Energy bills for a dead man! 26 August 2022 at 6:25PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 12 replies 1.1K views

MOONGAZER

My brother in law died 3 weeks ago and did not leave a will.  He had been placed in an Assisted Living flat in a kind of care home, which he was renting.  He had been removed from the house he owned as he became a cause for concern.  The house was in the process of being sold when he died, so that along with everything else has been frozen.  My husband is dealing with everything like mail and bill demands until he can get letters of administration.  My BiL's energy supplier has been informed of the death and they have known that the house he owned is empty, yet they insist that the standing charges are still paid.  My husband asked if the electric and gas could be switched off, but he was told that would incur a cost, (which wasn't revealed). As there is no will, nothing is going to be paid for months anyway, but it would seem that the energy companies will accrue the debt and carry on charging a dead man!!  I have been told conflicting stories about debts that have been written off as family cannot be made to pay them, and yet when I was executor for my Dad one of the requirements is to pay off debts - any wise words, please..

Spies

The energy provider is correct, you are still liable for standing charges until the property changes hands. 

MOONGAZER

Thanks for that reply talk about bleed you dry!!!  Do you know if you could have it disconnected, and how much that would cost, please?  When we moved house we had to pay to have it reconnected as funnily enough, our new house had been empty for 2 years.

Keep_pedalling

They won’t carry on charging a dead man, but they will carry on charging his estate until the house is sold.

There is no liability on your BIL’s family to pay these bills that will be down to your husband in his position as administrator but the energy company will have to wait until he obtains LoA before they get paid. If there are no liquid assets in the estate they will need to wait until it is sold.

it would be unwise to cut of the the utilities anyway as heating may be required if the house is to be left empty through winter.

74jax

MOONGAZER said:

My brother in law died 3 weeks ago and did not leave a will.  He had been placed in an Assisted Living flat in a kind of care home, which he was renting.  He had been removed from the house he owned as he became a cause for concern.  The house was in the process of being sold when he died, so that along with everything else has been frozen.  My husband is dealing with everything like mail and bill demands until he can get letters of administration.  My BiL's energy supplier has been informed of the death and they have known that the house he owned is empty, yet they insist that the standing charges are still paid. 
Yes this is quite normal, the services are still there so it's not a 'full' charge, just a stand by charge as it were.
My husband asked if the electric and gas could be switched off, but he was told that would incur a cost, (which wasn't revealed). As there is no will, nothing is going to be paid for months anyway, but it would seem that the energy companies will accrue the debt and carry on charging a dead man!! 
The charge will not be against your BIL.  His account will be frozen. The debt will go to his Estate.  And be settled in due course. You mention 'months' but it's usual to allow a year (Executor Year - even though there's no Executor) so that all debts like this can come in, accounts be settled, and then after the year distributed either as per a Will or Intestate. 
 I have been told conflicting stories about debts that have been written off as family cannot be made to pay them,
If the deseased left no funds (property, cash, or savings etc) , then it is correct no debts can be paid.
and yet when I was executor for my Dad one of the requirements is to pay off debts - any wise words, please..

With your Dad, did he leave money or property? If not, then you should not have used your own money to settle the debts. 

macman

Disconnecting the utilities would be foolish in the extreme, as, apart from making viewing restricted, it will greatly reduce the value of the house, as the buyers would have to spend hundreds having it reconnected.
All the connected utilities will impose ongoing standing charges: so gas, electricity and water. The family are never liable, the debt is that of the estate. All utility suppliers allow an executor account to be set up after death.
If there are no cash assets in the estate, then the supplier will have to wait until the property is sold and the bills paid by your husband from the proceeds, along with any other debts, unless he pays them himself and recoups them when he does the distribution.

BooJewels

MOONGAZER said:

Thanks for that reply talk about bleed you dry!!!  

It really isn't that at all.   As has been touched upon - you need the utilities to remain on for a multitude of reasons.  The standing charges are for providing the facility - whether you use it or not - for ensuring that if you want to turn a light on when you visit on a dark winter day, you can do so etc. etc.

I found with the estate property that I sold recently, the water company waived all charges whilst the property was unoccupied.  They said it was important to keep the water on for cleaning and using the loo whilst we cleared the property and as long as the metering numbers didn't suggest it was occupied, they would stop all charges - and were good to their word.

