Uni housemates refusing to pay bills as they are living at home during covid-19 lockdown

hdcg

Hi All,
I currently live in a uni house with 3 other people, I am the lead tenant and all of us are listed as tenants on the tenancy agreement. 2 of my housemates have gone home during the lockdown and are likely to stay home even though our tenancy agreement ends in September. 
The 2 housemates that are not currently living in the house are refusing to pay the most recent gas, electric, broadband, water bills as they have "effectively moved out" but they are still paying the full amount for rent to me, to which I pay the land lord, until our tenancy is over.
Unfortunately I only have a verbal agreement that we would split the bills equally. Also, the bills are in my name but I have proof (bank transfer) for the past 7 months that they have each paid 25% of all total bills until recently. My other housemate who is paying his share of the bills can be a witness to our verbal agreement with the non-paying housemates.
If I am unable to persuade them or if they do not have a change of heart, I was thinking of sending the 2 housemates a letter before action before making a small claims. I wouldn't be so bothered if they had not constantly have the heating on during winter which increased our bills significantly. 
Do people think making a small claims regarding the above is viable?
Thanks

[Deleted User]

hdcg said:

Hi All,
I currently live in a uni house with 3 other people, I am the lead tenant and all of us are listed as tenants on the tenancy agreement. 2 of my housemates have gone home during the lockdown and are likely to stay home even though our tenancy agreement ends in September. 
The 2 housemates that are not currently living in the house are refusing to pay the most recent gas, electric, broadband, water bills as they have "effectively moved out" but they are still paying the full amount for rent to me, to which I pay the land lord, until our tenancy is over.
Unfortunately I only have a verbal agreement that we would split the bills equally. Also, the bills are in my name but I have proof (bank transfer) for the past 7 months that they have each paid 25% of all total bills until recently. My other housemate who is paying his share of the bills can be a witness to our verbal agreement with the non-paying housemates.
If I am unable to persuade them or if they do not have a change of heart, I was thinking of sending the 2 housemates a letter before action before making a small claims. I wouldn't be so bothered if they had not constantly have the heating on during winter which increased our bills significantly. 
Do people think making a small claims regarding the above is viable?
Thanks

I don't see why not.  The point I made on another recent and very similar thread is that they would still pay the bills if they went on holiday and weren't physically in the property so I don't see why they shouldn't pay because they have decided to take an extended holiday back home to the parentals.  In future don't put all the household bills in your name when sharing with other people.

Soot2006

The internet they should be paying for as presume that's on a contract? If possible, cancel contract and make your own arrangements.

For the utilities paid by usage, would they consider a flat fee contribution to cover their portion of the standing charge and the people actually in residence pay what's been used?

bob_the_dinosaur

Establish what is fair from the offset.  If you go to court then you need to show that you have been totally fair to them.
Do you know the exact date(s) they moved out?
The rent being paid up until a certain time will be classed as different as its the tenancy, not a contract with a utility provider.
Were the bills quarterly or monthly?  The standing charge is easy enough to calculate and divide because it is a daily charge.  The useage will be based on 'best guesses' but make sure it is based on dates that people agree they moved out.
The more it is done fairly, the more foolish they appear if they don't cooperate

TripleH

Did they pay you by bank transfer? Again it makes it look better if you show nice neat records highlighting previous payments they have made. Agree with above that you shouldn't have put the bills all in your name and that you can only charge them the fixed amounts (the fixed rental fee) rather than the usage.
Provide detailed (but easy to follow) calculations supported by bills and the amounts that those of you who are staying are paying to demonstrate you are being fair and sensible on this.

princeofpounds

Your housemates have not 'effectively' moved out. Effective moving out means surrendering of the tenancy (agreed with the LL) and providing vacant possession. If they were effectively moved out, you would have the chance to move new people in, who would be able to share the burden of household costs. Their moving out status is very ineffective at this stage!

They are still tenants, you had an agreement to share the bills, and they should still be paying. It's not fun for them, but they should be adults by now, who deal with their liabilities.

Letter before action and small claims is the legal route to go, if you wish to do so. A court will have to take a view on what you had all contracted to do regarding the utility bills. In the absence of a written contract, they will normally look at actions taken as evidence of intent, and given that was an equal split it's likely that they would support you (although only the judge could decide for sure). If you do choose this route, be smart on timing; you may want to leave launching proceedings until a point where you are not tied to living with them, as they probably won't be nice to you.

