Requests / demands for bills to be paid

beavere38

Mum passed away recently and I am a few months away from getting probate. She lived in a McCathy and Stone retirement flat. I'm getting letters asking me to pay some bills namely:

1. First Port Ground rent addressed to "The Estate of XXXX" due 1st September for £175. It also states "Interest may be charged on late payment and a £50 administration charge may be applied to your account"

2. E-ON addressed to "Executor of Mrs XXXXX" £35.38 and it states "It's important to pay your bill as soon a possible to avoid late payment fees"

3. First Port Service Charges £1,489.97 addressed to "The Estate of XXXXXXX"  - they have included a letter asking for the death certificate and stating that the account is on hold for now but "the service charges continue to be payable" 

Should I try and pay these asap from my own funds? I don't really have the spare cash - in particular for number 3. I've turned all electrics off at the fusebox but E-ON seem to insist I cannot stop using them as the electricity supplier so the daily standing charge keeps ticking away which seems unfair as the property is empty?

Thank you in advance.

Marcon

If there are going to be late payment charges on 1 and 2, but not on 3, then it makes sense to pay those off as quickly as possible.

The standing charge may seem unfair, but if that's the contract your mum had (and most people do) rather than one based purely on actual electricity used (more expensive per unit to take account of the fact there is no standing charge), then yes, it's payable I'm afraid.

naedanger

Are there any bank accounts in the estate? If so they might permit you to access the money even without probate if the total is below a certain amount. The limits are high with some banks at the moment - e.g. £100k for Lloyds, or it was recently. Obviously you will need to satisfy them you have authority to deal with the estate.

If you don't have spare cash yourself then I don't think you should pay anything. 

You could call E-On. British Gas don't charge late payments in these circumstances so I would ask E-On to do likewise. (They say on their website - "We want to to give you as much support as we can." Personally I think the service charge is reasonable.)

MalMonroe

Marcon said:

If there are going to be late payment charges on 1 and 2, but not on 3, then it makes sense to pay those off as quickly as possible.

The standing charge may seem unfair, but if that's the contract your mum had (and most people do) rather than one based purely on actual electricity used (more expensive per unit to take account of the fact there is no standing charge), then yes, it's payable I'm afraid.

The person who lived in that flat has died so how can the charges be payable???

EON (who is my supplier but is rubbish and I'm leaving) should acknowledge that the person who lived there has died and therefore no more energy is being used. The contract the OP's mum had ended when her mum died.  OP should NOT pay that from her own money as it is NOT her bill and not addressed to the OP.

What an absolutely ridiculous response.

MalMonroe

beavere38 said:

Mum passed away recently and I am a few months away from getting probate. She lived in a McCathy and Stone retirement flat. I'm getting letters asking me to pay some bills namely:

1. First Port Ground rent addressed to "The Estate of XXXX" due 1st September for £175. It also states "Interest may be charged on late payment and a £50 administration charge may be applied to your account"

2. E-ON addressed to "Executor of Mrs XXXXX" £35.38 and it states "It's important to pay your bill as soon a possible to avoid late payment fees"

3. First Port Service Charges £1,489.97 addressed to "The Estate of XXXXXXX"  - they have included a letter asking for the death certificate and stating that the account is on hold for now but "the service charges continue to be payable" 

Should I try and pay these asap from my own funds? I don't really have the spare cash - in particular for number 3. I've turned all electrics off at the fusebox but E-ON seem to insist I cannot stop using them as the electricity supplier so the daily standing charge keeps ticking away which seems unfair as the property is empty?

Thank you in advance.

Firstly, I'm really sorry to hear about your Mum.

These people chasing money obviously know your Mum has died as they have addressed communications to the Estate of, or Executor. Who is the executor? Is that you? If not you should pass the communications on to them. 

Once probate has been cleared then the executor will be in a position to pay any outstanding fees, bills, etc.

No, I would not use my own money to pay any of these bills or charges. Please remember that they are not YOUR bills and charges, the person to whom they are addressed has passed away so is unable to pay them. They will have to be paid out from the estate, when probate has cleared.

EON is a terrible energy company. I'm about to switch away from them because they offer a terrible service and all they want is your money and for them to be chasing such a small sum from the estate of someone who has recently died is absolutely outrageous. They should, as a gesture of goodwill, just wipe that small amount from the record. 

Just because these people keep writing and pestering for money does not mean that you have to panic and pay them when you cannot afford to. If they do keep pestering, tell them that all matters have gone to probate, these things take time and once there is some money from the estate, they will get paid. 

