Dealing with utilities debt after wife's death. HELP!!

getmore4less

Sam_carvel wrote: »

I'm so confused I've read citizens advice but also other websites like british gas (who it is with) says they close the account and open another?!?!? What to know where we stand before phoning. It's being going on for a few years they live in such an old building and hearing it costs a fortune with storage heaters and electric heaters. He never opened the mail they have separate accounts she paid so much of the bills,was suppose to, and he paid the majority of things . That's why he knew nothing of this and her credit card.

I think it is probably going to be a good idea to get the account closed and a new one started anyway to make sure the old account is ring fenced and BG will(they know they do) have to wait for any administrator to take up the problem which will buy some time to research properly any liability.

It is looking like the place is not suitable anyway so probably best to focus on future accommodation options.

Raxiel

If he is responsible for the debt, the next step is making sure it's actually correct. Check recent bills to see if they are estimated or actual readings, take actual readings to compare them to what's billed, then submit them for a corrected bill. (I still think opening a new account in his name is the right thing to do but that would need up to date readings too)

How did the debt get so big? If the energy company are partially responsible because it hasn't issued a bill in over a year it may be possible to get some of it written off under the 'back billing' principle.

I'd suggest starting a thread on the energy board for advice. Ideally they want to set up a payment plan for any monies owing, and not pre-payment meters which will increase the cost of energy used until the debt is cleared.

Yorkshireman99

Raxiel wrote: »

If he is responsible for the debt, the next step is making sure it's actually correct. Check recent bills to see if they are estimated or actual readings, take actual readings to compare them to what's billed, then submit them for a corrected bill. (I still think opening a new account in his name is the right thing to do but that would need up to date readings too)

How did the debt get so big? If the energy company are partially responsible because it hasn't issued a bill in over a year it may be possible to get some of it written off under the 'back billing' principle.

I'd suggest starting a thread on the energy board for advice. Ideally they want to set up a payment plan for any monies owing, and not pre-payment meters which will increase the cost of energy used until the debt is cleared.

It seems there is a credit card debt and the energy debt. The OP needs to give mor einformation.