She owes half the bills. No question. Whether you want to reduce her contribution is down to you. As you say you move into a shared house expecting bills to be shared.

If I were you I wouldn't pay a penny more to the account. Her name's on the account. Give her the balance of your half and let her resolve it herself.

Leggydan,

If you were only paying £40 per month for both gas and electric between you, this is quite low, hence why the final bill is so much more.

A good question is what is reasonable.

If she was using the washing machine and showering, (as you were) and you were using the heating and cooking where she wasn't, I think a reasonable compromise would be to split the total bill 66% / 34% (two thirds / one third).

HTH

Sparky.

Leggydan:

Whether you have been "frugal" or not depends on how much gas and electricity has been used. You won't know that until you have obtained and studied the bills. Whether £88/month is a reasonable cost of energy depends on the amount used and the tariff. Whether the amount used is reasonable depends partly on how warm you kept the house and how well insulated the house is. Too many variables for me to usefully comment.Assuming the bill is an accurate reflection on the energy used, I think the £40/month payment against the bill is not unreasonable in the circumstances, but that's just an opinion.

I have a problem with a final bill from my previous house and i'm really distressed as the other person involved is one of my oldest friends. Here is the story in a nutshell:

• I moved into a 3 bedroom terraced house with my friend on 3rd October 2008
• My friend decided to stay at her boyfriend's house every night since then and only came back to shower and do some washing (most days)
• In March she stopped coming back at all unless required (she probably slept in the house a total of 10 times)
• I moved out of the house on 28 June 2009
• We paid our gas/electric bill through direct debit (in her name as house is rented from her Dad) at £40 per month to Scottish Power
• Our final bill now states that we owe £429 on top of what we have already paid
• As a frugal energy user I'm sure that this isn't because i have used the gas/electric excessively in her absence
• My housemate thinks i should pay the whole bill as she feels her half is covered in the monthly £40 and that i have used the gas/elec excessively
• I feel we should pay half each (or me pay a little more but not sure what) as the bill would have been more or less the same had she actually lived there and it wasn't my choice for her to not live there

I would never have moved into the house in the first place had i known she would never be there and certainly not if i was going to get left paying to heat a 3 bedroomed house by myself.

I now need to work out who should pay what and was wondering if anyone here had any advice for me. I am waiting for copies of the meter readings from when i moved in and when i moved out, i was hoping i would be able to compare this with other people's bills who have 2 people living in a 3 bed house so i can work out what we should pay and then i will pay any excess. If i could find some wayof proving that i'm not trying to rip her off it would help as i don't think she will ever accept my opinion.Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as i have no idea how to resolve this.

Thank you