out before it was applied for reconnection isnt bt ment to only speak to the account holder especialy for reconnection requests

fififofum

has he got final bill for when he moved out as proof?

JohalaReewi

Clive_Woody wrote: »

Surely not if he closed the account that was open in his name then moved out.

If an account was then opened in his name by somebody else surely this is fraud?

If the account was in his name only and he closed it, then BT should not allow anybody else to reopen it. If they did then it is either a mistake by BT or fraud by the person who reopened the account claiming to be him.

If the account was in joint names it could be reopened by the other person.

Spendi

owensmum75 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm not sure where to post this so please feel free to move it!

My partner was in the process of starting to divorce his ex wife and moved out of their house in Newcastle and moved back to Bristol. This was in the first week of January 2004. He cancelled all the utilities before he left and settled up the bills.

Any ideas where to go from here?

PS.. He has no idea where his ex is living now..

Unless the law has changed drastically, theres a little clause that says when you get married you are legally responsible for your partners debts - thats lasts until the day you get divorced, as i found out to my cost !
Similar situation, moved out started divorce proceedings first i knew was a court order arriving at my work place, the bill wasnt even in my name but my ex husbands name. within the space of about 2 weeks i found out my ex had not paid any bills for about 9 months after i left him, and they were all coming after me for the money, i asked my divorce solicitor to look into it but there was nothing i could do, i ended up having to make arrangements to pay and paid of around £8k of debt that wasnt even mine.
The only things i managed to get written off were his council tax as it was before we got married and the rent to the council as i had signed over my tennacy in person at the housing office. I even had to pay fees for a house valuation and mortgage advice he had tried to get with his new partner !.
I even told them were he was living but they didnt want to know.

My advice would be go see a solicitor and see if there is anything you can do.

JohalaReewi

Spendi wrote: »

Unless the law has changed drastically, theres a little clause that says when you get married you are legally responsible for your partners debts - thats lasts until the day you get divorced, as i found out to my cost !

Interesting. Do you have any references? I would be interested to check this out. All the information I have says that if a person takes on credit in their own sole name of what ever age then it’s only that person that can be held liable by the creditor concerned.

Cumbrian_Male

Ask for a certified true copy of the credit agreement with your signature on it signed on the 22nd of January.

It shouldn't exist.

Spendi

JohalaReewi wrote: »

Interesting. Do you have any references? I would be interested to check this out. All the information I have says that if a person takes on credit in their own sole name of what ever age then it’s only that person that can be held liable by the creditor concerned.

i can only comment on my own situation, i left him and they all came after me for money. I couldnt prove that i hadnt been living with him as we wernt divorced, i could only prove that i had started divorce proceedings on x date but that wasnt enough, i wasnt on the electoral roll at my new address yet, and basically it would have cost me more to fight these companies in court than it would to pay them off. Even if i won my cases i would still have to sue my ex for my costs along with all the other creditors.