Water Bill put in abused single mother's name and abuser off the hook

[lemonsqueezer55]

Soo.... 6 months ago a single mum kicked out her abusive husband. now the water bill is saying that the day he left he is off the bill so they will send a cheque back to the joint account for the full amount paid. Then the bill will be put in her name and she will have to pay the full amount. But once the money enters the bank account he can just take it cos she will not know exactly when the deposit is. Any tips? She is so flat broke and I really want to help her. She has lots of kids and they all use water. he is not paying her anything. She is going to court but it will all take time.

This doesn't make sense

The water company can't possibly know when he moved out, and a cheque drawn on a joint account is valid as long as the account it open.

And there's no way one would be 'sent back' as payment will go through. And it doesn't matter whether name on account paying matches name on bill.

In the nicest possible way, I think your friend is trying to scam you with a sob story.

The best thing you can do is point her to one of the free debt charities and see if they can help her with general advice on budgeting and all financial matters

A cheque can be paid out of anyone's account whether they have a water account or not.

The cheque has been cashed and can not be sent back.

My friend was just honest and just told them when her husband moved out. She did not realise at the time that that would mean he was off the hook for paying because their kids all live in the house too.

The water bill had been paid monthly on time by direct debit from the join account. Now the joint account will be automatically refunded. there is no cheque being sent. Her problem is that unless she watches the account the entire time she will not know when the deposit is made and he could just take the money which is a large lump sum.

I think someone is not being truthful.
The money is from a joint account which legally means both are responsible for any debts presented. It is not person specific thing where the debts are split accordingly. The money in the joint account is joint money and not 50/50. The bank pay any bills presented and do not divide anything.

She can set up an alert so that she gets a text when the money goes in. She should also speak to the water company if she has difficulty paying. They have schemes etc to help.

Has your friend asked you for any money to help?

Why would a water company send a refund for a settled bill paid to your friend's account from an account with her name on?

Sorry Op I agree with the above posters.
The water company don't care who lives in the house or who is paying.

He couldn't even claim fraud anymore than my husband could claim fraud for my using our joint card to pay in Tesco.

I agree with others here that this does not make sense. We paid my grandmother’s water bill from our bank account for a while, water company did not care as long as the bill was paid for her address. The only that rings true is the taking the name off the bill going forward.

I also confused that you say in the OP there was a cheque then you say there wasn’t?

@lemonsqueezer55

The water bill had been paid monthly on time by direct debit from the join account. Now the joint account will be automatically refunded. there is no cheque being sent. Her problem is that unless she watches the account the entire time she will not know when the deposit is made and he could just take the money which is a large lump sum.

You can add text notifications to most bank accounts for when deposits and withdrawals are made

With United utilities there was a grant that meant if you had disabilities or at least 3 children under 16/18 they would put a set tariff on your account so that you would never pay more than a set amount per year. It's worth looking into.

I’m glad it’s not just me who doesn’t really understand this