Utility company being difficult over bill

MillicentBystander

So you have never given a closing meter reading and the landlord is dodgy and clearly isn't going to tell UW he's liable for G&E wef your father's death plus there was no official tenancy agreement? Blimey.

undaunted

Given the loose arrangements I'm not clear when you refer to an estate are you implying that your father left any significant amount of money / assets?

If he did then yes the estate is indeed liable to pay any accurately produced bill for his consumption.

If however what we actually have here is someone living in a rented house with a what will be will be attitude to life and hence leaving little money or other assets - eg in reality only leaving enough to cover the funeral costs - then just send the supplier a letter stating that fact & enclosing a copy of his death certificate. They can't sue the dead - or you for someone elses debt!

na.ec

Thought it would be good for me to explain to the last poster

My father did leave some money but not a lot. The estate can cover the cost of the bill I was trying to get resolved but the company were being so rubbish in explaining it and providing anything that made any sense that I refused to pay it until they sent me a clear bill. At one point I got sent a single sheet of A4 simply with the company header and how much was owed, no breakdown of costs or units used. The person I was dealing with thought this was acceptable.

Anyway, I'd just like to thank everyone again for their responses and advice.

matelodave

It's really difficult situation but the ideal way to have sorted this out was to have sent them a letter with a final meter reading and copy of the death certificate as soon as you could.

This should have stopped it there and then and you should have got a final bill which gets paid when probate etc has been sorted out if you hadn't got the money to pay it at the time.

Unfortunately phone calls don't work very well, especially when you are talking to a call centre - unless they record the info correctly these problems can go on & on. As soon as you realise that they have given up listening or comprehending you should send them a recorded delivery letter marked complaint - this will automatically got through a different route within the organisation and hopefully reach someone with a bit more insight and responsibility.

I've had to do it twice in the last three years once, for MIL's estate and once for my mother's and both times it worked flawlessly - even the council tax & water bills for both of them were sorted out without problems. The DWP however was a different matter:mad:

MillicentBystander

My late father had his phone and broadband with Utility Warehouse and on his death I simply rang them and explained he had passed away, the house will be empty until sold so no need for the service anymore. IIRC they didn't even ask for a copy of the death certificate, they just put a stop on the line so no further charges. Perfect service.

I'm not sure what is happening with this one but it seems to me that the OP hasn't provided an end meter read yet plus the landlord is dodgy as hell and sees an opportunity to get away without paying his way. The fact that the OPs father wasn't a legal tenant only adds to the confusion.

From UWs POV I can see why they are treading carefully here.