Should they pay?.....

Teddi

hey..

just a quick query to ask you all..I need to talk to my flatmate later about a situation over christmas regarding bills..

there are 4 of us in our house....one has already left for home (for xmas) and will be gone a month, another flatmate is going on monday for close enough to a month....

My other flatmate and I are going to be in the house longer, going away for maybe 4 days, then back to the house again.


My query is.....do you think its right that the 2 that have left for longer should pay any of the bills that come in nearer the time they come home?

I dont think that I'd need to pay extra, even though there would be less people in the house....at the end of the day...what they are on is a holiday..and is optional. ..I still feel its your responsibily to pay your half....

agree?..disagree?...

thanks...

Paulw

Personally, when I rented, we all shared the bills evenly, even over Christmas, no matter who was there or who was away.

How exactly would you factor it all in? I mean, bills are every 2-3 months, so you'd need to divide by the number of months, then by the number of people there, then ...... really, come on. Have to a chat to the others. The difference might be €10 each. No need to fall out over it.

I'd say, leave the bills/split as is.

BC

Everyone should contribute equally to the bills irrespective of whether they are there or not. Its their choice to go home at christmas. If you get into that sort of messing then what happens if someone goes on holiday for a week? Or is away for a weekend...

Teddi

yea, good point....*shrugs*...

We'll need to come to an agreement, ok electricity bills and gas bills wont be as much as there would be a decreased demand, but these things have a knack of being the same price, no matter who was here or wasnt.

Will look into it further

AARRRGH

I also think the bills should be split evenly, irrespective of whether or not they spend a lot of time in the flat, or don't use the oven, or whatever. It's too messy and weird if people start watching how much electricity they use.

subway

if your paying rent, your paying bills.
simple as that.

as others have pointed out, what about holidays, days away from the house, who works more hours, etc, etc ,etc its impossible to know who uses what and when they used it.

red dave

I went on holidays for a month last year I left money for my share of the bills so I'm of the opinion they should still be split equally

Victor

Teddi wrote: »

but these things have a knack of being the same price, no matter who was here or wasnt.

Exactly, same fridge, same TV, same lights, same heating, more or less. National energy usage is essentially propertionate to the number of households, not the number of people.

If they want out of the utility bills, charge them for keeping their possessions secure. :pac:

MysticalSoul

Definitely split equally. You don't take summer annual leave into account I presume, so Christmas is no different. Unless they lease the room out in their absence, with your consent, all bills are equal.

Sir Oxman

As everybody else has said, bills split equally no matter who is away back home for a week, weekend or month. Doesn't matter.

mikemac

Split bills equally

Otherwise you get into the messy situation of calculating percentages.
And if you let one tenant off paying bills in this situation, sure what if the other flatmate goes away for a few weeks next summer? You'll have to do it again or argue why you're now backtracking.

Keep it simple

jmayo

Victor wrote: »

Exactly, same fridge, same TV, same lights, same heating, more or less. National energy usage is essentially propertionate to the number of households, not the number of people.

If they want out of the utility bills, charge them for keeping their possessions secure. :pac:

Bills should be spilt evenly apart from landline where phone calls can be itemised.

I actually did hear of instance where a lady accountant used a formula to try and work out percentage of electrivity she used, in particular oven and washing machine time. Thus she demanded she paid less.
Needless to say she wasn't sharing for very long

bobbysands81

Without a shadow of a doubt ALL bills should be spilt evenly (bar phone bills).

Teddi

I'd agree with you all about sharing the bills evenly....

I understand peoples points about people not being here for a day...or 2 or 3 days..and to get specific about the amount of services they've used up...


but just remember my query isnt about breaking down what people have used every month, its the fact that if someone isnt going to be here for the extent of a month.....what the situation would be as its a considerably long time away when you're living in rented accomodation...

my flatmates have good heads on their shoulders and are reasonable about pretty much everything, so coming to a decision I hope wont be too much of a bother. :rolleyes:

anonymousjunkie

Teddi wrote: »

I'd agree with you all about sharing the bills evenly....

I understand peoples points about people not being here for a day...or 2 or 3 days..and to get specific about the amount of services they've used up...


but just remember my query isnt about breaking down what people have used every month, its the fact that if someone isnt going to be here for the extent of a month.....what the situation would be as its a considerably long time away when you're living in rented accomodation...

my flatmates have good heads on their shoulders and are reasonable about pretty much everything, so coming to a decision I hope wont be too much of a bother. :rolleyes:

They're paying rent for the month that they're away arent they. It doesn't matter how long they go away on holiday for at christmas, the bills should all be split evenly no matter.

loyatemu

you're not going to save much on light and heat by them not being there - a large part of leccy and gas bills is the standing charge, and the house is still the same size even if they're not there. They should pay.

wanrek

I think unless they're moving out the bills should be equally spilt??

MysticalSoul

They should still pay, as if they are paying rent, the room and house is available to them if they so choose to come back to it for a night or two. My housemate spends 50/50 time living here (where she pays rent) and at her boyfriends, and yet, she till pays her share of the bills with no qualms. Initially I felt guilty about this, but at the end of the day, that is her choice.

Emerald Lass

if you go down the road of saying they should pay less because they are gone for a month, then you are getting into messy business - next month one could say, but I work nights, so I don't use as much electricity as I am not here when its dark! it all gets too complicated - split the bills evenly regardless of how many days/kilowatts/units each person uses - there is no way to calculate it fairly so the only way is to divide it equally.

or for future another option is to get a pay-per-use metre in - throw money into a kitty, when it runs out top up the kitty. When people aren't there for more than a week they do not contribute to the kitty for the week they are away. This was the system we had when I shared in Oz - and it was good actually. When our flatmate was off for 6 wks we all still paid our usual $10 and at the end we only paid about $20 more than normal.