Fair play (regarding the water act). It was just a thought - as they told me that I wasn't a customer. It's made me think though...what if when I phoned them, they told me that because they did have the address wrong, and I obviously gave them the correct address, and therefore they couldn't find me?

I don't know if they are or not. The address on the claim is correct (although it's different to the address at the electoral role), but as I've never received any bills from them directly, I don't know if they have sent any bills or they have the wrong address. It's simply that the postcode is for a different road...my neighbours all have a different postcode to me. This has in the past been a problem, and I was throwing it out there in case they have sent bills it's just that I never received them...although, I think this is unlikely.

Will do.

I'm afraid I don't. It was some years ago now and was entirely over the phone. I was thinking along the lines of the fact that I have never had a contract with them. I haven't ever signed anything as they told me that I wasn't a customer of theirs and have never received any bills for them. To be fair, the same was true of BT as well, but when I phoned them, we flipped to paperless billing and that solved the problem of not getting anything in the post from them. The address is a bit odd - the postcode for this house is actually for a different road and I have had problems in the past with letters/parcels/takeaways(!) not arriving. However, that seems unlikely for this length of time.

Hi all, This morning I have received court papers from Northampton Court for unpaid water bills. When I first moved into this property, after a while I realised that I hadn't received a bill for water, i phoned Southern Water and was told that I wasn't a customer of theirs. I told them that I was receiving water, but they insisted that I wasn't known to them. I tried again a few months later as it played on my mind and was told I would be phoned back - I wasn't. After a while I forgot all about it...for about 8 year! They have also sent a summons to my ex-partner who left about 5-6 years ago. This morning they are asking for £1800+interest. I'm considering admitting the claim, as I have had the water after all, but it annoys me that they have never sent me any bills at all, and flat out told me that I wasn't a customer of theirs. Before I do that, is there any defence I can submit? Oh, forgot to mention that I have had debt collection agency letters recently pertaining to it, but the figures changed each time as did the agency so I thought it best to ignore them as some looked like [problem]s.

That's what I'd figured. It was about 18 months ago. I see where you're going. I'd quite like it to go to court really, simply to show the slimy b'tards that they can't just get away with lying, trying to steal etc... with impunity. I may send the letter though. Just so that I have some record of actually trying to do something. Or not. I might just do nothing. EDIT: Just reading through that letter. Should it not have it's grammatical errors corrected before sending it? It might make people treat it more seriously. Just a thought. Also, it should probably have a time limit on the end, "I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint....etc.....". It might take 10 years to get that letter, it might take a day. It needs to be qualified as to what stage the complaint will be made.

Hi all, A few years ago I had a broadband account with a firm called "Griffin Internet" - at first they were pretty good, although a bit on the pricey side - but you get what you pay for, so I put up with it. One day they announced that they were selling off their consumer part of their business. I paid no attention, but shortly after this I moved house. I wanted to continue using their services, which mean that I had to cancel my contract (for which I never got any money back), and start a new one. The first payment had to be paid by card over the phone - I don't even have a bank account, let alone a credit card and so a friend paid for me. Sadly, they took several payments month after month, instead of invoicing me like they used to. This put my friend overdrawn. After her phoning their MD and arguing it out, he promised that her card details would be removed from their system and that I would get this month free by way of an apology. I phoned later that day to confirm this, and also said that if they do that again, that I won't be paying that month either, as this had caused me no end of embarrasement and that from now on they should send me invoices as they used to before I moved house. Their accounting dept. agreed to this. The next month my friends card was debited again. She cancelled the card, and I phoned them and got that month free again. The next month, I recieved an automated email telling me that the card ending in xxxx had failed. Clearly, the promise of removing these card details was too difficult a promise for them to keep. I emailed them, thanking them for yet another free month and reiterated that for each month that they do this, they had agreed to relinquish that month's fee. I also reiterated my request that they invoice me monthly as before, and I would pay as before. I didn't receive a reply. Now, about 2 years after I left them - let's face it, I wasn't going to stay with them forever once they got that bad - I recieve a few letters telling me that I owe them for the whole year. Some letters from them directly, and now debt collection agencies - namely Paladin Credit. I spoke to the girl on the phone (from Paladin) - she phoned me - and explained what had happened. She told me that she was going to contact Griffin and get back to me later that day. Of course, she didn't. A week later, I simply get another threatening letter telling me "Pay up or go to court". I'm quite prepared to go to court, but my GF is getting a little concerned. Should I ignore them? Should I write back to them explaining what I explained on the phone? I'm inclined to ignore them, and hopefully they will come good on their threat to go to court. I could do with a day out!