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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Neighbour made a mistake and now wants money

422 replies

DomingoFlamingo · 20/09/2016 02:55

Neighbor moved in about 10 months ago - its a house converted into flats with a communal hallway, front door and letterbox (I live upstairs, she lives downstairs) since she moved in we've had several issues including persistent loud music and her "borrowing" my things that then take several weeks to be returned (if at all)

Then today she knocks on my door with a letter address to me and dated July. She then proceeds to tell me that the letter (a bill) was picked up by her son and she didn't bother to read the name on the front until today when she went to pay again.. hence she's (somehow) been paying my bill since July Hmm and I now owe her a 3 figure sum for doing so......

I'd have normally payed this bill in installments throughout the year, but she payed the whole amount in two payments. Because of this I don't have that amount of money available to pay her back immediately (I work part time and its nearly 4 weeks wages for me)

She's asked for the money by the end of the week, I've offered to pay her in installments but she refused the offer and said she wants it in one go or she'll call the police. :( is she BU or am I? I will/would pay her back but I simply can't afford the whole amount in one go......

OP posts:
Pumpkindrawer · 20/09/2016 08:20

Tell her that she needs to get the money back off the company. She might be telling lies and not paid your bill! let her sort it out and let it be a lesson to her that you're no push over...

Discobabe · 20/09/2016 08:20

I wouldn't pay her a penny. Even if she has paid your bill (how could she even do this without realising??? when they would tie up addresses to payments, ask security questions etc) it's her issue. She may well get you to pay her and get a refund off the company and then you'll end up having paying her and owing them!

MammouthTask · 20/09/2016 08:21

First I would check with the company and verify that she has paid.

Then I would explain the situation to the company, organise the payment in instalments with them as you had planned) and tell her to organise the reimbursement directly with them.
After all, who is telling her you haven't already paid because you've received a reminder or it was already set up anyway?

Besides, seeing the other events that have happened before, I would be doubly careful.

Sallystyle · 20/09/2016 08:21

This thread is full of MN myths. Logging incidents with the police, free hours with solicitors

This is always trotted out as a myth but is it really?

I know I spoke to a solicitor for 30 minutes and didn't pay a thing. If you google it there is loads of places that offer that service. So what am I missing?

SoupDragon · 20/09/2016 08:22

How can it possibly be a scam? It is easy enough to check that the bill has been paid.

Anyway, phone the company, explain what has happend and let them sort it out.

Didn't you notice the bill hadn't arrived? Surely you were expecting it.

prh47bridge · 20/09/2016 08:22

Even if she paid by cheque that requires filling in stuff

It requires filling in a giro slip with the amount you are paying. Nothing else. It does not involve proving you are the person who owes the money or doing anything that would trigger you to realise it is not your debt.

What kind of bill can be paid without ever mentioning the name of the account holder??

Gas, electricity, water, council tax, credit card... Anything that can be paid by cheque. I have a selection of bills in front of me. In every single case I can pay by cheque simply by writing the amount I am paying on the giro slip and taking it to the bank. The bank has no interest in whether the cheque is from the account holder and, indeed, no way of checking - the giro has the bill payer's account number but no other details. The bank does not even care whether the person paying the cheque in is the person who wrote it.

The OP does need to check that this has been paid. It could be a scam. However, it is perfectly possible that she has in fact paid this bill. As others have said, going to the police will not get her anywhere. It is a civil matter. She cannot force the OP to pay her the full amount in one go.

SoupDragon · 20/09/2016 08:23

Of course anyone can pay a bill! Not everything is online or over the phone!

LumpyMcBentface · 20/09/2016 08:24

Scammy scam scam.

ChasedByBees · 20/09/2016 08:24

How do you know which ones she's paid and which ones you've paid? I would also tell her to get a refund from the company and you sort it out separately with them. It sounds very dodgy.