The power company closed the original account and opened a new one in my name as 'executor for' and I paid a regular amount by DD from the estate and sent monthly meter readings - we were visiting the house weekly, if only to check on it and move things round and as I wasn't local, I stayed there for a few days at a time whilst clearing it.  We had security lighting on on random timers etc.  Other posters here have reported that power companies will bill regularly, but only expect payment when the account is finalised when the property's sold. So you'd perhaps need to negotiate a new arrangement.

Also think about insurance - if the house is unoccupied - and has been for a little while (usually 60 days is their limit) the usual insurance will have been suspended and you may need specific unoccupied property insurance - which in itself may come with restrictions about the heating being left on (ours did) with a thermostat, or security lighting.  We wanted the house to feel still lived in, for our own comfort, but for potential buyers viewing etc. - as a cold empty house feels very uncomfortable and deteriorates quickly.

Disconnecting power supplies off can cost a lot of money - according to recent posts in the energy forum - maybe £250-300 per fuel.  Then the same again to reinstate them for the new buyer.  Yet the standing charges for both fuels (if indeed there are both) will be around £250 (based on my own charges) in total for a year.  So it probably makes economic sense to just leave them on - with the added benefits that brings.

Savvy_Sue

BooJewels said:

I found with the estate property that I sold recently, the water company waived all charges whilst the property was unoccupied.  They said it was important to keep the water on for cleaning and using the loo whilst we cleared the property and as long as the metering numbers didn't suggest it was occupied, they would stop all charges - and were good to their word.

I suspect that's standard for water: it's what happened with us and I've not heard of a situation where it hasn't worked like that. 

SevenOfNine

Same as the others, Anglian water were very clear, there would be no charge for water as long as it was used minimally for cleaning & toilet flushing until the property is sold, & it didn't matter how long that took. Doesn't sound like BiL was on a meter for water though, & each water board might be different anyway.

I found British Gas pretty snotty to deal with (the bereavement dept), but for other bereavements the energy suppliers have been helpful. Still billed for standing charge & any minor useage, changed to 'estate of', told to ignore it all until estates were wrapped up & properties sold.

We didn't want energy cut off, it invalidated property insurance if minimal heating wasn't on set at 10 degrees, & we had some lamps on timers.

GDB2222

MOONGAZER said:

Thanks for that reply talk about bleed you dry!!!  Do you know if you could have it disconnected, and how much that would cost, please?  When we moved house we had to pay to have it reconnected as funnily enough, our new house had been empty for 2 years.

It’s worth finding out who the suppliers are and asking them. There’s possibly a different cost for capping off the supply and disconnecting completely. 

If you turn off the gas, you will need to drain the water completely before it freezes up. 

elsien

74jax said:

MOONGAZER said:

My brother in law died 3 weeks ago and did not leave a will.  He had been placed in an Assisted Living flat in a kind of care home, which he was renting.  He had been removed from the house he owned as he became a cause for concern.  The house was in the process of being sold when he died, so that along with everything else has been frozen.  My husband is dealing with everything like mail and bill demands until he can get letters of administration.  My BiL's energy supplier has been informed of the death and they have known that the house he owned is empty, yet they insist that the standing charges are still paid. 
Yes this is quite normal, the services are still there so it's not a 'full' charge, just a stand by charge as it were.
My husband asked if the electric and gas could be switched off, but he was told that would incur a cost, (which wasn't revealed). As there is no will, nothing is going to be paid for months anyway, but it would seem that the energy companies will accrue the debt and carry on charging a dead man!! 
The charge will not be against your BIL.  His account will be frozen. The debt will go to his Estate.  And be settled in due course. You mention 'months' but it's usual to allow a year (Executor Year - even though there's no Executor) so that all debts like this can come in, accounts be settled, and then after the year distributed either as per a Will or Intestate. 
 I have been told conflicting stories about debts that have been written off as family cannot be made to pay them,
If the deseased left no funds (property, cash, or savings etc) , then it is correct no debts can be paid.
and yet when I was executor for my Dad one of the requirements is to pay off debts - any wise words, please..

With your Dad, did he leave money or property? If not, then you should not have used your own money to settle the debts. 

The house that was in the process of being sold can carry on being sold once probate is sorted. Any debts could be paid from that.
No different to any other empty property  that carries paying utilities.

OP, to stop paying the standing charge you would need to pay for the meters to be removed. Then to be put back when the property is sold. Likely to be 1K plus, if not more.