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

when my dad died he was with octopus energy, they were amazing,only paid once house was sold,get through to the department who deals with death of customers,

When my father in law died last year, I contacted all of his utility / mobile phone / credit card companies and informed them of his death. They all asked if there was an estate, to which I said no, and they all promptly wrote the debts off there and then. Which was handy.

It shouldn't fall to family though? National Debtline says:

If there is no estate, you or a third party cannot be held liable for debts if you did not take them out jointly or did not act as a guarantor.

nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/debts-after-death-ew/#:~:text=If%20the%20deceased%20person%20has,outstanding%20debts%20from%20the%20estate.

You definitely dont need a solicitor for Probate. I wish people wouldnt keep giving out incorrect info.

No, you don't.

No they don't, they come out of the estate if there is enough money

Sorry, that was a bit abrupt. I agree, you don't need a solicitor and I certainly wouldn't for a simple estate.

This is not correct.

The money your relative owed to the energy company up to the point they died should be paid for out of the estate.
However, as you are still waiting for the house to be sold, is it not payments for current usage and standing charge that they are talking about when saying the account is in your name?
When my Dad died he was in a rental property and I had to pay for the electricity use for the property for the last month while I was cleaning it out and during the notice period of the tenancy. Then on the last day I contacted the energy company to give a meter reading.

I suggest you google the phone number for the bereavement line for the company, or phone up and ask specifically for the bereavement team because they are used to dealing with this sort of thing. If you get put through to a "normal" customer service agent, they probably aren't trained up specifically in the bereavement procedure.

Only if they don't leave any money or other assets.
Debts have to be paid out of the deceased's estate if there are sufficient funds. Otherwise we'd all be having a gay old time on our credit cards (original sense of "gay" obvs).

You can do probate without a solicitor, it is fairly easy and saves costs considerably.

You don't need a solicitor for probate. However who are the named executors? Are they dealing with this - if so bill should be marked as in their name but as executor. If there was literally no cash only the house they will have to wait, Even with probate granted with no liquid assets nothing can be done and they can't pursue someone who is not the executor. If you are not the executor then you need to speak to them asap and let them know who is.

The debts die with the person.

@TightDiamondShoes
No they don't.

After my DM died, we were told by the funeral company that the bill need not be paid until probate was granted. A sibling did however pay it, and was reimbursed later.
They may well try it on, but nobody can force you to settle a bill until the money’s there after probate. Some people will doubtless try it on, in the hope that someone is unaware of the legalities and will be harassed or frightened into paying.

Debts come out of the deceased's estate, not your pocket.
If you can prove you didn't ask for the energy account to be transferred to your name you are not liable.
Have you sent them a copy of the death certificate?

I actually worked on the Bereavement team for one of the big energy suppliers. It's standard practise to still send bills even when the property is empty but you don't have to pay them if probate hasn't been granted yet. When the sale is finalised you should let the energy supplier know and give them a closing reading if you can so they can close the account . You can ask them to send the final bill straight to the solicitor if you like.

It’s not obligatory to use a solicitor. I saved thousands by doing the probate myself. In exactly the same situation the energy company agreed to wait for probate. They should have a bereavement team, try contacting them @Hound456.

@TightDiamondShoes

The debts die with the person is incorrect. The debt isn't written off when someone dies. That person / their estate is liable to pay

OP has no personal responsibility to pay from their own funds

I suppose delay making payment from the estate might increase penalties / late payment fees etc, but perhaps that's unavoidable

I would recommend that you appoint the chief beneficiary/ies as Executor(s)/ Trustees of your estate if possible. They will usually have incentives to act quickly. In most cases you don't need to appoint a bank or a solicitor.

Some small estates don't need to go to probate and many of the remainder are straightforward.

Apart from saving large amounts of money ( some banks etc charge a percentage of the estate) it gives the beneficiaries control. Sometimes busy solicitors/banks can take months (or years) to process the estate and relatives can be in a difficult situation financially with no ability to hurry them up as the person who appointed them is dead.

You can, of course, appoint a solicitor etc to act for you even if you are named as the executor but in that case if they prove dilatory you can sack them.

Who is the Executer of the estate, are you OP

You have some sound advice given to you on this thread, as well as some that is not! I just wanted to add that when I dealt with my late mother’s estate be prepared to deal with some utility companies, building societies and banks simply not knowing the law. For instance one big building society just gave me all of my mother’s savings when I went in to my local branch to inform them of her death. A solicitor friend was astounded when I told him this.

I don't think this is uncommon for smaller amounts - my mum's bank just transferred everything with no will, probate etc.

Absolutely no need to pay for a solicitor, if the probate is straight forward it's a very easy thing to do. As for the utilities, if they are in the name of the deceased then they one of the charges on the estate, once probate is granted, they cannot demand payment from anyone else. If the deceased had left nothing at all then the debt would have died with them.

They are trying it on, and most energy suppliers have form for being ABSOLUTELY awful when someone dies. Utterly appalling IME.

Not quite. It's called being vigilant, and not letting crooks taking you for a ride.

There is in fact another element to think about.

All you are ever in obligation to pay is the "liquidated amount", or in plain-speak the amount that was verified to be correct and really due.
A solicitor would just pay any passably credible bill - it's not their money, why would they waste their time on querying it?
But if you are dealing yourself with probate, you are perfectly within your rights to refuse to pay fantasist estimates, or anything covering the period after the death of your relative.

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

should be edited to

“jog the fuck on and get in the queue for probate AND make sure your bill holds water - correct amount for real usage up to the time of death”