empty house still pay standing charge?

modsandmockers

sacsquacco wrote: »

Two tier tariffs are long gone now, its all daily standing charge per meter except only for Ebico, there are no suppliers offering a no standing charge tariff for electricity as far as I know. The landlord is responsible the day you moved out and up until a new tenant takes over.A favourite landlord trick on new tenants is to give them the old key/card so they pay of any accrued standing charges which can build up as debt .Depends on how long the property was empty. This would also clobber the new tenant with any debts that the old occupier had on the meter as well as landlord standing charges.
The executor is responsible, by law, to clear up any outstanding debts to everyone, including the taxman and suppliers.Its not needed to put in any final meter reads at all until the house has been sold or taken over .Electricity would most likely still be used and a small amount of gas too in many cases. the final meter reads are sent in the minute the executor disposes of the property and a completion date is reached.

I don’t believe it’s that simple. Any ‘outstanding’ debts will, by definition, have been accrued while the debtor was alive. The deceased’s estate will be liable for the debts - the executor is only required to ‘manage’ the deceased’s estate (he/she does not become personally liable for any of the deceased’s debts).

In the case of the deceased’s utilities suppliers, I don’t understand why they would have the legal power to transfer ownership of the account to the executor of the will, and continue to issue bills.

Pre-payment cards and meters are a completely different kettle of fish.

modsandmockers

naedanger wrote: »

Agreed, and this is consistent with what EDF are saying

I disagree - this is what EDF are saying - The account should be changed from the parent's name upon receipt of a copy of the death certificate, to the name 'Executors of Mr/Mrs xxx'(with the appropriate mailing address added at that time)

I don't believe that EDF is remotely interested in whether or not their correspondent is the estate's executor - I think they are trying to con the bereaved into taking on the ownership of the account.

Beancounter

My Dad died in February, I called British Gas and the account was put on hold but charges still accrued. I was told to call them when probate had been granted. I did this and the account was closed, a bill was generated and the supply transferred into my name.

Fortunately Dad had a large credit so the bill I had to pay was small.

naedanger

modsandmockers wrote: »

I don’t believe it’s that simple. Any ‘outstanding’ debts will, by definition, have been accrued while the debtor was alive. The deceased’s estate will be liable for the debts - the executor is only required to ‘manage’ the deceased’s estate (he/she does not become personally liable for any of the deceased’s debts).

In the case of the deceased’s utilities suppliers, I don’t understand why they would have the legal power to transfer ownership of the account to the executor of the will, and continue to issue bills.

Pre-payment cards and meters are a completely different kettle of fish.

The deceased's estate is liable for the debts of the estate that accrue after the deceased's death, an obvious example being funeral costs.

Noone is saying the executor is to become personally liable for any of the estate's debts, regardless of whether they accrued before or after the deceased's death.

naedanger

modsandmockers wrote: »

I disagree - this is what EDF are saying - The account should be changed from the parent's name upon receipt of a copy of the death certificate, to the name 'Executors of Mr/Mrs xxx'(with the appropriate mailing address added at that time)

I don't believe that EDF is remotely interested in whether or not their correspondent is the estate's executor - I think they are trying to con the bereaved into taking on the ownership of the account.

They are saying the account should be changed to the name "Executors of Mr/Mrs xxx"(with the appropriate mailing address added at that time).

So if Mr Smith died they are saying change the account name to "Executors of Mr Smith". What is not clear about that?

[Deleted User]

I ve been an executor twice now and was definitely not liable for debts, but I was required to manage the estate honestly and could be held to account if I did nt and that meant settling up all debts first, funeral costs, taxman, and then any debtors in that order, before dealing with distributing assets.Its a straight forward procedure, as was gaining Letters of Administration myself..No need for any grasping solicitors

modsandmockers

naedanger wrote: »

They are saying the account should be changed to the name "Executors of Mr/Mrs xxx"(with the appropriate mailing address added at that time).

So if Mr Smith died they are saying change the account name to "Executors of Mr Smith". What is not clear about that?

What's clear to me is that the energy supplier is anxious to get someone (anyone) to take over the ownership of the account and accept liability for any bills which might be produced during a potentially long period of time whilst the property is unoccupied.

modsandmockers

Beancounter wrote: »

My Dad died in February, I called British Gas and the account was put on hold but charges still accrued. I was told to call them when probate had been granted. I did this and the account was closed, a bill was generated and the supply transferred into my name.

Fortunately Dad had a large credit so the bill I had to pay was small.

I’m still confused! In what sense was the account ‘put on hold’ if charges continued to accrue? When the supply was transferred into your name, did you become personally liable for the energy bills of a house which you neither owned nor occupied? If your Dad had a large credit at the time of his death, then why did BG not transfer it back into his bank account so that it would become part of his estate?

naedanger

modsandmockers wrote: »

What's clear to me is that the energy supplier is anxious to get someone (anyone) to take over the ownership of the account and accept liability for any bills which might be produced during a potentially long period of time whilst the property is unoccupied.

It is completely untrue to say they are anxious to get someone (anyone) to take over ownership of the account. They are saying the opposite, they only want the account put into the correct name, which is "Executor of Mr/Mrs xxx".

It is also in the executor's interest to know about all debts of the estate.

modsandmockers

naedanger wrote: »

It is completely untrue to say they are anxious to get someone (anyone) to take over ownership of the account. They are saying the opposite, they only want the account put into the correct name, which is "Executor of Mr/Mrs xxx".

It is also in the executor's interest to know about all debts of the estate.

I am seriously not looking for an argument here! But I enjoy a bit of pedantry as much as anybody else….

If you allow the energy company to put the account into the name of "Executor of Mr/Mrs xxx", then it seems to me that you are allowing them to hold the executor personally responsible for any bills which the energy company might choose to produce while the property is empty. If the deceased was on a cheap fixed price tariff, then will the energy supplier continue to apply the same cheap tariff to the executors, or will they (very quietly) bump up their charges to their own (much higher) standard tariff prices? I would prefer to see the account name being changed to “The Estate of Mr/Mrs xxx”

It is also in the executor's interest to know about all debts of the estate.

And it is part of the executor’s duty to to ensure that any bogus claims on the estate will be rebuffed.