Should I pay his share of UPC TV Bill as he doesn't watch it anymore?

ronan45

I have a chap doing the rent allowance room, via the social welfare in my place who currently owes me backrent/bills of €1200. In fairness he lost his job 1.5 years ago and thats when it started. He throws me the odd few quid every so often (150 every 6 weeks say give or take) but allways has a €1200 overhang. He just cant pay. So the welfare pays me most of his rent and he throws me a few bob when ever he can. (i know im a pushover) Anyway we owe 171 on the UPC which must be paid within 7 days or we are cut off. (2 UPC Boxes 1 x Broadband. I actually dont have 170 and i feel lousy asking him to pay as he hasnt used the UPC tv box in like a year. but he does use the net. Should i pay his part of the TV bill and just ask him for whatever the broadband is? he uses the broadband mainly so its fair he pays for that. I use the UPC tv all the time so dont really want to get rid of it. So my options are cancel UPC tv which i love but cant afford on my own or ask him to pay for half the UPC box. I just dont want to come across as mean ya know.
And yes when he arrived that was the way it was we all pay half the bills and split equally and thats when he used to watch tv.

MalteseBarry

Like many people who ask such questions, you already know the answer to your own question.

If I were you, I'd be directing your question to him and not to us here. That you feel bad asking him to help pay for something which he has agreed to pay, and when he owes you a lot of money, says quite a lot.

Do you think he'll feel bad merely by you asking him?

Do you think he is as concerned about you, as you are about him, feeling bad about the situation?

The only way this situation is going to change is if he either inherits money or gets a job. In the meantime, (however long the meantime turns out to be), you'll either just have to put up with the situation, or decide on a course of action. Whats interesting is that you, a stranger, seem to be doing this for him when his family don't seem to. I wonder why they don't.

ronan45

MalteseBarry wrote: »

Like many people who ask such questions, you already know the answer to your own question.
(hmmm nope i wanted some advice thats all, I think he should myself)

If I were you, I'd be directing your question to him and not to us here. That you feel bad asking him to help pay for something which he has agreed to pay, and when he owes you a lot of money, says quite a lot.

(when i mention money he goes off on a tale of his kids in Egypt and having to send them money yadda yadda)

Do you think he'll feel bad merely by you asking him? ( i dont think so as this has been liek this for over 1 year)

Do you think he is as concerned about you, as you are about him, feeling bad about the situation? (hmmm i dont think so but he hides in his room a lot i think he feels uncomfortable in general)

The only way this situation is going to change is if he either inherits money or gets a job. In the meantime, (however long the meantime turns out to be), you'll either just have to put up with the situation, or decide on a course of action. Whats interesting is that you, a stranger, seem to be doing this for him when his family don't seem to. I wonder why they don't.

Ill put together some sort of repayment plan today i think and just be more assertive. I just dont like looking for money off people when they tell me things are tight ya know, Many moons ago i was in the position where my landlord was extremly rude and pushy with me. I just dont want to be a dick , there are lots of people out there tryin to make ends meet thats all. Just wondering the concensus on it thats all

JonJoeDali

ronan45 wrote: »

Ill put together some sort of repayment plan today i think and just be more assertive. I just dont like looking for money off people when they tell me things are tight ya know, Many moons ago i was in the position where my landlord was extremly rude and pushy with me. I just dont want to be a dick , there are lots of people out there tryin to make ends meet thats all. Just wondering the concensus on it thats all

Mate, you'll never see that €1200.

sweetie

does he drink or smoke? if he does, you're paying for it.
I would cancel one of the broadband points or scale back the tv package/broadband speed and initiate an eviction on the grounds of money owed. Make notes of everything he owes you in case it gets dirty but don't be a doormat for anyone.

ronan45

sweetie wrote: »

does he drink or smoke? if he does, you're paying for it.
I would cancel one of the broadband points or scale back the tv package/broadband speed and initiate an eviction on the grounds of money owed. Make notes of everything he owes you in case it gets dirty but don't be a doormat for anyone.

In fairness he doesnt drink or splash the cash he really just stays in his room i think he is depressed ya know. No-one really calls to see him although he aint a loner either. If i evict i say good bye to 1200 and i know have a direct debit from social welfare every month of 280 on his behalf, which I need

liger

ronan45 wrote: »

If i evict i say good bye to 1200 and i know have a direct debit from social welfare every month of 280 on his behalf, which I need

I dont think you will see the 1200 anyway so write that off. If you add up what he is costing you, upc bills, esb, gas etc would that total 280 a month??? If you put him out i dont think ou would actually miss the 280 because you have less expenses,

Of course that all from a monetary viewpoint. Easy for us all to say yeah turf him out but your the one that needs to live with that choice.

pat1981

Its nice to see the op having alot of patience and compassion for his tenant, very refreshing. I guess your tenant hasn't the means to contribute much and seems very down,sounds only for you he could be boardering on homelessness if you evicted.
Hopefully your tenant will repay what he owes when things improve, mind you €1200 is a lot and I guess youv factored in a bit of a loss on that count.

ebixa82

Is there another room going in your house by any chance?

