Who is liable for the bill

DaveTheMus

I think it's more troubling that your son has run to his Mum so she can sort out the issue with N-Power........Sorry, I don't mean troubling, I mean hilarious.

macman

That's the idea of being a student living away from home-it teaches independence. Well, sometimes...

JuneBow

DaveTheMus wrote: »

I think it's more troubling that your son has run to his Mum so she can sort out the issue with N-Power........Sorry, I don't mean troubling, I mean hilarious.

Do you honestly think that students who are generally in the 18-21 bracket would understand how to deal with an issue like this without any help.
In fact even the contributors on this thread, who are probably older than the student seem to think that the departing student has no liability when infact he is jointly liable up until the end of the tenancy. If these contributors are having difficulty then why would an 18 year old be any different.
The OP clearly realises that the departing student is liable and the son has asked the OPs advice as it would appear that they have some inkling.
The question being asked is not "Is the student liable", because the OP seems to know that, but "what is the best way to get it back"
The son would be pretty stupid to go barging into this without asking anyone for advice. Why would any person not want to help members of their family?

scaredofdebt

How do you know the account is in credit?

nPower have to follow the laws of the land and that includes Data Protection, if they don't do this then they will get fined for it.

Whoever wants to be responsible for the bill needs to ring/email or write nPower advising the situation so a new contract can be opened, give the date and meter readings for when you want this to take place from.

The lease/tenancy agreement is irrelevant here as there has been a contract made between one person and nPower.

AlisonHarrison

scaredofdebt wrote: »

How do you know the account is in credit?

.

The other student told them it was in credit.
They have been to see the accommodation office of the Uni who have told them that the other lad is still liable (for exactly the reason Nada has outlined) and have suggested that they should pay the whole of the bill and then get the money from him and his guarantor via a small claims court.
Obviously this was what we as guarantors and tenants were hoping to avoid and were hoping to get into a situation where he was still the only named person on the bill and NPower would bill him then the other two would settle up.
Thanks for the replies though
Not sure whether this is possible though.
Not sure why Dave finds it so hilarious that the parents as guarantors also have some liability for this.

Cardew

AlisonHarrison wrote: »

The other student told them it was in credit.

The account can only be said to in credit when there is a bill based on actual(not estimated) readings.


For instance my account now might be £300 in credit, however tomorrow I might get a bill for £400 and be £100 in debit.


You will only know the true position on the account when he gets(and shows your son) a FINAL bill from Npower based on actual meter readings.


Your son is at liberty to contact(in writing) Npower and say


'Mr X has told me that he has removed his name from the account. As I am living in the house, I wish to know if this correct. If it is correct can you confirm he has been sent a final bill and on what meter readings was this bill based.'

scaredofdebt

AlisonHarrison wrote: »

The other student told them it was in credit.

And who's to say he hasn't simply spent their standing order payments on beer and paid nothing towards the bill?

Whoever had their name down on the account is liable for the bill, nPower will chase this person for payment.

However, the current tenants need to agree who is going to be liable from when the previous account holder moved out and inform nPower ASAP.

undaunted

Nada666 wrote: »

I don't agree. If he is still in contract and paying rent then he continues to be liable for an equal share of bills (privately amongst the tenants themselves). That is until he has found another occupant or another occupant is found to rent his room. Otherwise you would have X stating he goes home every other weekend, Y stating she stays over with her girlfriend more often than not, Z stating they go home at Christmas a week early, AA stating they have a solid constitution and never use the radiator in their room, AB stating they never use the hob....

In a flat-share you are only free of your equal share of all bills when you no longer pay rent.

Your entitled to your opinion of course but to my mind there is a big difference between getting silly over an incalcuable bill split of somewhere you live & being expected to pay a share of something you definitely do not & will not use at all. Can you show me a court ruling against anyone for consumption charged from a point after they had evidenced having left the property?

He may have to pay up the rent if he leased the place for a fixed period even if moving out early but doesn't have to use or pay for not using the energy after leaving

DaveTheMus wrote: »

I think it's more troubling that your son has run to his Mum so she can sort out the issue with N-Power........Sorry, I don't mean troubling, I mean hilarious.

:rotfl:

chanz4

Big reason why student lets should be always supplied on pre-payment meters, the way suppliers can get around the above situation is to request the letting agent / landlord provide a copy of all tennancys regardless of whos name is on the account

JuneBow

It would be interesting to hear how this pans out and whether you get any help from NPower on who to put on the bill.
I cannot decide whether my students actually thought that they were not liable for the whole period of their tenancy or they were just trying to pull a fast one. I did think that the students wer trying to pull a fast one, but looking at the replies on here from people who thought that if they had moved out there was no liability makes me think that perhaps the students actually did not realise. Maybe I might have thought the same had I not have been a landlord for years.
I am however, surprised that NPower did not know.
When a similar thing happened with me the whole thing had been put in the hands of a debt collection agency before I had seen it. It seems that the demands had been going to the property and the students had not passed them on to me. I think the debt collection agency must have had better access to tracing.
However, as soon as I telephoned the agency they knew exactly who was liable and the students paid.