Can legal action be taken against a flat mate who wont pay the bills?

Question

My flat mate has recently moved out and is refusing to pay their share of the bills. Their name is on all the utility bills along with mine. I have had to pay the bills to avoid a CCJ. Can I take legal action against the flatmate to get my money back?

Answer 1

Doesn't matter if you don't have an agreement, you are joint and severally liable, now that you have paid all the bills, you can recover a reasonable amount ie, fair proportion from him.

Is your flat mate worth taking action against, if the amount your owed is more than £750 then you can issue a statutory demand.
This is most dangerous weapon in law, ie if he doesn't pay he will be bankrupted.

Is there a reason like he can't pay, like he can't afford it, you should try and get the utility company to split the bill, they may not agree but this way the liability is severed. Best course of action is to get him out, inform the landlord, and he may start eviction proceedings or notice to quit.

The longer way to really sting him, is keep paying the bills, then hit with the statutory demand, that will teach him a lesson he will never forget. He will take action unless is some kind of no hoping tramp loser .

Answer 2

Try a small claims court. Use your bill statements and bank account statements to prove that the money spent to pay the bills came from your accounts. Then, if you don't already have it now, make sure your landlord includes your flatmate's name on the next lease, making him/her legally and equally liable for expenses related to the cost of maintaining the utilities on the flat.

Answer 3

I would conatct the CAB. IF you have signed agreement that he will pay half the bills then you can probably take action for breach of contract. Also, because his name is on the bills then he is jointly responsible (i got caught like this with my ex who wasn't paying his bills, this was after i moved it and had forgotton to take my name off the phone bills, so when i went to get a new phone line i was suddenly confronted with a £350 bill that i had to get all sorts of paperwork sent off to prove when i had moved. Anyway, i digress). So, back on point, he is responsible but i would speak to the CAB as they can guide you on the correct legal process.

Answer 4

As an ex cab adviser I would suggest a letter before action and if that does not work go to the small claims court however if he has no money you finish up accepting a small monthly payment for a long time

Answer 5

logical lawyer is bang on the money!!! First, on a practical point, you must consider whether it is really worth going to the expense of all this to recover what may be a tiny amount of money. If you are on speaking terms with your flat mate tell him you want to take his name off the bills and try and work something out between yourselves.

Answer 6

Yes, if the name is on the bill then they're partly responsible, I would go to Citizens Advice to see how you go about getting the money back, we had a similar situation unfortunately their names weren't on the bills also.

Answer 7

Yes, you can take them to small claims court. They need to make good on all the bills they were responsible for... Just make sure that when you go to court you bring a copy of all receipts and invoices you paid that were in both your names.

Answer 8

You don't say where your from but mentioning "Flat" I take it as you live in England. I'm not acquainted with your laws but in the USA we have what is called "Small Claims Court" where we can take these types of claims to.

Answer 9

Yes, You can take them to Small Claims Court.

Answer 10

call peoples court; judge judy etc Go to small claims & file an action... no attorneys there but you will need to have proof of all bills to get repayment