I'd love to live rent free for a while.

In answer to your question...if he never, ever watches TV then fair enough. But I would give him 6 months to pay his arrears or he's out of there. As long as you allow him to take advantage of your good nature he will continue to do so. You can't afford to pay you UPC of 171e while he owes 1200e. WTF? Very bizarre!

aN.Droid

I can only assume he is on social services 188 euro per week plus he gets rent alowance of 280 a month? thats 70 euro a week ontop of his 188 euro. 258 euro a week. Trust me he shouldnt be so far behind on his rent. I am on social services at the moment at 188 euro a week and no rent allowance and I manage to pay 250 a month in rent and my bills which include upc (mind you not as expensive as yours) I still have enough money left over to feed myself and buy myself the odd luxury.

He stays in his room all day not spending money. I would have a chat with him if I where you. Gives us unemployed renters a bad name if you ask me.

now if he has loans or kids then thats another story. But from the info you have given us he is taken the mick. And yes he may be depressed if he does nothing but stay in his room all day. Keep an eye on him and have a chat with him if need be as depression is very serious.


//EDIT re read the thread and realised his rent allowance is going to you and not him how much is his rent a month?

the_syco

ronan45 wrote: »

I have a chap doing the rent allowance room, via the social welfare in my place who currently owes me backrent/bills of €1200. In fairness he lost his job 1.5 years ago and thats when it started. He throws me the odd few quid every so often (150 every 6 weeks say give or take) but allways has a €1200 overhang. He just cant pay. So the welfare pays me most of his rent and he throws me a few bob when ever he can.

I stopped reading here. Do you also buy food for him, as if not, where does he get money to eat? Or his he withholding some of the RA money that he's meant to be paying you?

hdowney

ronan45 wrote: »

I have a chap doing the rent allowance room, via the social welfare in my place who currently owes me backrent/bills of €1200. In fairness he lost his job 1.5 years ago and thats when it started. He throws me the odd few quid every so often (150 every 6 weeks say give or take) but allways has a €1200 overhang. He just cant pay. So the welfare pays me most of his rent and he throws me a few bob when ever he can. (i know im a pushover) Anyway we owe 171 on the UPC which must be paid within 7 days or we are cut off. (2 UPC Boxes 1 x Broadband. I actually dont have 170 and i feel lousy asking him to pay as he hasnt used the UPC tv box in like a year. but he does use the net. Should i pay his part of the TV bill and just ask him for whatever the broadband is? he uses the broadband mainly so its fair he pays for that. I use the UPC tv all the time so dont really want to get rid of it. So my options are cancel UPC tv which i love but cant afford on my own or ask him to pay for half the UPC box. I just dont want to come across as mean ya know.
And yes when he arrived that was the way it was we all pay half the bills and split equally and thats when he used to watch tv.

I am sorry, but first of all ok you are a considerate landlord, that is good. there are not too many of them around. but YES you are a pushover, and you have gone past the point of kindness into stupidity to my opinion. You may not want to see him out on the street, but what about yourself. You could end up completely screwed yourself if you don't sort the situation.

Just letting him pay a little here and there is NEVER going to clear what he owes, infact it is just going to get him deeper and deeper into debt with you.

You say he spends his time in his room, which to me sounds like he is not making an effort to find himself new employment (before anyone bashes me I know times are hard, but there are jobs out there. The OP didn't say what he was made redundant from so we don't know what field he worked in to say what the jobs market is like there, but any job would do to be going on with. I know I'd b happy) therefore his circumstances are not going to change soon.

He is presumably on Jobseekers like lots of us, plenty of us have to survive on that and manage.

And just a point, if he was living in a council house they would be lenient to a point but wouldn't let him get away with paying the way he is now. Seriously it looks to me like although he may have started in hardship, seeing you let him away with so much he has gotten comfortable paying next to nothing. So you have to be the one to force the situation back onto an even footing cos he aint going to.

On the UPC front: you say you have 2Telly Boxes. Why if he doesn't watch telly. You pay for multiroom subscriptions and box subscriptions and you hardly need two if you are the only one who watches.
The broadband. I am assuming it is your computer he uses to access the broadband or does he have his own? Either way yes he should contribute to the bill as you agreed to it together. I would say he needs to pay his share of this bill, then get rid of the second unecessary box and then come to a new agreement. How much broadband do you use? Is it negligible? If so you pay the Telly portion of it and he pay the Broadband. That is a fair compromise.

But you do need to do something. You cannot carry on in this way. I am all for you being caring but you have gone too far.

Sorry to be so blunt

BostonB

ronan45 wrote: »

....So my options are cancel UPC tv which i love but cant afford on my own....

You can't afford it. There is no other option. Free to air thats your only option.