Paying bills when you aren’t living there??

betsywoolford

I rent a flat with another girl however due to lock down she has decided to lock down at home with her parents, she is now refusing to pay bills for our flat and I can not afford to pay them all myself? How does this work ?

Caz3121

which bills? rent, council tax, gas/electic?

MovingForwards

Also, what name(s) are on the bills she won't pay?

[Deleted User]

betsywoolford said:

I rent a flat with another girl however due to lock down she has decided to lock down at home with her parents, she is now refusing to pay bills for our flat and I can not afford to pay them all myself? How does this work ?

If she went on holiday for a few weeks she would still be liable so I don't see why this is any different. Presumably she hasn't cleared out all of her belongings? 

If the bills are in your name or joint names with her contact the council/utility companies and explain that you can't afford to pay the full amount at the moment.  Any bills that her in her name only tell her to swivel and deduct the amount you owe her for those bills from the amount she owes you for the other bills.  If you find yourself out of pocket at the end of all this you could take take her to small claims court but I think you will also be looking for a new flat mate.

greatcrested

Rent?

Are you and she joint tenants? You both remain equally liable for the full rent to the landlord.

Or is she your lodger (you are the sole tenant)? Again, depending on your contract with her and whether she has served the required notice on you, her lodger contract continues so she owes the rent.

As LoverofLycra says, it's relly no different to if she had gone to Tenerife for 3 weeks.

Utilities?

She might have an argument to say that the gas/elctric bills will be lower due to her absence, but Council Tax and wifi etc are probably unchanged so she should pay. But even that is moot- most people who go on holiday continue to pay their share of bills....

csgohan4

Looks like the flatmate is looking for a free ride, nothing stopping you from doing the same. as above if your both on the tenancy agreement, your both jointly liable. 

AlexMac

Not much to add to the advice above, but I guess that if in practice, you are now the sole occupant, you could apply for the 25% single person discount on your Council Tax.  If the Council Tax is in her name (as opposed to joint namer, or in her name only) that could be tricky however.  And even if you could pull it off, she could interpret that as you agreeing to her absence although you could argue that you're just being pragmatic.

Either way, sympathies; it's unpleasant (even if she has any excuse such as that she's suddenly lost income?) and has probably broken down all trust between you.

lincroft1710

AlexMac said:

Not much to add to the advice above, but I guess that if in practice, you are now the sole occupant, you could apply for the 25% single person discount on your Council Tax.  If the Council Tax is in her name (as opposed to joint namer, or in her name only) that could be tricky however.  And even if you could pull it off, she could interpret that as you agreeing to her absence although you could argue that you're just being pragmatic.

Either way, sympathies; it's unpleasant (even if she has any excuse such as that she's suddenly lost income?) and has probably broken down all trust between you.

If flatmate's belongings are still in the flat, then she will be classed as still living there, so no entitlement to SPD

Thrugelmir

Is she intending to return?
 Request a 3 month rent holiday from your Landlord. To minimise your outgoings in the meantime.