OliviaStabler · 20/09/2016 08:24

First I'd ask her for proof of payment before you did anything else. She sounds like a chancer.

pepperpot99 · 20/09/2016 08:26

She (the neighbour) has got to be inventing the whole story. I don't believe that she 'mistakenly' paid someone else's bill in two separate instalments without realising.
I would write a very polite note to her - and take a copy for yourself - explaining that she will have to take it up with the company as her payments are beyond your control. Ask her for incontrovertible proof and evidence of what she paid, when , and to whom. If you hand any money over to her without all of that, you're a mug!

GlitteryFluff · 20/09/2016 08:29

Check it's been paid and can't be recalled in any way before you do anything.

NerrSnerr · 20/09/2016 08:29

I don't get why people are so sure she couldn't have paid. With the giro slip you fill in amount and hand over with a cheque. They don't do any checks that way.

Whether she actually paid is a different matter but it is entirely possible to pay a bill in someone else's name if you want.

Queenbean · 20/09/2016 08:34

As if!!

LadyConstanceDeCoverlet · 20/09/2016 08:34

Re the free 30 minutes with a solicitor thing: some solicitors offer this as a loss leader - i.e. if you have an inquiry about, say, a divorce they'll offer an initial free 30 minutes because they hope to get you to instruct them to deal with the divorce, maintenance and children issues, and indeed their advice will often be designed to make you realise that it's complex and you need more legal involvement.

What they don't do is offer free half hour advice sessions for one-off issues like this, because there is no reason financially why they should do so. They would tell OP more or less exactly what PP have said here - i.e. to check that the neighbour actually has paid, that if she has it's up to her to sort it out with the payee and legally OP isn't liable. But that would be the end of it. It's highly unlikely that OP would need to instruct them formally, so it would be an unpaid half hour with no prospect of a return. In fact, it would be more than half an hour by the time they've made a record of their advice, which they have to do to cover their backs.

ladylanky · 20/09/2016 08:35

Maybe she is one of the last people on earth that uses cheques, I still think something stinks. And my bills all seem to ask for name and account number on the reverse.
Regardless of that tho, what class of screaming muppet unquestioningly pays what sounds like a pretty substantial bill - twice - without once even briefly glancing at any details other than the amount??

SuburbanRhonda · 20/09/2016 08:35

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Pagwatch · 20/09/2016 08:37

I'm sure it's possible to do if you want.
But it would take a really special kind of stupid to do it unintentionally. Twice.

HyacinthFuckit · 20/09/2016 08:41

Some solicitors do offer a free half hour, but its an introductory thing, a marketing technique, and tends to be for the sort of thing that might make a full case. That you'll then pay for. What you can't normally do is rock up to a solicitor with this sort of minor matter and have them deal with it for you gratis without there being any realistic possibility of them getting paid work out of it. Having worked in both private firms and CABs, this is more suited to the latter. Although actually, I'm not entirely sure what they'd do about it either.

In terms of mn myths, its not that the free half hour doesn't exist. It just isn't as widespread or useful as people often think it is, and nor is it an entitlement as is sometimes claimed. I think that's why legal profession posters get a bit miffed about it!

merrymouse · 20/09/2016 08:42

Some people are quite stupid though.

You'd also have to be pretty stupid not to realise that it's a pretty easy scam to check and that a neighbour isn't the best choice when choosing a scam victim.

Either way, this person doesn't sound like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

ABloodyDifficultWoman · 20/09/2016 08:42

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LadyConstanceDeCoverlet · 20/09/2016 08:43

But people can be stupid. If you're stupid enough to pay someone else's bill twice, you're also stupid enough to blame them rather than approaching the payee and sorting it out with them - and we know the neighbour is that kind of stupid.

What does puzzle me, though, is why she says she has paid two instalments since July. If it's a bill for the whole year that you're paying in instalments, usually there would be six months between instalments. And if she paid the whole amount in two instalments, why does she say she only noticed your name on the bill yesterday when she went to pay again?

I'm wondering whether the reality is that she did in fact pay her own bill, but thought she had to pay more when she saw yours.

MrsDeVere · 20/09/2016 08:43

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Sallystyle · 20/09/2016 08:46

Thank you Lady

HyacinthFuckit · 20/09/2016 08:47

Pretty much a cross post there lady Constance!

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