Not pay deceased family members bills

[Hound456]

A family member has died and my siblings and I are the only relatives they had.
We have been left a house which has sold but we are waiting for probate to be granted so the sale goes through.
I contacted relatives energy supplier and explained they were deceased , nobody is living at the property but correspondence could be sent to me. I was told outstanding bills had to be settled when probate was granted.
I've since had a quarterly bill but they are asking for payment.
It's not loads of money but I would prefer not to have to pay it from my own money.
I've argued that I was told bills would be issued on probate being granted ,this seems to have changed.
What I suppose I'm asking is can they do this? Or are the company trying it on?They are saying account is in my name but I never agreed to that. When letters come they are addressed to my deceased family members estate c/o me. Can anyone offer any advice ?
TIA

Don’t do anything until probate is granted and you have access to the deceased person’s money (otherwise this is ‘intermeddling’ in the estate).

That is assuming the account isn’t in your name (if it is, you need to find out how/why).

If it is going through Probate you must have a solicitor dealing with it - cant you send the bill to them?

When my dad died, he owed £2k in electricity. And a whole lot more to others. Without a will.

Because of the debt I used a probate solicitor. They had to put an advert in the gazette looking for other potential creditors and she wrote to all the ones we knew about.

Any assets were sold and the money was used to pay for funeral costs and priority debts. Then the others were written to and told there wasn't enough money to pay them. They wrote the debts off. If there had been more money, they'd have been paid one the state was settled.

You need a probate solicitor! It's so stressful. Hope you get it sorted.

I agree with seeing a solicitor. These bills should come out of the estate.

You can do probate without a solicitor

The debts die with the person. Of course the energy company would be happy if you paid - would help their cash flow. 😉 But you absolutely must tell them to jog the fuck on - or email your deceased relative.

Is this UK? The bills come from the estate. The companies know this. Rather than speaking with them write or email so you have everything evidenced.

If you google the company, they will have to have details of their complaints service - email them and say that as I'm sure they're aware bills are paid from the deceased assets once probate has been granted and to stop hounded a bereaved relative. I would also state that if you don't have a favourable response in 28 days, you will take the matter to the ombudsman.

If they have an estate debts come from it. The OP can tell them to wait but not to jog the fuck on.

Ask for a letter of undertaking from your solicitors to state the balance will be paid from the proceeds of the sale.

Edit : “jog the fuck on and get in the queue for probate”.

better? 🙄

Debt doesn't die when someone passes away. It comes out of the estate. If there is a solicitor administering the estate then let them deal with it. Debts only get written off if the estate is insolvent that is has no money or assets which doesn't apply in this case.

The energy company most definitely have had this scenario before. I imagine they have a department dealing with customers who are deceased. I would ask to speak to them.

Surely the estate is liable for any outstanding bills? You shouldn't have to pay for them yourself, but they can't just not get paid.

Much better 😉

The energy company most definitely have had this scenario before. I imagine they have a department dealing with customers who are deceased. I would ask to speak to them.

They will have a 'bereavement department' or some similar name. OP needs to contact them.

I know it sounded flippant - but I won’t tolerate these silly companies following “computer says”. We all need to push back and say “no, you can wait because xxx” and refuse to engage further.

I think we’ve all read these awful stories where eg a widow is asked to obtain the signature of her deceased husband to allow x, y and z.

I have no qualms about fucking around with them. 😉

I think we’ve all read these awful stories where eg a widow is asked to obtain the signature of her deceased husband to allow x, y and z.

But in this case, they are doing what OP asked; she told them correspondence could be sent to her, so that is what they have done. She should pass the bill to whoever is dealing with probate.

When my father in law died, I was the Executor. I informed his energy company, he had been paying by direct debit and was massively in credit, but after informing them that he had died, suddenly there was nearly £200 outstanding. The man on the phone said he would send final account by email and post, my email was on the account anyway. I never received anything further, I hope the man I spoke to realised how wrong this was and didn’t actually action it. Definitely don’t pay any bills yourself, if you have a Solicitor dealing with probate pass it on, if it’s yourself dealing with the probate, then when you have to pay all bills before sharing out the remainder of the money.

Debts no longer die with you the law changed in the 60s I think. It stops people with elderly family taking out credit it their names and never paying it off.
Tell the company that you can't pay. You don't have the money and more than one person is liable for the debt but asap you will pay. Point out that taking you alone to court is pointless as you can prove that you alone are not liable so they would have to incur 2 lots of charges. And you have told them you will pay and the court will take a dim view of the time wasting

They will send you the bill (addressed to the late account holder c/o you or the executor)
You just need to write to them to say that probate has not yet been granted and bills will be settled once it has been, provided there is enough money in the estate. Ask for the bill to be put 'into dispute' pending probate.
Every now and then they may write to ask for progress.....or they may just send a bill reminder as a way of asking for progress update.
You do not have to pay it, it comes out of the estate.

When I dealt with my parents estate, the energy company bereavement line were brilliant, and explained that although there would be a bill payable, and I would get statements, I absolutely did not have to pay anything until probate was granted.

This is a good idea.
Sounds like they’re trying to scare you into paying out of your own money, which is despicable. It’s not your debt. They seem to be twisting the fact that you said to send correspondence to you, to say that the account is in your name. Or someone in their office has misunderstood.

Debts don't die with the person. This is an incorrect assumption and only applies if the deceased estate has no money assets savings etc.

Op has already said that her deceased relative owned a house. So there is just not enough cash left.

It would be ridiculous if a deceased persons assets ie house savings etc could be passed on and anyone owed money told to jog on.
Debts left by a deceased person should be paid from their assets before whats left is passed to beneficiaries. Funeral costs must be paid first and it gets complicated where theres not enough money left over to pay any debts.

Unless there is a large mortgage left on the house thats unlikely.

I think the situation here is that the company would much prefer that OP paid the outstanding bill and claimed it back from the house sale proceeds than wait and be paid when the house is sold.

Is this a bill for energy used prior to your relative dying, or for usage and standing charges since the death?