My consent required for my name to be put on a utility bill?

invincibleirish

Hi there, my name has been put on a utility bill, either by the letting agency or housemates without my knowledge or consent. I have no problem paying my way but i do not want to be in a situation where i have to chase other people for money on the utility companys behalf. I was wondering if this is legal?

dingding

Is the lease in your name.

Also do you expect the utility company to call around and collect the money from the individual tenants.

Whose name should the bill be in?

invincibleirish

dingding wrote: »

Is the lease in your name.

My name was one of 3 names on the lease.

dingding wrote: »

Also do you expect the utility company to call around and collect the money from the individual tenants.

No but i am now in a situation where one of the leaseholders refuses to pay any share towards the bill of the utility in question.

blond45

invincibleirish wrote: »

My name was one of 3 names on the lease.



No but i am now in a situation where one of the leaseholders refuses to pay any share towards the bills including the utility in question.

why wont the person pay its share on lease? if she/he lives there they should pay.

Victor

You may be entitled to sue them, possibly in small claims court. Do it for the giggles.

Tell them if they don't pay you'll have the power cut off. This may get a result.

Are there any other bills? Do other people have bills in their names?

invincibleirish

I am no longer living at the address in question Victor, nor are the other lease holders. the difficulty i have is that i am left with this specific bill and trying (failing) to get one of the persons involved to pay their share of the bill. I am ready and able to pay my own share but cannot persuade the person in question to pay their share. I just want to pay my share and leave it be but if it doesnt get paid it will be me in trouble!.

This is the only outstanding bill.

My original question as to whether or not i could prove that i didnt give my consent to my name being put on the bill, i hope then i could say to the utility company to go back to the letting agency and get other lease holders details and bill them directly?.

GerardKeating

invincibleirish wrote: »

I am no longer living at the address in question Victor, nor are the other lease holders. the difficulty i have is that i am left with this specific bill and trying (failing) to get one of the persons involved to pay their share of the bill. I am ready and able to pay my own share but cannot persuade the person in question to pay their share. I just want to pay my share and leave it be but if it doesnt get paid it will be me in trouble!.

This is the only outstanding bill.

My original question as to whether or not i could prove that i didnt give my consent to my name being put on the bill, i hope then i could say to the utility company to go back to the letting agency and get other lease holders details and bill them directly?.

If you no longer live there, there is a simple solution, ring the utility in question and close the account..

dingding

Did the utility company take a deposit which can now be used to pay the remaining balance.

Usually the ESB take 200 Euro if the bill holder does not own the house.

This may have been charged on the first bill.

Also if you have left you should ring the ESB with the final reading and close the account.

You as account holder would probably be liable for any outstanding balance.

Victor

By virtue of having paid the bill all along, you seem to have consented to being the account holder.

jeckle

If someone has opened an ESB account in your name without your consent then this is fraud & you should report the matter to the Gardai asap.

When opening accounts the ESB require official ID documentation for this very reason, & if you feel that your ID has been used by an unauthorised person you should ask the ESB for copies of all documentation connected with the opening of the account, & bring this to the Garda Station when you file your complaint.

If it turns out that you have forgotten opening the account in your name then you don't have a leg to stand on, & you wouldn't be chasing any money on the utility company's behalf - you would be chasing it on your own behalf.

If you didn't authorise the account to be opened in your name it could be argued that by virtue of the fact that previous bills had been paid without any query from you that all was in order in that regard. The debt is in your name, but as has been mentioned you could bring your ex-housemate to the small claims court.

Did you pay a security deposit to your landlord & if so has it been refunded? If not you could deduct the amount from that.

If you have made reasonable attempts to recover the money owed to you then you could, if you feel that strongly about it, exercise some embarrassing tactics, e.g. sending a copy of the bill with a note in an unsealed envelope marked urgent & overdue addressed to your ex-housemate c/o their parent's house or c/o their employer's payroll dept. This shame tactic could work, but it's not a nice thing to do if there are genuine reasons why the person didn't pay, & bear in mind that two people can play at that game.

Sometimes, issues like this crop up in a houseshare situation, when an isolated debt is a sore point between ex-housemates. If you are going to take the matter any further it's best if the other party can't make similar claims about other bills, monies paid for other reasons etc. so just be careful about what actions you decide to take, as they could return to bite.

invincibleirish

Thank you for your replies they are most helpful, the utility in question is Bord Gais and the bill outstanding is the total bill for the period in the house in question, none of it is yet to be paid. It is is the only bill left to be paid.

The housemate in question who won't pay alleges the letting agency signed my name up in his presence, i find this hard to believe and suspect he gave my name instead of his when asked, The fact my surname is spelt incorrectly on the bill confirms my suspicions.

I will request all documentation from BG related to me signing up, i assume a signature was required on any documentation, will Bord Gais give the documents to me and will the Gardai take the complaint seriously?

Victor

Oh, have you paid your part of the bill?

jeckle wrote: »

If someone has opened an ESB account in your name without your consent then this is fraud

I wouldn't be so sure of that.

Look at your lease - it may have obliged you to have your name on the account.

invincibleirish

The bill in its entirety has yet to be paid. I spent morning and afternoon at the letting agency and on the phone to Bord Gais. It transpires that the LA put my name on the bill and did not need my consent according to both themselves & Bord Gais, BG in turn cannot put other leaseholders name on the bill without their permission.

Seems like i have no choice but to pay full bill and attempt to track down other names on the lease, they have been unwilling to pay so far.