severn trent water - please help!!

[PrettyPaula]

We moved out of our old property very suddenly in October of last year.

The landlady had failed to pay her mortgage and the property was repossessed leaving us in a bit of a mess to be honest.

anyway all was sorted (or so we thought)

turns out she hasnt been paying the water rates as agreed in our tenancy. My fiance had recieved bills but everytime he mentioned it to the landlady she had said dont worry about them i pay them. so he just never opened them as they were to the occupier and forwarded them to her as agreed.

guess whos now got a 471 quid bill. yep, my fiance.

the evil witch has given his name as debtor.

obviously they wont talk to me about it so im going to get him to call them tonight but im going mad with worry. our account with them at our new address is in credit! surely they can see we dont skip our utilities!!

the other thing bothering us is that there is a CCJ (company unknown as yet) that has appeared on his credit file, again impossible to find out what as they wont talk to me and theyre closed whenever hes out of work.

but the CCJ is for £250 so it wont be severn trent will it? the amounts are wrong arent they?

Please help im going mad with worry we cant afford that kind of bill.

[noggsy]

Hi Paula, do you have a tenancy agreement with the details of what bills you and your landlady were responsible for ? If so no problem fax it through to ST and I am sure they will drop any action. If you havent then you may have a problem which may result in you being liable, but they should accept a payment arrangement.
As far as the CCJ my understanding is that a CCJ cannot be issued for part of a debt but I am sure someone more informed will advise you on the site

[PrettyPaula]

thanks for the reply, i dont think he will still have a copy of it.. but i will get him to search for it later, either way i think the current balance will be wrong as the account at the property is still open. it should have been closed for us in october 07..

fingers crossed they will be good about it... as for the CCJ we are totally baffled about that one then... hmmm!

[noggsy]

Good luck........why is it us fellas need women to sort out our problems

[PrettyPaula]

because you lot just plod along as if nothings happening thats why

[noggsy]

Hey theres nothing wrong with the Homer Simpson Principles of Life....If a job proves difficult.....it aint worth doing

[PrettyPaula]

right then.

severn trent have said that we ARE liable unless we can prove she was responsible, i dont think thats gonna happen so fair enough we shall pay the balance up until we left property.

in order to close account at that date (31/10/0 we need to send a copy of a final bill from other utility or council. which is fine, got one from EON which we can send no problems!

the CCJ is from severn trent (apparently you can submit judgement for partial debts) BUT the chappy in credit management said that as this was sent for judgement after we left property and therefore after account closed that once that proof is recieved they will remove the judgement and enter a 12 month payment plan with fiance and i.

very pleased with all that, have taken down chappies details and im drafting a letter which i shall post up shortly.

[noggsy]

Pleased you got a result you are happy with - end of crisis

[PrettyPaula]

update:

here is the letter chaps!


Severn Trent Water
Customer Relations
Sherborne House
St Martins Road 1st May 2008
Coventry
CV3 6SD


xxxxxxxx
xxxx
xx
x


079xxxxxxx


Dear Sir/Madam


RE: Account Number 00000000000


I am writing to you regarding the above account as discussed over the phone with Robert in Credit Management. I have become aware of a CCJ from yourselves regarding my previous address of xxxxxx.

Whilst at this address there was some confusion regarding the liability I was under to pay the water rates. My landlady had informed me she was paying them ( I was forwarding the bills to her). I was later informed by yourselves that no payment was being made.


The same landlady failed to pay her mortgage for a number of months and I sadly lost my home due to repossession from her lender. This meant I had to leave the property swiftly and unexpectedly. I contacted Severn Trent Water on 23rd October 2007 to inform you of this and was told a final bill would be issued to my new address (see above). I received a bill shortly after moving into this property that I wrongly assumed was for any outstanding charges with yourselves which I paid immediately.


I have come to find a CCJ for £250 from yourselves issued on 15th November 2007 on my credit file. I was entirely unaware of this hearing, if I had been aware of this occurrence I would have endeavoured to clear the account in full or make arrangements to pay without the need for a Court hearing. Sadly I did not receive any correspondence. This was often the case at xxxxxxxxxxx as there was a shared mail room.


Upon talking to Robert he assured me that upon receipt of a final bill from EON showing the date I left xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Severn Trent Water would set aside the judgement against me, recalculate any amount owing and set up a 12 month payment plan for the outstanding charges. I would be happy to do this and enclose a cheque for £10 to begin this process.


I am incredibly sorry that the situation did go this far and hope that you accept my sincere apologies for this cross in communication, needless to say I shall not be so naïve as to believe anything from future landlords unless given in writing.


I work for a major high street bank and as I am sure you are aware, a condition of my employment is that I remain CCJ free. Therefore the CCJ on my file threatens to affect my employment status, this is causing me great distress.


Lastly may I commend Roberts service over the phone, he was an excellent advisor who discussed my concerns at length and resolved my issues quickly and efficiently. He was polite and knowledgeable, a credit to any service company.


Please find enclosed my final bill from EON and also a cheque for £10, I hope that these will satisfy the need for your records. However, if you require anything further from me please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone or post at the above address.


I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.


Yours Sincerely




xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx











what do you guys think... i sincerely hope that what he told me was correct..