Student ex-housemates delaying paying bills. Will this affect me?

graduate666

Hi, after living with friends in a student house at university, we have unpaid utility bills. They were due to be paid over 6 months ago. All our names are on the bills, but we sent our share of the money to our housemate the 'account holder' so he could pay it to the utility company. He still hasn't paid the bill as he said he cant afford to pay his share yet.
I've not had any letter off debt collection agencies, but the account holder had been contacted by them.
What I'm worried about is that my name is on this long overdue bill. Is this going to affect me negatively some day when I try to apply for a credit card or loan?

Any light you could shed on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Wywth

graduate666 wrote: »

Hi, after living with friends in a student house at university, we have unpaid utility bills. They were due to be paid over 6 months ago. All our names are on the bills, but we sent our share of the money to our housemate the 'account holder' so he could pay it to the utility company. He still hasn't paid the bill as he said he cant afford to pay his share yet.
I've not had any letter off debt collection agencies, but the account holder had been contacted by them.
What I'm worried about is that my name is on this long overdue bill. Is this going to affect me negatively some day when I try to apply for a credit card or loan?

Any light you could shed on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, pay the supplier IN FULL immediately

(and then go collectively to sort out your thieving mate )

graduate666

Thanks for your reply.
I havn't got the cash to pay the entire bill myself.
Can you elaborate on how this is gona affect me? Higher interest rates etc?
Is there any official document that I can show the housemate whose holding out on us to get him to realize that he's messing up my future financial situation?
Will the fact that I gave him the money to pay ontime, but he didn't pay it for months be something I can bring up to dispute if this comes back to haunt me in coming years?

dogshome

The fact that you are in the house, let alone have your name on the account, leaves you open for the supplier to come after you individually for the entire bill and the same goes for every other individual in the house

The fact that the 'treasurer' has not paid the bill because he hasn't got the cash for his share, seems a likely story.
But on the assumption it's true and the treasurer hasn't misappropiated the other housemates contributions, you must ensure that whatever money he is holding is sent off to the supplier immediately.

By doing this, when the supplier comes after any one of you for payment, they will be asking for less than what is owed now

graduate666

Would it be an option to get my money back off the 'treasurer' (account holder) and send my share of the bill to the utility company directly? I could explain my situation and get my name taken off the bill ? Effectively concluding my business with them while the others are still yet to pay?

SwanJon

If your name is on the bill you are jointly and severally liable - this means that it is not in the interests of the supplier to chase four of you each for a quarter of the bill (for example). It is much easier to chase one of you for the whole amount.

They won't remove you from the account as it is now closed.
I'd get the treasurer to pay the money he has now, and the rest when he can. As dogshome says, if they then come to you for the money you have less to find (and then recover from the treasurer via small claims if necessary)

StuC75

Tell him to pay what he has received in the meantime, which will then just leave part of it owed,, although likely this has been spent in the meantime...

graduate666

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to get him to pay what we have given him, and then pay his share when he has it.

In regards to the exact consequences to all this, is there something I can show him to prove that he's damaging our financial future? Some kind of document that says "Overdue bills will mean you have to pay more interest for this loan/credit card".

graduate666

Also, once this bill is all paid up, will my ability to get a loan/credit card go back to normal? Or does this thing leave a black mark even after its resolved?
#adultproblems

molerat

If the account is reportable to the credit reference agencies the black mark will be there for 6 years, how it will affect you depends on how it is reported.

macman

graduate666 wrote: »

Would it be an option to get my money back off the 'treasurer' (account holder) and send my share of the bill to the utility company directly? I could explain my situation and get my name taken off the bill ? Effectively concluding my business with them while the others are still yet to pay?

N-you are all liable for the whole bill., not any 'share' of it. The suppliers aren't interested in who pays what share, or any aspect of a 3rd party dispute.
If you want to avoid trashing your credit record (if it's not already happened), then pay it off and recover the money from your ex-pals via the small claims process. Once it's on your credit file it's there for 6 years regardless of settlement.
If you ex-pal doesn't already understand the implications, then explain to him the concept of jointly and severally liable-presumably he's not a law graduate? Otherwise he would surely understand that he's effectively stolen the money you gave him towards the bill. The fact that he couldn't pay his share did not prevent him paying the other contributions to the utility co. once he received them.