Tenancy Dispute over unpaid Water Bill

Hayley1981_2

Hi, my brother and his girlfriend recently split up and moved out of the house they rented. My brothers girlfriend was responsible for the water bill and for reasons that we will never know, she decided to ignore the last few months payment on the water account which has now incurred charges. Whilst my brother has willingly helped out with all the other bills, he is not agreeable to helping pay the water bill since it was her responsibility and she is the one that has incurred the charges. The water account is solely in her name and all the bills have been sent directly to her, however, she is saying that she is taking him to a small claims court with a copy of the tenancy agreement which prooves that he lived at the same address and is therefore responsible for the bill too.

If the water account is solely in her name, then it surely has to be her sole responsibility for paying that bill? The fact that he lived at the address proves nothing, the contract is between her and the water company right?

Just to confirm, its not the Water Company that is taking her to court, it is her that is taking my brother to court because she wants money for the bill.

Any advice anyone?

pmlindyloo

According to this

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_water_supply_e/consumer_paying_your_water_bill_e/who_is_responsible_for_paying_a_water_bill.htm

it seems that they are both responsible.

PasturesNew

They were in it together, they are jointly responsible. Water was used, the bill is due, the water company can/will come after one/either/both of you to get it paid.

Hayley1981_2

That is great advice, thank you. Do you think the same also stand for Gas and Electric?

princeofpounds

Your brother does not have to worry about the water company, it is her duty to settle with them, but your brother does have to be concerned with his liability to her.

The question is what was the contract between them?

In the absence of a written contract, and a dispute over the verbal contract status, the court looks at their actions as evidence of what the contract was supposed to be.

The base assumption would be 50/50; they both consumed the water.

However, if there was clear evidence that they had agreed a different division of the billing, such as sustained payments of selected bills in single names, then it may be possible to make the case that that was the agreement.

Where I can't guarantee that is that some judges might just take a 50/50 line, with the legal view that you would have been balancing out any differences as a couple, and as this hasn't been paid it hasn't been balanced out yet. Underlying this would be a personal view that couples should share everything. It may not be strictly correct, but you are never going to appeal it as the costs are prohibitive.

If this was me, the bill was substantial, and I felt poorly done-by, then I would probably defend it in small claims. If the judgment goes against you, then you only get a CCJ if you don't pay promptly, and whilst there will be some extra fees to pay they aren't huge and no other costs can be awarded against you. Putting up a strong refusal means it may never even get taken to court.

Confusedandneedhelp

I would make a concerted and documented effort to sort this out of court using the argument above, the they both paid seperate bills.

anselld

Hayley1981 wrote: »

Any advice anyone?

Life is too short.
Stop wasting time and effort on the bunny-boiling ex. Pay the bill, and move on.

mynameisdave

Make her an offer of 50% of the water bill and 0% of any fees and interest.

If she takes it he won't have to worry about a judge ordering he pays more. If she rejects it he can hopefully demonstrate he paid the other bills and this was their agreement and it would of course be unfair to expect him to contribute further with no knowledge that fees were being incurred because she didn't pay.

Will cost half the original bill but be less stressful.

dancingfairy

Even if he pays half his ex still might take him to court and might then claim that he has admitted responsibility by paying half . Just paying half will not necessarily solve the problem
df

Modgepodge

When I was at uni, they always advised getting EVERYONES names on the bills, so that if they were left unpaid then one person wouldn't be solely responsible. This implies (to me at least) that if one person only is named, they are solely responsible?

Don't know how it works with who suing him though...why does he feel he doesn't owe anything? He used water, right? Unless he paid another bill eg gas or electric himself to make up for this, it sounds like he is just trying to avoid paying just cos it's not in his name...

Confusedandneedhelp

Can we just clarify that he doesn't owe anything at the moment.

The bill is owed by the ex to the water company

Unless a court orders he pays, he owes nothing. Perhaps he paid her cash for this, perhaps he paid another bill, or perhaps she just said she'd pay it.

Makes no difference.

It's often when relationships end that 'debts' appear.