Water meters are permitted to be fitted by companies in designated areas of water stress regardless of whether one is wanted and Affinity Water is in such an area as is the one I work for (not Affinity). The part regarding charging by water meter would be covered by s.143 of The Water Industry Act which allows water companies to make a ‘Charges Scheme” in which it would be detailed the provision to charge if you a water meter fitted. It is fairest way as people pay for what they use just like electric and gas.

From your PDF of the letter of claim it is just about visible that you live in a PO postcode which is a split area with Portsmouth Water providing the fresh water and Southern Water providing the wastewater removal service.

Most water companies are very complaints averse as would ideally like to avoid cases involving the CCW (Consumer Council for Water). I suspect a complaint or email to the CEO will likely have them remove these especially as you have now cleared it. Keep to the facts, be assertive but not aggressive, and explain the misunderstanding and how you really would rather not have to escalate matters and see how it pans out.... good luck For information the options referred to are as a result of instruction from OFWAT for water companies to provide as much assistance as possible to customers who may be struggling to pay water services charges. If a customer cannot afford to pay what they are being charged then an affordable payment plan will be set up based on their income and expenditure. Makes sense really from both parties points of view as the water company gets something as the usual alternative is simply non payment.

Only unmeasured water services charges run from April to March akin to council tax and are usually issued between February and April for the full yearly charge. Unmeasured water service charges are payable in advance however there is the option to pay these monthly from either April to January or April to March depending on the water company. If a payment arrangement is not set up upon receipt then technically the whole bill is due a bit like council tax where you lose the right to pay by instalments though most will still do this months later. The magical powers that allow water companies to ask for payment in advance are their household charges schemes which are raised pursuant to s.143 of The Water Industry Act 1991 and are approved every year by OFWAT along with how much they can charge. As the charge basis does not seem to have been specified it could be a metered charges which are usually issued 6 monthly and payable upon receipt unless you have an arrangement set from the start of the billing period as by the six month point and issue of the bill you will have used that supply. Probably a little more info needed, when the bill was sent, the billing period, metered or non metered to understand if payment was late or not...

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

Just to finish this post off I never heard anything further from Hermes so donated the items to a local pre school nursery who kindly provided an email confirming this and that no payment was involved. Just hope Hermes or the retailer has refunded whoever sent it or whoever it was meant for....

Thanks BF I am not too confident that Hermes will actually collect it as I think they think they have done what was asked of them which I suppose to be fair they have considering it was addressed to my house. Very odd though since I didn’t order it but will either donate to charity or perhaps see if one of the kid’s nurseries around here fancy it as be perfect for picnics and make sure I get written confirmation that it is a donation

So on Wednesday we had a parcel delivered by Hermes that contained items (IKEA plastic bowls, tumblers, cutlery etc) which had our address on it but not either of our names being addressed to “householder”. I would have pointed this out to the driver but by the time I got downstairs they were driving off half way down the road already. As this does not belong to us having not ordered it and there was no delivery note or invoice in the parcel I emailed Hermes to ask they come and collect this as presumably from the tracking number they will be able to ascertain who the sender was and at least deliver it back to them as I don’t think these came direct from IKEA and believe the parcel has been round the houses as I can see an additional label under the top one dated September.... From the initial responses I’m not sure they are too bothered as they have simply said they have fulfilled their contract by delivering it to the address on the parcel which I suppose they have with the only problem being it’s not ours... I have in the latest email to them pointed this out and advised I would store the parcel safely for 28 days after which I will give the contents to a local charity shop in the event they don’t collect it. Can anyone see any issue with this as these really are unsolicited goods and I don’t really want to store them in the loft for 6 years due to the statute of limitations Thanks Kjun

Thank you for you help with this and for clarifying the situation

Hi no it was in England so at least it is good to know those are the options and presumably they will write to her at some point after they receive her response to the letter they sent offering one or the other? if you accept the awareness course does that negate the points but not the fine? Thanks for your advice in advance

Thanks for that DX if I am interpreting it correctly this would suggest 3 points and a fine don’t suppose you know if this would be done on paper or an appearance at court? Not sure if magistrates hearing are being done remotely at present all the civil county court ones I’ve done for the last 6 month have been by telephone or CVP

Hi guys as a non driver I am just looking for advice regarding Notice of Intended Prosecution (?) that my other half received and the likely outcome. The letter stated 37mph in a 30mph zone and asked for information such as who was driving, licence number etc. She has completed this confirmed she was the driver and sent it back. Is this likely to result in a court appearance or are there other potential outcomes? Not sure it’s relevant but she currently has a clean licence although I suspect not for long.... `many thanks Kjun

I will have in 7 days time and having been here for a long time the call was also recorded

While I accept your point when it’s included within the policy document that payment will be made for loss under prescribed conditions which have been met then I don’t agree it is unreasonable to expect them to fulfil their obligations. Having contacted the bank they are unsurprisingly of the opinion that my first point of call is my travel insurance and FCA guidance is that the insurance company can pay out then take it up with the bank should they wish. I am not well versed in Spanish consumer law so can’t say either way whether this is lawful or not however this is not really for me to figure out having paid for insurance covering certain circumstances which subsequently occurred.

Well yes it would be easier to attempt a S.75 claim with the bank first however it just doesn’t seem right that the bank should be liable as I thought this is what travel insurance is for. Perhaps I’ll ask them to do a chargeback at the same time for the insurance premium as it doesn’t appear to be fit for purpose nor are they providing the service paid for.....