Ex-Housemate / Airtricity

Pippy1976

one of the girls I was living with moved out about 1 month ago. We received the Airtricity bill today (2 months to the day that she moved out).

In the house we all looked after 1 bill each: I was Airtricity, Another girl was UPC and she was Bins. EVERY time an airtricity bill came in I would break down the cost of each (electricity and gas) and ask for everyone's share to be lodged to my account 10 days after receipt of bill. EVERY time I did this she ask for a copy of the bill ... to email her proof of the charges ... get a screengrab and send it to her etc. It got a bit tiring but I did it all the same.

I text her today to say the bill had come in. I explained what the breakdown was and what her share of the outstanding bill is. Again, she's come back with the same old line ' I want a copy of the bill' ' I want a screengrab of the breakdown'. I've told her what the allocation of electricity to gas is. I'm not sure why she needs further information... especially now that she has moved out and we have nothing to do with her anymore.

In my opinion I feel she is being difficult to annoy me! I told her I didn't have time to be getting screengrabs of the bill and emailing them to her. Honestly, I have much more to be doing with my life that indulging this girl. So I told her no.

Now, I'm afraid she might not pay on time. And if she doesn't I'll be stung for bank charges (the account I use to pay the bills is a designated HOUSE account so if Airtricity comes out of it then there's no surplus in there to cover minus amounts).

Am I being unreasonable? She has moved out after all and I don't owe it to her to be getting her EXTRA information on bills she owes on. Nobody else in the house ever asks for this kind of stuff. I never asked her for a breakdown of the bin costs she used to get us to lodge to her account...

To me it seems like she doesn't trust me and is looking for proof that I'm ripping her off. Is this odd behaviour? Like I mentioned above, I've too much going on in my life right now to be running around after someone I don't even live with anymore.

Feedback is appreciated. p

djimi

Its the last time youll have to deal with her; just send the screenshot, get the money and be done with it. Is it really worth starting something ridiculous with someone you no longer live with?

Edit to say if she is paying a bill she is entitled to see said bill; I dont think that is unreasonable to be honest.

groovyg

If you wanted her to pay her share the easy thing would be to send her a copy of the bill via e-mail. Its not hard to take a photo on your phone and send it on.

Pippy1976

cool. thanks guys.

done!

Mrs OBumble

How often do Airtricity bill? If you came after me for cash two months after I'd moved out, I'd be telling you where to go.

Pippy1976

They bill bi-monthly. She moved out in the middle of one of the months. She was aware she'd owe us a month.

There's nothing untoward here. Just common sense that if you use a months-worth of electricity you're going to have to pay for it.

Koptain Liverpool

Yes send her the bill - you're lucky that she seems willing to pay her share at all to be honest. Most people wouldn't once they've moved out of a houseshare with strangers

Catphish

djimi wrote: »

Edit to say if she is paying a bill she is entitled to see said bill; I dont think that is unreasonable to be honest.

True. I wouldn't be happy just pay whatever figure is thrown at me.

As an aside, Pippy you said she's always requested copies of the bills, which is perfectly normal in my opinion. To be fair to all and to rule out being questioned in the future about them, get a cork notice board for the kitchen and attached posted bills, and print off any bills sent via email and attach those too for all to see. You could do a little doodle on the side to show the break down for everyone, the date that you need it in the account by etc.

To be honest with you, I'm very surprised that other house mates don't query the bills. It's not stinginess that made her request a copy, she has her head on her shoulders and prefers to monitor her finances. You can't fault her for it.

Pippy1976

Catphish wrote: »

True. I wouldn't be happy just pay whatever figure is thrown at me.

As an aside, Pippy you said she's always requested copies of the bills, which is perfectly normal in my opinion. To be fair to all and to rule out being questioned in the future about them, get a cork notice board for the kitchen and attached posted bills, and print off any bills sent via email and attach those too for all to see. You could do a little doodle on the side to show the break down for everyone, the date that you need it in the account by etc.

To be honest with you, I'm very surprised that other house mates don't query the bills. It's not stinginess that made her request a copy, she has her head on her shoulders and prefers to monitor her finances. You can't fault her for it.

Noted and taken on board. But I would say, as I know this girl, she's doing it to irritate the be-jaysus out of me. Clash of personalities and all that. Anyway, advice taken on board. Thanks everyone.

D3PO

djimi wrote: »

if she is paying a bill she is entitled to see said bill; I dont think that is unreasonable to be honest.

This.

Why is it annoying ? How would she know your not scamming her. Id never pay a bill without seeing it.

OP your logic is screwed up if you think shes being annoying

djimi

Pippy1976 wrote: »

Noted and taken on board. But I would say, as I know this girl, she's doing it to irritate the be-jaysus out of me. Clash of personalities and all that. Anyway, advice taken on board. Thanks everyone.

To be honest, it could be argued that you are being as unreasonable towards her as you think she is being towards you. Whether or not she is/was trying to wind you up is irrelevant; she was well within her rights to request a copy of every bill that she was expected to contribute towards, and you dont really have any right to complain about such requests.

D3PO

Pippy1976 wrote: »

There's nothing untoward here. Just common sense that if you use a months-worth of electricity you're going to have to pay for it.

No common sense would have been to open the box. Get the meter reading on the day she moved out.

Check the unit reading on the last bill. Work out the units used, multiply by the unit rate.

add on the VAT, calculate out the portion of standing charge she ows and get an EXACT amount she owed rather than your haphazard way of dividing the bill when it came.

Whos to say that the power used in the second month of the billing cycle wasn't more, whos to say that this bill isn't a high estimate.

You have gone about this half arsed.

Pippy1976

D3PO wrote: »

This.

Why is it annoying ? How would she know your not scamming her. Id never pay a bill without seeing it.

OP your logic is screwed up if you think shes being annoying

I lived with her for quite a while. I know her. I can tell that she's trying to annoy me - it's all in the tone.

Anyway, I agree with all of you. I've sent her a copy of the bill. So we're all square now and hopefully neither of us will ever have to cross eachothers paths ever again.

Pippy1976

djimi wrote: »

To be honest, it could be argued that you are being as unreasonable towards her as you think she is being towards you. Whether or not she is/was trying to wind you up is irrelevant; she was well within her rights to request a copy of every bill that she was expected to contribute towards, and you dont really have any right to complain about such requests.

True. Thank you.

Pippy1976

D3PO wrote: »

No common sense would have been to open the box. Get the meter reading on the day she moved out.

Check the unit reading on the last bill. Work out the units used, multiply by the unit rate.

add on the VAT, calculate out the portion of standing charge she ows and get an EXACT amount she owed rather than your haphazard way of dividing the bill when it came.

Whos to say that the power used in the second month of the billing cycle wasn't more, whos to say that this bill isn't a high estimate.

You have gone about this half arsed.

Fair point. However, this is how we've always done it and she doesn't seem to have an issue with that.

Anyway, as posted previously, thanks for all the comments. I've taken them on board and sent her what she required. Job done.