Asking for money 8 years later

[Jelly837363]

So situation is DH used to live in a house with 2 other housemates 8+ years ago. All bills were split equally but each housemate had one bill that they sorted out. Housemate A was responsible for sorting out the water bill. Housemate B sorted out electric. DH sorted out council tax.

Now it's been about 3 years since DH has heard from either of these housemates, they've all moved on with their lives. Until a few days ago housemate B sent a message saying that he has a CCJ from unpaid electric bill from when they all lived together. He said he doesn't know how much this is for but he will let them know a figure ASAP so they can pay their share.

Now I'm not happy with this. First of all this will be a much higher figure due to late fees etc from this being ignored for so long which I think is on Housemate B and not us. Also it was so long ago we have no idea if DH gave him money at the time and B decided not to pay or what.

Basically my stance is this is entirely B's problem and we aren't paying anything, especially not for the late fees etc. DH thinks he should pay his share of the original debt but nothing towards any late fees or penalty's. I would be okay with this so long as it isn't too much £ as money is right atm.

What do you all think would be a reasonable thing for us to do? Also is there any legal route Housemate B can take to force us to pay?
Thanks

I'd want proof from former housemate about the whole thing. That he was genuinely paying at the time, that there is a ccj against his name, what the amount is for etc. I'd be asking for full proof of it. He can get that, I'm sure the company has proof of the payments he made and all the rest.

If he can't provide any of that, then it's no, he is on his own. No proof, no money.

He could be genuine, but considering the issues at this moment, he could also be struggling and scamming people. That's not your problem, it's his sadly.

If each housemate was responsible for getting the money and paying an individual bill then I'd not pay towards the CCJ. You dh has paid the council tax bill, the remaining bill wasn't his responsibility. If he did t pay towards it then the other housemate should have asked him for it years ago rather than letting it get to this stage.

@donewithitalltodayandxmas

It’s actually reasonably straightforward to have a default judgement removed- if you can prove you weren’t aware of the debt.

If your DH did pay his share at the time, then his 'friend' pocketed the cash and didn't use it to the pay the bill. I would be trying to go back over bank statements and figure out if that is what happened.

@covine surely they'd give you the option of paying up rather than going to court?

They probably sent letters asking for money but I was long gone from that address so I never got them. The CCJ was bulk processed some time later along with a load of other debts that the DCA who owned mine at the time had also bought up and the associated paperwork went to the old address also. I only found out when it showed up on a credit check years later. I'd had other credit checks in the intervening time but the organisations who did those must have used a different agency.

Fortunately I'd left a trail from the point when I moved - council tax, utility accounts etc - so I could prove I wasn't in the property both during the time the bill had been run up and at the time the CCJ was processed so I got it removed.

Just want to clear a few things up. First of all it ultimately will come down to DH what he decides to pay but he obviously discussed this with me when he got the initial message. I'm not controlling his spending but I do think that if a potentially big amount of money is coming out of joint finances this should be a discussion?

We have agreed that he won't be paying anything until seeing some official paperwork. B said he would be sending this over today but so far have heard nothing at all so just waiting on him really to see how much it is and then we can go from there.

If your DH "can't remember" if he paid his share of all bills I suspect he did not and he should pay up.
Just be prepared- may be another CCj coming from 3rd friend. I remember if I paid bills or not - most people do remember. It's 3 yrs not 30.

@Tistheseason17

If your DH "can't remember" if he paid his share of all bills I suspect he did not and he should pay up. Just be prepared- may be another CCj coming from 3rd friend. I remember if I paid bills or not - most people do remember. It's 3 yrs not 30.

I disagree. I can't remember if I've paid bills as I pay so many. However, i remember if I haven't paid!