Thanks for the input. I much appreciate it. I am willing to write to them etc. The thing is, the ex-flatmate is not the kind of person who would give a rat's tail to me contacting him for the money and will only ignore me - what am I to do then? All I have are email addresses and mobile numbers - if those are still in use. How am I supposed to find them now? This is not an easy task. The debt collectors can do this a lot easier and with much greater effect. Is there any way I can just get the debt collection agency to get to contact them directly, because I am sure they will take note then? My ultimate goal is also just to sort this, but I would feel too defeated to pay the £255, as it is a lot of money to me and as we had a dispute, they are walking away unscathed and they are not innocent to do so... I am willing to accept responsibility for my own faults, but this is not that black and white.

thanks, that does help. Should I maybe just ignore until they pursue the others? I am moving in the next month and think I will just not change my address with my bank...

Dear all, I need urgent advice. I lived in a flatshare from Nov 06 to April 07 with 3 other guys. We shared the bills between us, each paying a quarter. When I moved out, we closed the accounts, which had all our names on the bills, in order that my name be taken off it. During my stay there, we paid everything through my account, even the rent, so they would pay their portion and I would pay the total amount the the estate agents. So one I went through my statements and noticed one guy did not pay rent one month due to a confusion. So when I moved out, I didnt pay the outstanding bills and we agreed he would pay them making up the unpaid rent as the amounts were very similar. The companies pursued me, but clarified things by sending our tenancy agreement etc, but British gas is pursuing me through BCW and despite clarifying that we are all responsible for this, as it is in any case on the account name and I have sent British gas a copy of our tenancy agreement, they still say the law requires only to persue one person and therefore I need to contact my ex flatmates to get the money. The problem is, I had a fallout with them and have no longer got any contact, and even if I could find them, would not bother paying the outstanding amounts if it was coming from me. What am I to do? The original amount was about £124, but now with fees are around £255. I thought this had been settled and is stressing me out now, as I dont want to pay for something, such a large amount which is not what I am supposed to pay. We put all our names on the accounts in order to avoid this type of thing in the future, but this has not seemed to work! Please help!

Dear all, I need urgent advice. I lived in a flatshare, interestingly enough from Nov 06 to April 07 with 3 other guys. We shared the bills between us, each paying a quarter. When I moved out, we closed the accounts, which had all our names on the bills, in order that my name be taken off it. Druing my stay there, we paid everything through my account, even the rent, so they would pay their portion and I would pay the total amount the the estate agents. So one I went through my statements and noticed one guy did not pay rent one month due to a confusion. So when I moved out, I didnt pay the outstanding bills and we agreed he would pay them making up the unpaid rent as the amounts were very similar. The companies pursued me, but clarified things by sending our tenancy agreement etc, but British gas is pursuing me through BCW and despite clarifying that we are all responsible for this, as it is in any case on the account name and I have sent British gas a copy of our tenancy agreement, they still say the law requires only to persue one person and therefore I need to contact my ex flatmates to get the money. The problem is, I had a fallout with them and have no longer got any contact, and even if I could find them, would not bother paying the outstanding amounts if it was coming from me. What am I to do? The original amount was about £124, but now with fees are around £255. I thought this had been settled and is stressing me out now, as I dont want to pay for something, such a large amount which is not what I am supposed to pay. We put all our names on the accounts in order to avoid this type of thing in the future, but this has not seemed to work! Please help!