Non payment of bills etc

[whoopy]

Can anyone give me some advice as a matter of interest? My friend's ex-bf moved house without paying bills such as mobile phone bill, gas, council tax etc and has not registered under a new address yet. His old house has had many letters from these companies that have forwarded their cases onto soliciters and debt collectors and the new tenants have even had baylifts round there to claim off him. As he has moved and no-one knows where he is does this mean he has got away with it?

[Mrs_Pegasus]

Yes and no. Depends really on whether he registers again. Council tax are allowed to cross match their accounts and I daresay the utility companies do as well. I would advise the new tenants to return all letter return to sender and not to open the letters. I would also suggest they contact the credit history companies and dis-associate themselves with this person.

[whoopy]

Thanks for that-shame to hear he may have gotten away with it tho as he's caused a lot of trouble!!!

[Eve]

he'll turn up eventually and hopefully pay the price for his disappearing act, literally.

Were the bills in his sole name or were others involved?

As Mrs Pegasus said, return all post unopened. If it is getting a serious problem you could try writing a standard letter to whom it may concen to send back with them stating that the addressee has not been resident at that address since x date and that his whereabouts are unknown.

If you know a phone number or another contact address for him such as his parents' place you could put that.

Say you are sorry that you cannot help them further but to ask them to amend their records and inform all othe related parties such as debt recovery agencies and legal advisors.

You could also give this to any bailiffs that call too.

I've had similar problems with bailiffs after previous occupiers at my places and it's crap :(

[Eve]

Also, for the above, written confirmation from a landlord that he vacated on "x" date could also help with this especially if it is say a letting agent with headed paper.

Have you tried to find him? You could try www.192.com or even sites like friends reunited.

CAB may be able to give more advice..http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/.

[whoopy]

Some were in joint names with my friend that she had to pay, but she luckily sorted them out in time. The ones in question are soley in his name, we know where he is but the people he is now living with (his parents) are denying he's there to protect him so as of yet they still have to find him. I just find it frustrating when someone causes that much trouble can just run away and get away with it when my friend has had 2 deal with the mess left over. I really hope it catches up with im one day...i'm trusting karma!!

[Eve]

Well direct the companies to his parent's address. State that you believe he is there but cannot get it confirmed but in any event it is the best contact address for him.

As for the joint bills, your friend could try and bring a private action against him if it was worth it. She could try speaking to CAB for advice, the courts are very helpful these days for people who want to represent themselves in small cases such as in small claims court.

It may take a while to get anything back but he'll have to resurface eventually.

[whoopy]

Thanks for that jenna, i guess he's got to register for something somewhere along the line like a new job or phone etc so they'll find him that way. And i never thought of telling the companies thats the best contact to find him-i just told them thats where he was and that doesn't count as proof i guess. Thanks for your help!!