dad has put a bill in my name without my consent, it has ruined my credit

is there anyway that debt can be transferred to him without reporting him to the police?
it’s uncomfortable because atm me and my mum are dependent on him and if he goes to jail for this idk what will happen to me and my mum. If i was in a good financial position where i could take care of my mum and just let him go to jail i’d report him but i can’t atm.

would i be able to get the debt transferred to him and clear it off my name??

Report him

is there anyway that debt can be transferred to him without reporting him to the police?
it’s uncomfortable because atm me and my mum are dependent on him and if he goes to jail for this idk what will happen to me and my mum. If i was in a good financial position where i could take care of my mum and just let him go to jail i’d report him but i can’t atm.

would i be able to get the debt transferred to him and clear it off my name??

I dont think its as dire as the person above suggests and you might be able to negotiate with the water company.
One way or another they will want paying.

Hello! I too have been a victim of familial fraud.

My advice you may not want to hear: Flag the bill as fraud on your credit score. I could give you a bunch of possible scenarios the water company may take, but it ultimately comes down to whether the debt is worth recovering or not. What I can tell you for sure is that while it may be the hardest thing ever to potentially get family in trouble, in the end it will be the best thing for you. They will not stop until something makes them stop. By flagging as fraud, your credit score will improve, but you risk a possible investigation into your father. Because it's a utility bill, the company will know the debt belongs to someone in the house they supply to. I don't think there would be a way to transfer the account to your dad without them realising fraud has been committed.

If you don't want to report your dad or encourage any kind of investigation: Call up the water company. Ask what the outstanding balance is. If it's manageable and you can afford to pay it off, pay it off in full and work out a payment plan with your parents. Once the debt in your name is cleared, inform the water company that you aren't going to be responsible for paying the water bill for the household anymore and you'd like to transfer the account to your parents and give them any details they ask for. If you take this route, you'll have to accept that the bill will be on your credit report until it isn't. There are ways you can improve credit though, even with that "blip" on your account.

Ultimately it is your choice. I took responsibility for the debts in my name. Paid them off and started a payment plan with the family member who commited the fraud. They were furious I'd made them pay me back and it become obvious to me that they were riding on the luck of these companies deciding the debt would be too minor to attempt to recover. They went on to do the same thing to a different family member. I wish I'd have just flagged them as fraud and not even told the family member I knew about it.
Good luck and I hope you get things sorted.

What I posted is based on the next steps that the water company will eventually take if the situation carries on unfortunately. The advice I've given has come from a friend who is a solicitor well versed in cases such as these

hey thank you so much for your advice! it’s nice to come across someone who has been in this situation before because you’re the only one who seems to understand how complex this is and how reporting my dad isn’t as simple as it seems. I will probably just pay the debt off myself and have to deal with the consequences. what ways can i improve my credit score? i’m guessing credit cards are out of the questions? what’s funny is when i saw the letter with the balance on it i told my dad i’d pay it off and he refused to let me pay. but by him paying it later he’s making things worse for me. Am i completely screwed if i have this blip in my account?

Personally I would do what the above said, flag it as fraud and contact the police. Your family did not card when they committed fraud and tarnished your future ability to get credit for their own selfishnesses, why do you care now? Also how old are you? Any debts from
Under the age of 18 can be written off
The consequences are not being able to get broadband, rent a flat, car insurance, not being able to buy a house, or get an overdraft from your bank if you’re struggling. Do you really want to live with that? You’re being too nice. On the other hand, if you do report to the police there is no guarantee you’ll have an amazing credit score especially if the only credit you have is your phone. Credit takes years to build.

You should just clear the balance behind your Dad's back. I think his pride isn't letting him think straight and he probably doesn't realise things are worse for you the longer he doesn't pay the bill.
Once the debt is cleared, your phone contract will improve your credit score. Slowly, but it will improve over time.
If you can get accepted for a credit building credit card, that can help. The interest rates aren't the best, so I wouldn't use it for anything you can't pay off immediately. So when I needed to build my credit back up, I would use my credit card to pay for my monthly shop, then clear the balance straight away when I got home. Also, as you get other utilities in your name if you ever move out, that will also improve your credit. You will get there and you won't even remember the 'blip' in a few years time!
It was two credit cards my family member maxed out in my name. So the prospect of building my credit with another card was terrifying. I now have better credit than my partner who's never had someone do that to him though! So it does get better.

thank you for actually giving some advice! I will definitely get the bill transferred out of my name. The thing is I'm pretty sure he knew what was doing, he has gotten into a lot of debt under his own name so i imagine thats why he put that bill under my name. It apparently takes 6 years for that debt to cleared off my report which is frustrating. I also tried to get a credit card awhile ago but I got rejected so i'm not sure what to do...Surely these landlords would need proof that that bill was not supposed to be in my name right? wouldn't that mean getting my dad in trouble?

You should just clear the balance behind your Dad's back. I think his pride isn't letting him think straight and he probably doesn't realise things are worse for you the longer he doesn't pay the bill.
Once the debt is cleared, your phone contract will improve your credit score. Slowly, but it will improve over time.
If you can get accepted for a credit building credit card, that can help. The interest rates aren't the best, so I wouldn't use it for anything you can't pay off immediately. So when I needed to build my credit back up, I would use my credit card to pay for my monthly shop, then clear the balance straight away when I got home. Also, as you get other utilities in your name if you ever move out, that will also improve your credit. You will get there and you won't even remember the 'blip' in a few years time!
It was two credit cards my family member maxed out in my name. So the prospect of building my credit with another card was terrifying. I now have better credit than my partner who's never had someone do that to him though! So it does get better.

this makes me feel so much better!! thank you so much, i’ll defo look into those cards! do you have any recommendation for which card?

Don't worry about it, I've been in the same boat and I now have a house and a mortgage so...it's not there forever. Some credit card companies will give you one, maybe not the high street ones but shop around, have a look on moneysavingexpert.com etc. Re landlords, they just want to see that you're not going to bail and owe them so if you can show you have a healthy bank balance and get good references, they should understand. If that doesn't work, you might have to rent a room in a shared house instead (so someone else's name is on the tenancy) until your history is restored. Good luck!

Different cards are recommended for different people but MSE and comparethemarket etc let you compare deals