Bills in shared houses

[traceyinrosso70]

DD will be moving into a shared house next year and is fast coming to the conclusion that if she doesn't organise a bank account for joint bills to be paid from that it won't happen. I am a bit worried that if she takes on the responsibility of paying the bills from the account and then others haven't paid their share that it could affect her credit rating if bills don't get paid due to lack of funds . DH suggested that she adds at least one other person onto the account and makes sure that people set up a standing order into the account and be a month in hand at all times. Does this sound ok ? What do your DC do ??

Can't they just pay bills when they arrive? Or each take responsibility for one bill, so one has gas in their name, another electric etc?

I was wondering about this. DS has a shred house lined up for second year.
I presume they also have to sign up to utilities and broadband.
Some tenancies include all that but I know DS's doesn't. There are also companies that target students like Split The Bill and others that sort it all out - for a fee.
I can't see why they would need a joint bank account though, in fact that sounds like a financial no no. If it's second year I presume she knows and has chosen to share with this group?
DS seems to be leaving it to others to sort out as usual.

My DDs house put bills in different housemates names. When the bills came in, they transferred their share to the person who was responsible for the bill. You just have to trust people!

We did bills in different names and transferred money around. It meant that no one was saddled with the lot, we all had an incentive to pay our share, and we all started building a credit history. Admittedly I always lived with very sensible responsible people.

I don't think a joint bank account is a good idea. The most successful scheme I've seen had a running tally sheet of all household money paid by each person, with the bills shared out (one bill per person though). Then the tally was netted off at the end of each month and whoever was behind paid whoever was ahead in funding the household.

Being the house banker will only end in tears.

I would be happier if they each had a bill assigned to them to be responsible for and DD doesnt get saddled with all the risk/hassle - have suggested this to her .

DD had a house bank account and it worked for them. I think they might have had the bills in individual names - so everyone had a responsibility - but the central bank account was the one who actually paid the bill.
Beware of the end of the year when people drift away for the summer on different dates. What will you do if, say, the electricity-payer has left the house a month before the last person?

A bill each is not a bad idea as building up a credit record whilst still a student is useful. Not least for if you then want to rent when you graduate, when standard referencing will probably apply. Not picking up a poor credit record is really important. Some employers (eg banks and law firms) might rules out candidates if they have picked up any black marks.

Utility companies often over estimate bills. As a landlord I often discover tenants have left with utility companies owing them lots of money, and obviously with the utility company making little effort to return the money. (And obviously wont return it to me!) Taking meter reading is important. If the inventory clerk does not do it, agree them with either the outgoing tenants or the landlord/agent, in writing, including photos. Then take them when you leave. If there is no water meter, ask the water company the basis on which they are charging. Essentially they seem to be charging high rates to enccourage people to switch to water meters. If the property is not suitable for a meter, they may then reduce the charge. (Obviously you need the landlords permission, espeiially to install a meter. However a tenant is currently challenging the water company. It is a flat in a conversion and not suitable for a meter, and in all probabilty the charge will be reduced by 50%!)

And also try to be there for the check in or go through the inventory carefully, taking photos and respond to the landlord/agent quickly, ideally within 24 hours. If it is stated that a "professional clean" has been done and this does not look to be the case, challenge it. If the landlord cannot provide a receipt, they cannot expect you to undertake a similar clean at the end.

When DD2 was in a shared house at uni. They set up one bank account for the rent to go into I think this was in one of the girls names and then they were each responsible for another bill. She is still in a shared house although she's left uni. Now they each just pay their own rent by Direct Debit, but they each have responsibility for a bill collecting the money and paying it on time.

If they have a joint bank account then they are "linked" financially - so if one has shit credit, so do the others; and this can have an effect for YEARS afterwards.

They need to have one bill in each person's name and when the bill comes in, they pay their proportion to that person. They need to be on top of reading the meters (monthly at LEAST, preferably fortnightly) and updating the power company (can do it online, takes seconds) so that bills are accurate rather than estimated.

DS ensured that no one had more than one bill in his name and kept an Excel spread sheet for payments. There is always someone who is short of cash/mean who doesn't pay until the very last opportunity.