Whos liable to pay Utility bills for squatters

BoxCarJay

Hey all, looking for some advice here. 5 years ago my disabled uncle passed away and left his house to me and my siblings. My dad (his live in carer) started illegally renting out rooms in the house after my uncles death.

We have finally managed to remove all of these illegal tenants so that we can proceed with selling the house. However we have been informed that we may be liable for the utility bills for this period.

The house was only in our name when probate was granted in September 2023. My question is who is responsible for paying the bills for the years leading up to this point considering the points above?

Thanks

la531983

Is this not something a home insurance policy could potentially cover, have you looked into that as an avenue?

_Penny_Dreadful

BoxCarJay said:

Hey all, looking for some advice here. 5 years ago my disabled uncle passed away and left his house to me and my siblings. My dad (his live in carer) started illegally renting out rooms in the house after my uncles death.

We have finally managed to remove all of these illegal tenants so that we can proceed with selling the house. However we have been informed that we may be liable for the utility bills for this period.

The house was only in our name when probate was granted in September 2023. My question is who is responsible for paying the bills for the years leading up to this point considering the points above?

Thanks

These people were not squatters nor were they illegal tenants.

If your father was living in the property, and it sounds as if he was if he was a live-in carer for your late uncle, then these people were your father's lodgers aka excluded occupiers since they shared accommodation with their landlord i.e. your father.

I can't see that your father was illegally letting out the rooms either unless there is selective licencing in the local authority and he may have created licensable HMO but never applied for a licence.

As for who is liable for the utilities, your late uncle's estate would have been liable up to the point that probate was granted.  After that, well it depends in whose name the utilities were in.  It is possible that as the resident landlord your father should have been responsible following the granting of probate.  It's unlikely but not impossible that the lodgers were responsible as usually lodgers pay an all inclusive rent but without seeing the contract I can't say for certain.  When probate was granted did you or your brother contact the utility company?

Council tax is slightly more clear cut where through the hierarchy of liability your father would have been responsible for paying it as a resident landlord.  If your father moved out leaving the lodgers behind then he would still be liable for council tax as the landlord of a HMO.

SiliconChip

What makes you think the tenancies were illegal? Your father may not have had the right to let rooms but that doesn't mean that the tenants didn't have rights to the rooms that they occupied. If the tenancy agreements said that the tenants were not responsible for paying utility bills then it's quite possible that the estate is responsible. It'll be a horrible mess for the family anyway so it may end up being simplest just to pay - although you might want to find out whether back billing restrictions apply in this scenario.

Voyager2002

I do not think the "illegal tenants" were squatters. My immediate thought is that they were paying rent to the person who lived there, presumably on the understanding that it included utility bills, and so these bills are your uncle's responsibility. Did he continue to live in the property right up to the point when probate was granted?

Technically, the utility accounts were in the name of your uncle so are the responsibility of his estate up to the date on which the name was changed. Have the utility providers been informed of his death?

BoxCarJay

Gonna try and provide some extra context for all your replies. 

- My father lived in the property with these lodgers for 3 of the last 5 years but moved out 2 years ago
- They paid rent cash in hand with no tenancy agreements
- The council threatened to fine my father for not being a registered landlord and the house not living up to code
- He moved out of the house at this point and left the lodgers there against our will
- House was never in my fathers name and I dont think any of the utility bills were either 
- Energy/water providers were informed of my uncles passing when it happened so not entirely sure who the bills are made out to as we havent had any access to the property since my uncles passing. 

BoxCarJay

^ also to add to the above. No rent has been paid since he moved out and we believe no utilty bills have been paid in this period either

gwynlas

Your father would have been liable as he was living there and using the utilities plus getting payment from lodgers. If you knew he moved out 2 years ago why has it taen so long to address the issue of squatters. I think the utility company would still hold your father or yourself liable for bills in allowing ex lodgers to remain in residence. The procedure when your father  was due to leave would be to give notice and change the locks.

saajan_12

BoxCarJay said:

- He moved out of the house at this point and left the lodgers there against our will

What was communicated to the occupants directly (if anything) to ask them to leave? Some debate whether they became tenants rather than lodgers, so may have needed a court possession order to fully evict, but either way the process is started by a notice from the landlord. 

At least for the first 3 years, it sounds like possibly the father is liable.  

BoxCarJay

We've been trying to remove the lodgers/squatters/tenants since he left. But as there was no tenancy agreement we couldn't serve eviction notices or section 28s as no official paper work had ever been drawn up. We also had no keys or access to the property until 2 weeks ago. We had no legal recourse to take other than contact the authorities but no luck on that front. I'm hoping that the bills up until probate was done will be my father's responsibility to pay. 

gwynlas said:

Your father would have been liable as he was living there and using the utilities plus getting payment from lodgers. If you knew he moved out 2 years ago why has it taen so long to address the issue of squatters. I think the utility company would still hold your father or yourself liable for bills in allowing ex lodgers to remain in residence. The procedure when your father  was due to leave would be to give notice and change the locks.

user1977

BoxCarJay said:

We've been trying to remove the lodgers/squatters/tenants since he left. But as there was no tenancy agreement we couldn't serve eviction notices or section 28s as no official paper work had ever been drawn up. We also had no keys or access to the property until 2 weeks ago.

gwynlas said:

Your father would have been liable as he was living there and using the utilities plus getting payment from lodgers. If you knew he moved out 2 years ago why has it taen so long to address the issue of squatters. I think the utility company would still hold your father or yourself liable for bills in allowing ex lodgers to remain in residence. The procedure when your father  was due to leave would be to give notice and change the locks.

Who told you that there needed to be "official paperwork" for a tenancy in order to evict someone? You don't need to have keys or access to the property either (as obviously in many cases the landlords would need to evict the occupiers first).