Unpaid utility bills issue

[blue21]

Hi Guys,

 

Need bit of advise.

 

I moved out of this property few months back, landlord deducted money for utility bills I was due from my deposite. Just to point it was a shared property and landlord collected money from others too, I lived there for nearly 2 years, we always received bills in landlord's name and paid money to him.

All fair and square so far.

 

Now 3 months after i moved out, i started receiving letters from my Gas supplier asking me to clear unpaid bills. It also included some charges that occured while trying to trace me! and then some more for late payment.

 

I in turn called gas company explained them the situation and asked them how can they put bills on my name, they said my landlord has advised them to do so.

 

I have since spoken to my landlord he agrees that its his responsibility to pay bills and i dont owe anything but gas company keeps sending me reminders and latest is a court action threat. I have never had a missing payment for anything in my life and now for no fault of my own i m set to spoile my credit file and possibly a CCJ.

 

I need advise on how to,

 

1) get gas company to remove my name from the bill, i never consented that the bill can be transfered to my name, they just took my landlord's word, they didn't had any proof that i actually lived there during billing period.

 

2) failing to above, how to compell my landlord to pay gas company.

 

sorry to be bit discriptive but just to give a clearer picture of mess i m in.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

B

[MartinPC]

Do the utility company have a written agreement, between the utility company and you, that you are their customer and you shall pay the bills?

 

The answer is 'no' so just throw their correspondence in the bin or 'return to sender', it would never stand up in court and should they set the debt collectors on you, or affect your credit rating in any way, then you have a case against them.

[blue21]

Thanks.

 

I don't have an agreement but according to utility company they don't need an agreement, they can chase me for payment without an agreement as long as i lived there!

 

I also pointed to them my tenancy agreement says I should pay my share of bills and here I am chased for whole bill for nearly a year, their reply to this is, tenancy agreement is between me and my landlord, if i have paid my landlord and he has not paid utility company, thats my problem, they can legaly chase me!

 

It can't be true can it!

[MartinPC]

These utilities make it up as it suits them,

 

I once walked out of a tenancy, quit without notice, because the landlord wouldn't repair and perhaps 6 months later Anglian Water tracked me down for 6 months (ish) worth of bills for 6 months (ish) after I quit the property.

 

I told them I hadn't been living at the property, they quoted that under the tenancy agreement, because the landlord had told them it remained in force, I must pay regardless if I lived there or not, I told them to sue me for the money and that was the last I heard of it.

 

But your utility were sending bills to the landlord, did he pay some or none of their bills? By sending bills to the landlord they were accepting that he was their customer, in your tenancy agreement did it specify if you pay the company or your landlord for the utilities, if it said pay the company, or it didn't specify to pay the landlord, then perhaps it could be said that you were naive but tell the utility to sue you because that's the only way they're going to get the money out of you.

[Kentish Lass]

It sounds as if the Landlord put the utility bills in your name AFTER the end of the tenancy. Write to the utility company with a copy of the relevant pages of your agreement, and give them the date that the tenancy ended.

 

State that all monies for utilities were paid to the Landlord in accordance with your agreement, you do not owe them any money and have never been a customer of theirs.

 

They are notorious for chasing anyone they can for monies owed. Their agreement was with the Landlord and they should make him pay up.

[blue21]

Thanks guys.

 

For now Landlord has agreed that he will speak with Utility company and get my name removed from this issue, i have since spoken to utility company and they have received this call from landlord, i will check again in few days and if i dont receive anymore notices that will be all, however if they still keep chasing me i will have to follow either of routes suggested by you guys.

 

Thanks again.

[jackieandwayne]

Ok, you have no contract with the company. You have never signed anything whatsoever with them. You did not put this bill in your name.

 

I don't think they have a leg to stand on. I had a tenant go to prison, and left a huge gas debt. British Gas were adamant that my company had to pay it or they would remove the meter. I refused to pay it, gave them all the details of which prison the tenant was in etc., but they wouldn;t have it, and took the meter out. This meant that we argued for 6 weeks, rent loss etc, couldn;t carry out the CP12 on the gas installation etc. In the end we paid the bill, and as soon as this was done we did the LBA requesting it back (after they restored the meter), then actually went to small claims.

 

We got the entire amount of the bill back, we got the full rent loss back, and a bit of compo on top as well as our 8% (not a lot!) and our fees. Why? Because we did not have a contract with them!

 

Goodluck!