Changing billing details on utility bills

GoneGrey

Don't know if this belongs here or under Energy, anyway.... I have been paying my son's bills for the last few years so all the billing details are in my name although the supply address is his. I need to change the billing details to him. Signed up for a fixed deal on the gas/elec, which still has about 16 months left. Am worried that if the billing details are changed the supplier will move him onto a more expensive tariff

The_Fat_Controller

Normally it would be the occupier that has the energy account in their name.

Is the energy ACCOUNT actually in your name or are you just paying the bills/Direct Debit ?

If you are the account holder then you will not be able to transfer the current tariff, your son will have to take on the account in their own name with the same supplier, they cannot be forced onto a fix so when they do they must insist on the default Standard Variable tariff.

GoneGrey

Thanks for the reply although I don't think it is the one I would like. The account is actually in my name and the bills come to my home address showing his address as the Supply Address. When you say "they cannot be forced onto a fix so when they do they must insist on the default Standard Variable tariff" do you mean my son has to accept the standard tariff? The current fixed deal I have is less than the standard (I was lucky enough to sign up a couple of years ago before all this current mess).

Keep_pedalling

GoneGrey said:

Thanks for the reply although I don't think it is the one I would like. The account is actually in my name and the bills come to my home address showing his address as the Supply Address. When you say "they cannot be forced onto a fix so when they do they must insist on the default Standard Variable tariff" do you mean my son has to accept the standard tariff? The current fixed deal I have is less than the standard (I was lucky enough to sign up a couple of years ago before all this current mess).

The contract is not transferable, the only way to keep the current prices is for you to keep the contract and for your son to reimburse you, then for him to sort his own contract when the current one comes to an end. 

The_Fat_Controller

You son can insist on the SV tariff or take a fix, those are his options.

From what I can see, the best option would be to stay on your current fix and reach an agreement for your son to pay you and when that fix ends reassess the situation.

GoneGrey

Thank you Keep_pedalling and The_Fat_Controller. Like all the others, the supplier isn't offering any fixes at all at the moment. Don't know how I am going to get out from this mess I seem to have managed to create, "GoneGrey" probably won't be accurate, more like "GoneBald"

pochase

Why do you suddenly need to change the billing address to him?

macman

Just change the DD details to those of your son until his advantageous fix ends. The bills will come out of his account, but you will remain the account holder, and retain liability if he defaults.

Mobtr

you could try adding him onto the account as jointly responsible the in a couple of months ask for your name to be removed so it is just left in his name 

GoneGrey

He is my estranged son, I am useful when he's in trouble. Part of him getting custody of my grandson was that I could provide them with somewhere safe to live. He lives in a flat which I own, the council agreed to pay his rent since I had previously been renting out the flat. The rent/housing benefit was paid directly to me which I used to pay all the bills. The housing benefit stopped about a year ago but I continued paying the bills. At the beginning of this year he threw my grandson out, who now lives with me. I told my son when it happened that he had 6 months to get a job and take on paying his own bills. He apparently can't get any benefits as the bills are in my name and the benefits office won't accept them, so just changing the bank details on the suppliers won't help . I don't want him to pay me any rent just take care of his own expenses. Quite frankly, at the moment, I have no idea what to do, he has no money, no real prospect of getting a job but I can't leave him totally destitute.

macman

There is no way around this. If you don't want to be liable for the bills any longer, then the account must be closed out in your name and reopened in his, and that will mean a default to SVT.
Sounds like you've already done as much as you can for him. He's living rent free, has failed to maintain his own son,  and will be able to get help with some utility bills, from what you have said.
If you want to offer him further support then send him a standing order monthly, but you won't have to cover his open-ended utility bills.