Water Debt - Please help! - OAP Inherited Debt

FirstLadyKirkman

I know this should be in the energy forum but I'm here for the traffic and hopefully some advice. 

My mum sadly passed away end of November very unexpectedly. My sister and I have been going through all of her paperwork. She was the only name on all the utility bills everything has been fine switching over to dad's name, until we came to Southern Water. They changed it all over to my dad and at the end of the conversation she said, I must advise you that your wife's account was in debt by 4k which must be paid immediately. 

My mum was awful with money so to find a debt somewhere was expected.

My dad is an OAP who doesn't have 4k just to hand over. Mum had no estate or private pension apart from her state pension. She has a sunlife plan but that has been paid direct to the funeral directors.

My dad asked for a payment plan, because he is fully aware that he of course has used the water, which was refused and was told to get a loan. He is 75. He won't get a loan. 

Unfortunately my sister and I are not in a position to help financially.

Dad is in pieces. 

Where do we go with this? 

Many Thanks 🙄

RAS

Please can you edit the title to make sure it refers to an OAP and inherited debt.

Brie

First off - yes there is a solution.  

Start off by reading the little clip on Debt Camel and check out the bit about being on a social tariff.  That might help going forward.  Can't pay your bills & debts? What help can you get? · Debt Camel

Secondly I know (but have forgotten the name) there's a system by which the water company can freeze your dad's debt and they and your dad will pay a set amount each month - something tiddly like £2 month.  As long as all the payments are made for a year they then get reduced to £1 and after another year the balance is written off.  

If the water company isn't being helpful ask to speak to their bereavement team.  If they can't help ask to talk to the debt team.  If they can't help ask for a final letter for the debt and take that to the ombudsman to see if they can find a way to resolve things.  

If you and sister can't put in the time to help (i.e. you're busy with jobs, family, life - it's not a criticism) then dad should enlist the help of Citizen's Advice.  Food banks and others may have solutions available as well.  Community Money Advice are very good on these sorts of debt and may help with negotiations too.  I wouldn't suggest StepChange or NationalDebtline as I don't know how well they differentiate between overspending debts (credit cards etc) and utility bill mis-management.

Sorry for your loss.

FirstLadyKirkman

RAS said:

Please can you edit the title to make sure it refers to an OAP and inherited debt.

Thankyou - All done..

FirstLadyKirkman

Brie said:

First off - yes there is a solution.  

Start off by reading the little clip on Debt Camel and check out the bit about being on a social tariff.  That might help going forward.  Can't pay your bills & debts? What help can you get? · Debt Camel

Secondly I know (but have forgotten the name) there's a system by which the water company can freeze your dad's debt and they and your dad will pay a set amount each month - something tiddly like £2 month.  As long as all the payments are made for a year they then get reduced to £1 and after another year the balance is written off.  

If the water company isn't being helpful ask to speak to their bereavement team.  If they can't help ask to talk to the debt team.  If they can't help ask for a final letter for the debt and take that to the ombudsman to see if they can find a way to resolve things.  

If you and sister can't put in the time to help (i.e. you're busy with jobs, family, life - it's not a criticism) then dad should enlist the help of Citizen's Advice.  Food banks and others may have solutions available as well.  Community Money Advice are very good on these sorts of debt and may help with negotiations too.  I wouldn't suggest StepChange or NationalDebtline as I don't know how well they differentiate between overspending debts (credit cards etc) and utility bill mis-management.

Sorry for your loss.

Thank you ever so much. Incredibly helpful 🙂

Brie

Should have added that you might try CAP - Christians Against Poverty.  They are also good at taking a holistic view of a person's life and the bills.  

Stay strong - things will get better.

la531983

That is absolutely rotten. What would the water company have done had you told them nobody else lived in the house, got a "final bill" which would have been written off as no estate, and then your dad signed up as a new customer?

FirstLadyKirkman

The woman wasn't particularly helpful. No empathy at all

gizmo111

This is not Dad’s debt, you can’t inherit a debt.  They need to draw a line under Mum’s debt as there is no money from the estate to pay it, and open a new account for Dad with no debt.  

fatbelly

In general terms a debt in one person's name, who dies, would then be settled by an executor or personal representative from the deceased's estate. If it is a nil estate, the debt is written off.

This one is confused if your dad was a joint adult resident throughout the time of the invoice and therefore maybe being jointly liable for water used during that time. I wonder if the water rep established this before declaring it was his debt.

It sounds like he has not set up a direct debit payment arrangement, which is good. For now he should just make manual payments approximating current usage. Hopefully he's on a meter

Can he contact his local Citizens Advice so that someone can investigate further?