Boards
Housing Thread # 26549.7 Bills
So I'm coming to the end of my contract living in a student house. I've only been there 3 months as a short term let til the end of term.
One of the guys in the house handles all the bills, I have never seen any of the bills but they are £45 per month each (between 4 housemates) for electric, gas and internet. So we pay him and he pays the bills - this is the system that has been in place all year i.e. before I moved in. Only there for 3 months therefore not going to cause a fuss etc... The guy is from Eastern Europe and when I've questioned him about certain things he plays 'dumb foreigner' and makes up excuses. For example we are paying £40 p/m for internet which quite frankly is obscene in itself but for the speed and service we get it is robbery. However he says it is the best deal.
For month 1 I paid him £60 as at the time only 3 of us were in the house to make up the shortfall of the 4th person, seem reasonable?
Now for months 2 and 3 I owe £45 per month as there are 4 in the house so it is equally shared, again reasonable? I haven't paid this yet, none of the other 3 have as I've raised questions with them and they are thus:
Is this guy scamming us? I've lived in adult world houses before and I'm pretty sure that if you pay regular direct debits each month through the whole year that come the summer months the account should be in credit, and therefore in theory the bills should be cheaper?
that is fine if you live in the house all year round as it balances out, but for my summer let am I being scammed by this guy and he is pocketing the credit already built up? Or should I just stop moaning and put my hand in my pocket and pay him?
tl;dr