Shouldn't have to pay bills if temporarily moved out?

[riveted1]

I will try and keep this non-biased :D

Person A & B in flatshare.

A was originally splitting time between flat and DPs place, eventually due to the CV situation decided to spend lockdown at DPs. B remained in the flat.

Person A feels she shouldn't need to pay bills during this time as she isn't in the flat and shouldn't contribute for that reason (to internet, gas, heating). Person B feels she should, as A hasn't moved out and doesn't have plans to, once lockdown is lifted she will come back to the flat. Person A is already quite relaxed with lockdown and has wanted to pop back to flat multiple times, and so if measures were relaxed would probably continue.

For added info, person A does not pay rent/bills at DPs and has not worked for last couple of years as has wealthy family. However, she already feels it's unfair to be paying rent on a property she isn't living in currently, let alone bills on top.

From person Bs perspective, she has friends who would move into spare room if A moved out, meaning she would be able to completely split rent/bills. Person B (like many of us), is potentially facing job loss and financial struggles, so this is more of a factor to her.

Current lockdown guidelines state that genuinely moving house ("measured in days not hours") is reasonable, so changing household is still currently acceptable!

A should absolutely still be paying.

A should pay up or move out. Can you buck her out??

"From person Bs perspective, she has friends who would move into spare room if A moved out, meaning she would be able to completely split rent/bills."

I would make Person A fully aware of this. She either pays her share of the rent/bills or she moves out completely. Comes and gets her stuff and hands back her key.

Person A is being a total dick here.

And as for 'but I'm not using the gas!' or similar - yeah, but the standing charge is still levied every day, and she should be paying half of that.

A should be paying. What’s next? Not paying because shes backpacking across Europe all summer?

It doesn’t matter whether she’s using the space or not, it’s perpetually reserved in her name with her furniture and stuff in there.

As she’s wealthy, ask her this...so your parent second home, do they only pay the bills when they go on holiday there or all year round? All year round not just when you use it.

A can't flit in and out and dodge paying their share. If they haven't officially left, the housemate can't look for a replacement. A will have to pay to keep their place open.

If A won't pay, they've breached their their tenancy and should pack up and clear out. B can then find another housemate, thought that is hardly practicable at the moment.

By flitting back and forth, A is wilfully putting B and A's DP at risk. If I were B, I woukd be pressing for payment and planning to replace B at the first opportunity.

The tenant B remains a tenant whether residing there or not and liable for the rent. Consequently, still liable for the council tax unless registered for that time at the other address, but unlikely this will be accepted without new tenancy.
The standing charge element of the electricity, water, gas and telephone line would be responsible for without the daily usage ONLY IF readings were taken when moving out to DP's. The WiFi won't have a standing charge so that should be paid regardless.

She's a cheeky cow imo!

Water bill is not just for water usage. It also covers things like gutters and drains.

She should absolutely pay her share of the bills.

Of course they should still pay!!! The bills don't suddenly stop coming in! Assume she wants her room free again for when she wants to come back?!

This is ridiculous

Person A should be paying, maybe a little less as there will be less gas, electric etc, but internet, council tax etc is fixed so not fair to expect B to pay it all. Also A is a twat if they keep 'popping back' and B should lock the door to keep them out, given the current situation.

A needs to pay B didn’t choose for her to move in with DP’s and has had no input to that decision.

Person A us being a ridiculous CF

You can't just sort of half move out informally then say you're not paying bills. Either you've moved out (with all your stuff & keys handed back!) on date X... Or you're still living there and liable for your share.

Person A is taking the piss. By a large margin.

When I worked for a utility company and there was a disagreement about who paid a bill we would ask the complainant to send us a copy of their tenancy agreement and we'd see what that said about bills.
She is still a tenant although she doesn't OCCUPY the room (her choice) and is still responsible for the bills.

How much is the internet? How much are other bill's? What's the difference between the two?