Old utility bills owed from ages ago

Portmanteau91

Hello
I would really appreciate some help on this. Its been years and years of stress (not all the time but everytime I remember it and try to do something about it). I will be concise. 7 years ago I lived in a student house and the bills were in my name and one other persons. When we left the house we still owed a lot of money (something like £2000~). My housemates estimated who owed what and how much to pay but their estimates turned out to be wrong and most people didnt pay the right amount (some paid nothing!) that's how we ended up with around £1500 of debt still on the account. I paid my full amount, and actually foolishly paid about £200 more than I owed to just try and get rid of it (I thought we only owed about that because I was young and had done the maths wrong). Anyway, I have tried to get these old housemates to pay for years and sort it out but with very little progress  and I have contacted the energy provider on more than occasion to work out if anyone had paid/how much was owed still. Last time I did this was at my previous house in a new city 2 years ago. But, I am wondering now if actually the foolish thing was ever getting in touch with the utility company and that instead I should have just let it disappear - and maybe I could do this now. On resolver.co.uk's article about energy debt and debt collection it  says that 'Under the Limitation Act 1980, a creditor has six years to chase unsecured unpaid debts if the occupant resides in England and Wales.'

I would just love for someone to let me know what the best course of action is, it has genuinely been an absolute nightmare to get hold of my old housemates and I seem to be making no progress and one of them (the one that owes the most) is also in a heap of debt.
Thanks for any help!

Reed_Richards

You don't say anything about how the energy company responded to the situation.  If there bills were in your name then I would expect that the company would have been seeking payment of the outstanding balance for the last 7 years.  I doubt if there is anything much you can do to get your former housemates to pay up other than appealing to their better nature,  Now you are older and wiser and can do maths better I'm afraid you may have to take the burden of the outstanding debt on your shoulders.  I don't know about the Limitation Act 1980 but if it literally says "chase" then the likelihood is that you have been chased but not yet caught because you keep moving.  

Portmanteau91

They have actually never gotten in touch with me over the course of those 7 years, many of my old households have passed on letters for other things to me. I kept getting in touch with them and working out the amount owed and asking for suggestions on how to get the money back. They don't have my most recent address (I moved 2 months ago) but they had my address before because I called them and they asked for it (maybe this was foolish) and I lived there for 2 years with no contact from them and them being aware of my address. I simply cannot pay £1500 at this point or for a very long time. I have no savings. I have been appealing to their better nature on and off for 7 years and gotten nowhere. I have tried to get them to add their names, tried to get them to negotiate payment plans, at first many replied but then as the years have gone by noone replied to me!

Is there a place to find more information about utility bill debt? I would like to know if it is affecting my credit rating as well as what the general ramifications are for it if this situation persists for years.

MWT

Portmanteau91 said:

Is there a place to find more information about utility bill debt? I would like to know if it is affecting my credit rating as well as what the general ramifications are for it if this situation persists for years.

Start there with a free 30 day account at checkmyfile.com and see if there is actually anything on your credit report...

Odds are that after 7 years there is nothing to see, but given you've been contacting them frequently over that period it is worth checking to be sure...

Portmanteau91

I've had an account with clearscore since mid-2019 and the reports have always come out fine. Should I still be worried about this bill though? I am in contact with the Citizens Advice Bureau right now.

Cardew

There have been thousands of posts over the years about utility company debts, many concerning shared student houses. I have not seen a single post where a Utility company will get involved in the share of an outstanding debt between occupants. How could they know who had resided in the property and for what period.

Utility companies have always taken the line that the person named on the account is resposible, but that all occupants can be held 'jointly and severally liable'.

As you say a company has up to six years to pursue the debt before it becomes statute-barred. However that doesn't apply if court action has already been instigated:

'If the creditor has already started action to obtain a court judgment or order before the limitation period passed the debt can never become statute-barred.'

You have had good advice above about checking your credit record. Generally 'black marks' are removed after 7 years See:

https://www.creditangel.co.uk/help/how-long-does-information-stay-on-your-credit-report

Portmanteau91

Yes, I am aware that utility companies do not get involved in recouping the losses from the non-named people responsible - I don't think I implied the opposite anywhere...
I would know if court action had taken place right? I have a regular credit report from clearscore... and they have only improved over the last few years. The debt is from 9 years ago but I have been in contact with the provider on many occasions (last in November 2020) because I have been trying to get the occupants to pay off this debt every year or so for a very very long time. (the contact was normally to check if people who said they would pay had actually paid anything in yet). It seems like the best course of action would be to never contact the utility company again (they have never contacted me without me contacting them) and still pestering the responsible parties of my old household hoping they will make some progress. I guess the only questions I have are would I know looking at my clearscore credit report if there was a court action against me? and is there an obvious problem with the approach it seems I am forced to take?

Maybe I am misreading some of the messages on this forum but I feel a bit like some of the responses have been a bit hostile and patronising. I came on here because I have no idea about this. Please don't presume I am trying to say anything authoritative. I did something stupid when I was 20, and have been trying to fix it for a very long time but its near impossible with the other 4 or 5 people not assisting me in anyway. I apologise however if I have misread the tone of some of the replies.

rp1974

OP maybe worthwhile trying to talk with Citizens Advice about this possibly,there's a big difference between a forum it's text and context and being in front of an actual person (remember them?) discussing the same thing,you may find the "tone" there a bit more to your liking.

MWT

Odds are this is nothing more you can sensibly do at this point other than pay it or forget about it..

I would check all of the credit reference agencies rather than just using Clearscore, that is why I suggested 'Checkmyfile' as it is quite common for there to be reports on one but not all of the agencies.

... but given the age, it is unlikely that there is anything there...

Portmanteau91

Yeah I've been on the phone to the CAB as well. They were helpful on the phone but had their limitations and couldnt speak to a lot of stuff. Thanks for the comments, I think I will have to check my credit score thoroughly (as MWT suggests) and just leave it for now/pester my old housemates to do something.

rp1974

Portmanteau91 said:

Yeah I've been on the phone to the CAB as well. They were helpful on the phone but had their limitations and couldnt speak to a lot of stuff. Thanks for the comments, I think I will have to check my credit score thoroughly (as MWT suggests) and just leave it for now/pester my old housemates to do something.

In regards to your old housemates,just inform them your passing on their details to whoevers chasing the debt,wether you do or not is another matter,no reason at all why you shouldn't though.
As suggested checkout the credit situation then just leave well alone,and move on.