How will this affect me? British gas debt

mrsjones2be

Evening ,

Ok me & my husband seperated in June last year, I left the home we jointly own he transferred all bills into his name I paid all final bills that were originally in my name .

Anyway he has now moved out, an I need to move back in as my situation has changed.
However after discovering a mountain of post & speaking to him he has not paid any utility bills since June when I left!!

So my question is if he owes British gas for electric & gas, how do I go about putting bill in my Name?

Can I go with different provider ?

They have sent him letter threatening a payment meter?

Will I get cut off ?

Any help appreciated

Fire_Fox

You have to sign up with BG as a new customer and then you can switch, just telephone them with a meter reading and your direct debit details. It's not your problem that he has left debts as you were not the occupant and your name was not on the bills. IMO take photos of all the meters with a current newspaper in the pictures (Sun has good clear headlines).

Do you have proof that you were at another address: council tax bills, bank statements, tenancy agreement, on the electoral roll? The supplier may query as it is an unusual situation, you may also find council tax ask questions but you are not liable for his debts there either. Just get him off everything, get him to change his address with his banks and have him removed from the electoral register ASAP.

I would note that if you are 'joint tenants' in the property your credit files are linked, you might want to add notes to say that you are officially separated because his credit reflects on you. If you change the house to 'tenants in common' this helps separate the finances and protects your share of the equity in the house from CCJs. Speak to a solicitor ASAP. If you have any joint current accounts or credit cards change this to single names or close the accounts.

"Marriage doesn't hurt, but joint finances do.

Simply marrying or living with someone with a bad credit score shouldn't impact on your finances, as third-party data (someone else's info) doesn't appear on your file. But see below for how this could be changing.

Yet if you're 'financially linked' to someone on any product, it can have an impact. Even just a joint bills account with flat sharers can mean you are co-scored. If one partner has a poor history, keep your finances rigidly separate, and it should maintain access to good credit for the other.

In fact, there are only two common products that can infer financial linking: mortgages and joint bank accounts. As a note, there's no such thing as a 'joint' credit card. Technically, it's one person's account and the other just has access to it. It is technically possible that joint utility bills could be reported on credit files, though current practice is not to do so.

If you split up with someone you've joint finances with, once the accounts are separated or no longer active, always write to the credit reference agencies and ask for a notice of 'disassociation', to stop their credit history affecting yours in future."
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

undaunted

Personally I think I'd put the facts down in writing to BG & ask for their written response.

If they are happy to chase hubby for his debt great but if they want to make a problem out of the fact it's the same occupier(s), name(s), you moving in & out etc you may have more of a problem & want to ask a solicitor to help you with this.

Do you know where hubby is and whether he has the means to pay? If yes you could always tell BG that.

mrsjones2be

Thankyou for your replys,
Yes I have been on council tax where I have been living for 6 months my name is on that bill , my bank statements are also sent there and I pay the water rates there . Water bill in my name.

Hubby has moved back in with his mum.

I'm just really concerned I'm gonna end up owing British gas a fortune . as like u say it seems strange him moving out and me moving back in..

Fire_Fox

undaunted wrote: »

Personally I think I'd put the facts down in writing to BG & ask for their written response.

If they are happy to chase hubby for his debt great but if they want to make a problem out of the fact it's the same occupier(s), name(s), you moving in & out etc you may have more of a problem & want to ask a solicitor to help you with this.

Do you know where hubby is and whether he has the means to pay? If yes you could always tell BG that.

Why would she need to make it so complicated and spend money on a solicitor? She is a genuine new occupant, it's not the same bill payer only the same surname, she previously settled the old account in her name only in full, was not named on the account that is in debt. Worst case scenario the ombudsman could decide, which is free (but must use complaints procedure first).

mrsjones2be wrote: »

Thankyou for your replys,
Yes I have been on council tax where I have been living for 6 months my name is on that bill , my bank statements are also sent there and I pay the water rates there . Water bill in my name.

Hubby has moved back in with his mum.

I'm just really concerned I'm gonna end up owing British gas a fortune . as like u say it seems strange him moving out and me moving back in..

BG cannot legally charge you for the previous tenant/ residents debt, you can prove you were not living there so did not use the energy. Landlords are not liable for tenants energy use even if they run up a humungous debt, it is not based on who owns the property.

Just get your bills and accounts properly registered at the address and get all his addresses changed to his mums ASAP so he is no longer associated with the address on his credit files, and preferably no longer associated with you. Try not to worry, post back here if you have problems. If BG ask for evidence supply that, that is not an uncommon thing to do.

Wywth

mrsjones2be wrote: »

Evening ,

Ok me & my husband seperated in June last year, I left the home we jointly own he transferred all bills into his name I paid all final bills that were originally in my name .

Anyway he has now moved out, an I need to move back in as my situation has changed.
However after discovering a mountain of post & speaking to him he has not paid any utility bills since June when I left!!

So my question is if he owes British gas for electric & gas, how do I go about putting bill in my Name?

Can I go with different provider ?

They have sent him letter threatening a payment meter?

Will I get cut off ?

Any help appreciated

If you are legally separated, then your solicitor will be able to help you get the utilities in your name.

If not legally separated, then you and your husband will be jointly and severally liable for the energy, both what was used in the past and what is used in the future. But if he's not there, he presumably won't care if supplies are cut off, so make sure you pay the bills in full and on time
(You'll need to pay any current outstanding bill too)

undaunted

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why would she need to make it so complicated and spend money on a solicitor?

Hopefully she wont - if they accept what is said in post 1 as fact.

If they don't however & seek to use the arguments outlined by Wywth I would have thought a solicitor would be the best course of action for an expedient and legally correct resolution (not necessarily what an Ombudsman provides as they are not legally qualified merely offering a view based on what they think is reasonable)