Found water bill mentioning charging order in his name

betsybye

England

I own a home and my long term partner lives with me, however he is not on the mortgage and had to sign a declaration that he is not owed anything upon sale of the house etc. Although we pay for everything joint, he is the account holder for the water bill 

I just went into his bedside drawer to tidy some things away and found a water bill demanding just under £900 and that the county court claim remains unpaid. It also says ‘we believe you own a property so will ask the court to register charging order’ 

!!!!!!? First of all, I am furious he hasn’t been paying. We have more than enough money together to pay for this! Yes, I will be speaking to him face to face when he gets home, but for now I need advice.

Can this affect my mortgage if he isn’t on the mortgage deeds? He is just listed as living there I believe. That is what I’m most worried about. Him receiving a CCJ - well it’s his own stupid fault and he has to deal with the repercussions, but I do NOT want it to affect me. 

I am trying to call the water company now, but I doubt they’ll be able to do anything since I’m not the account holder. 

Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you. 

Keep_pedalling

When you say you pay everything jointly does this include the mortgage? If he has been paying half your mortgage for all the time he has been living with you he will have a claim to a beneficial ownership of your house. This does not mean a charge can be put on your home while it is in your sole name, but could be a big problem for you if you ever split up.

Time to have a sit down with him to find up what is going on. It’s your house so you should get everything in your name and just get him to contribute to half the household expenses (but not the mortgage) 

betsybye

Strange one as he just pays me a set amount to my bank account each month and I pay for everything from that account. The water bill is in his name from when we rented together and he set up the account himself, he just changed the address when we moved. It’s the only utility not in my name, but I thought there were no issues so never queried it.

To say I am disappointed, ashamed is an understatement. He had some financial problems when he was younger and respectfully, I wanted the mortgage in my name only. 

Although I trust him with majority of things (he’s a wonderfully present partner & father), the risk of him being financially linked to me was just something I couldn’t do and he always said he was fine with it (he had defaults at the time of applying for mortgage). I earn more than him and contribute more to our pot of money that we use month to month. It works for us, but understand not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. He sends me the money no questions or suspicions and if he asked to see the bank account I would never say no. 

My mortgage lender made him sign a declaration before completion to say he would never legally be able to benefit financially from the house, even if he pays towards it. I didn’t insist on this by the way, the lender did. If we ever split up I would give him half from the sale because he contributes. I believe it is more that he can’t take me to court etc for it if I did refuse. 

fatbelly

It's worth a check of the Land Registry title deed. Costs £7 but worth doing.

https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/search-the-register

If he is not mentioned as an owner then a ccj with charging order cannot be registered against him, at least not at that address. Either they are whistling in the wind or have found another property that they think he owns.

This sounds like an old ccj. How old is it? After 6 years they would need a specific order of the court to enforce, which they won't get.

betsybye

Thank you so much for this. CCJ I’m not sure how old. I’m not sure how long any of this has gone on for, I have only found the one letter. Spoke to water company and they advised me to give them a ring once he’s home, get him to say he’s passing the phone over to me and get it sorted.

I just want to do everything in my power to not have my credit ruined by someone else. Have been trying for 2 years to pay off my credit cards and my overdraft so we can remortgage in the next year or 2 for much needed renovations. I would have a breakdown if it meant I had to wait another 6+ years. 

betsybye

I have checked my land registry documentation send by my solicitor 2 years ago. I am the only proprietor listed. 

fatbelly

betsybye said:

Thank you so much for this. CCJ I’m not sure how old. I’m not sure how long any of this has gone on for, I have only found the one letter. Spoke to water company and they advised me to give them a ring once he’s home, get him to say he’s passing the phone over to me and get it sorted.

Yes they would say that. It is not a good idea to talk on the phone. Everything in writing.

If it is over six years since the ccj it is out of time to be enforced. Bear in mind they lied about the charging order