It is of course possible to settle on a compromise, and for those bills where fixed charge and usage are separated you could reasonably make a distinction. A court would expect to see evidence of a good faith attempt at a reasonable settlement in order to be fully on your side. Similarly a court would expect you to mitigate any losses by cancelling contracts you don't personally want, if relevant. But get any settlement agreement confirmed in writing, and in that agreement it's probably wise to establish a written record of that previously-agreed pro-rata responsibility in normal circumstances.

Good luck, and be strong. This type of thing is learning about real adult life.

hdcg

TripleH said:

Did they pay you by bank transfer? Again it makes it look better if you show nice neat records highlighting previous payments they have made. Agree with above that you shouldn't have put the bills all in your name and that you can only charge them the fixed amounts (the fixed rental fee) rather than the usage.
Provide detailed (but easy to follow) calculations supported by bills and the amounts that those of you who are staying are paying to demonstrate you are being fair and sensible on this.

princeofpounds said:

Your housemates have not 'effectively' moved out. Effective moving out means surrendering of the tenancy (agreed with the LL) and providing vacant possession. If they were effectively moved out, you would have the chance to move new people in, who would be able to share the burden of household costs. Their moving out status is very ineffective at this stage!

They are still tenants, you had an agreement to share the bills, and they should still be paying. It's not fun for them, but they should be adults by now, who deal with their liabilities.

Letter before action and small claims is the legal route to go, if you wish to do so. A court will have to take a view on what you had all contracted to do regarding the utility bills. In the absence of a written contract, they will normally look at actions taken as evidence of intent, and given that was an equal split it's likely that they would support you (although only the judge could decide for sure). If you do choose this route, be smart on timing; you may want to leave launching proceedings until a point where you are not tied to living with them, as they probably won't be nice to you.

It is of course possible to settle on a compromise, and for those bills where fixed charge and usage are separated you could reasonably make a distinction. A court would expect to see evidence of a good faith attempt at a reasonable settlement in order to be fully on your side. Similarly a court would expect you to mitigate any losses by cancelling contracts you don't personally want, if relevant. But get any settlement agreement confirmed in writing, and in that agreement it's probably wise to establish a written record of that previously-agreed pro-rata responsibility in normal circumstances.

Good luck, and be strong. This type of thing is learning about real adult life.

@Tripleh @bob_the_dinosaur Yes, they always paid me via bank transfer, and usually after I sent them a message requesting payment they have complied. I personally would not have minded paying my "fair share" but they two non-paying housemates used to drive up the bills by always having the heating on as well as their own electric radiators in their room! There was always regular discussions, both in person and on our house group chat, asking them to turn off heating as they were making the bills too high. In hindsight, I  should have asked them to pay more than 25% of the bills because of this. Seems like they would be getting a much better deal should they not split the bills for the remainder of the tenancy agreement. 

Thanks @princeofpounds  I'd likely send a letter before action once our tenancy agreement finishes detailing what is owed and should that fail, take them to small claims court. Appreciate that this is a lesson, but I would also like to teach my housemate a lesson too should they fail to pay.

TripleH

You can work out the electrical usage over a set period under the current occupants, whatsapp a photo of the meter today and again in a week to show how it's moved on to demonstrate the occupier usage (the dates will represent a time stamp) to show your calculations since the last bill.
It's not fool proof and be open to dispute, but as part of your "here is a bundle of my workings and evidence" shows you are organised and if you're showing you are being reasonable that really is as much as you can do. It's down to probability and the more evidence and work you can provide to support your claim, the better position you will be in.

user225688

When I was a student myself I was alarmed how childish the majority of other supposed adults behaved at uni.  Although I did have some good times during those days I was so glad to be shot of living with these kind of creatures.

Sadly in the years since I found most people continue behaving like this all through their life but at least I live alone now so not beholden to these types.

TripleH

Yes, we have a number like that in our building. A small group who assume the communal areas are theirs to control because they pay for them in their rent and that their needs overrule everyone else. These are the same people who don't read or understand their contracts...