It really is disgusting the way that some companies do this kind of thing when someone passes away and their family is still grieving. I do feel sorry for you. But don't pay them. Make them wait, they can afford it. 

This link may help, it's from the MSE site about probate :  https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/guide-to-probate/

Keep_pedalling

You are perfectly entitled to cancel the electrical supply contract. Ring again, with meter readings and ask for a final statement. 

It seems you don’t really need to pay the big bill until the place is sold, but be warned these places can be very difficult to sell. Assuming you are a major beneficiary then I would settle the final electrical bill and the ground rent, but unless you are the sole residual beneficiary reclaim those as executor expenses before distributing the estate, unless there are sufficient liquid assets in the estate to pay them.

Brynsam

MalMonroe said:

Marcon said:

If there are going to be late payment charges on 1 and 2, but not on 3, then it makes sense to pay those off as quickly as possible.

The standing charge may seem unfair, but if that's the contract your mum had (and most people do) rather than one based purely on actual electricity used (more expensive per unit to take account of the fact there is no standing charge), then yes, it's payable I'm afraid.

The person who lived in that flat has died so how can the charges be payable???

EON (who is my supplier but is rubbish and I'm leaving) should acknowledge that the person who lived there has died and therefore no more energy is being used. The contract the OP's mum had ended when her mum died.  OP should NOT pay that from her own money as it is NOT her bill and not addressed to the OP.

What an absolutely ridiculous response.

Not got any grasp of the legalities, have you? The executors now stand in place of the deceased and are responsible for the charges. OP said they are 'a few months away from getting probate' so they are clearly an executor.

p00hsticks

Keep_pedalling said:

You are perfectly entitled to cancel the electrical supply contract. Ring again, with meter readings and ask for a final statement. 

However you do need to bear in mind that an electricity supply may be needed to keep any heating going - not a concern in this weather but if probate is still to be sorted as winter approaches it could be an issue, especially as insurance may require a minimum temperature to be maintained while the building is unoccupied. Perhaps instead of getting the supply switched off completely the executor should look to switch to a tariff with no standing charge but based purely on usage 

beavere38

Thank you for all the replies. I will be sole executor and sole beneficiary. The situation is complex. Before applying for probate I have had to wait for a will search (56 days) for another relative as Mum inherits that estate under intestacy rules. That will search will be finished this week so then I can apply for probate for Mum's estate as I can safely estimate the total value for IHT purposes. I am told this takes 2 to 3 months at present.

I will see if I can pay off EON and switch to another supplier without a daily charge. The flat had a duel tariff with one used for storage heaters at night - I don't know if that makes any difference? Also I did not know some electricity suppliers don't make a daily charge is that definitely correct?

The property has never been insured and as it is a block of retirement flats it is always warm so no need for heating even in winter. Both deceased parties had limited funds which I have access to but having spent about £8k on 2 funerals I don't have much left so I have to be careful what I spend it on as there will be other expenses associated with winding up two estates and selling two properties.

beavere38

The only zero standing charge company I can find is Ebico and they have a minimum annual overall spend of £52 (if you use no electricity then they charge you the minimum £52 annual charge). I guess this may be my best bet as it would only be £4.33 per month.

I understand the property will be difficult to sell. I don't think I can start marketing it until I have probate. I will also settle the ground rent but the service charge will have to wait. I will send them the death certificate as requested and hope they are sympathetic. They must be very used to this scenario as by the nature of the properties being retirement flats this must happen a lot.

Marcon

MalMonroe said:

Marcon said:

If there are going to be late payment charges on 1 and 2, but not on 3, then it makes sense to pay those off as quickly as possible.

The standing charge may seem unfair, but if that's the contract your mum had (and most people do) rather than one based purely on actual electricity used (more expensive per unit to take account of the fact there is no standing charge), then yes, it's payable I'm afraid.

The person who lived in that flat has died so how can the charges be payable???

The charges can still be payable because the flat has yet to become the property of new owners - for now the executors are responsible.

 The contract the OP's mum had ended when her mum died.  OP should NOT pay that from her own money as it is NOT her bill and not addressed to the OP.

What an absolutely ridiculous response.

I didn't say OP should pay from her own money, although as she is sole beneficiary and executor, it would make sense to do so, since it's her own inheritance she will be maximising.

What a shame you didn't read my post properly before starting your rant.