Surfer is correct. Carry on making the payments anyway as it will help the outstanding amount no matter what and look better in court. I do know about the water act ~( worked with it daily) The water will not be cut off that is correct but they can take you to court and add fees etc. If it were me I would go back to UU and see if they will allow to pay in full ? How much is outstanding on the bill anyway ?

Sorry the reply is late but I read this with an opened mouth. I know we are all about consumer rights and being fair but the above is slightly silly. Solicitors costs are allowed to be included( as far as I am aware with utilites as I have seen hundreds of accounts with fees attached.) as part of the process for debt recovery before court is : bill, reminder, red reminder, solicitors letter x 2 then court ( there can also be a black reminder and tele reminders as well depending on the company). All this is set by the system and other then tele reminders the process is little touched by human hand so the amount outstanding is not really relevant either. One of the letters or reminders would have explained the fees if no payment was received. It is hardly their fault you were not in the country to read those letters. I can't really see how it is harassement as they sent a bill and you didn't pay it, how where they to know you would pay it next time or when you got back. The computer system works for a reason and that is to make sure all accounts that fall into arrears are treated the same : IE recovery action then court. Also: Water companies do not disconnect domestic customers at all. Debt or no debt as agreed with OFWAT and the government, (water act ) they can however disconnect commerical properties even if some payment has been made. Finally, complain to OFWAT by all means but it is them that argreed the process and charges to begin with. They are the ones that control what the water companies can make and how much profit they can claim etc. I honestly can't see why you don't call or write to Yorkshire water and see what they can offer. They might accept your payment and set up a direct debt to make sure it does not happen again.

Ell-enn..We have done all that. That is why we have gone to the MP, community legal advice team , Shelter, CCCS and the FOS. GE no longer offer interest only so that option is out. They have turned down a hardship move as they say we could not afford the repayments long term with only one wage. They have refused a payment hoilday and will not change the terms of the mortgage at all. We have explored all this and I have several letters from them now turning us down for everything. Until friday we were not in arrears but that of course has changed now and they will not offer the homeowners mortgage scheme as they don't offer interest only anymore..Swings and roundabouts. We are going to have to go to court and argue that they have not complied with the N123 form and that they have broken all the rules themselves but it does mean of course we lose the house. But the only good side (which is terrible) as a bankrupt they are not going to get half of the money that will be oustanding when they sell this place at auction.

Slightly late , but ask for direct payments. That comes out of your benefit and the DWP sort out how much you can afford and teh water company have to accept that. I have seen it be as little as £3 per week to cover current bill but it does mean once you get a job you will have to pay more to cover this period.

One question first : Are you now up to date with all the payments ? I would call UU first and check if they are still going ahead as it might be that the letter crossed in the post with your payment and they do send out certain letters and forms to force people to pay their bill so it might be part of the scheduled recovery action and if that is the case it can be stopped by them. Is your mother on a water meter ? I am sorry to say that UU will not care that your mother is ill but it might be worth asking about the access / vulnerable householders scheme. As to defence..There is nothing better in my mind then the truth. Your mother was behind in her payments as you were on hoilday and she is ill. On your return you paid to date and are sorry it was forgotten. Honest and to the point. Oh and whilst I think about it, are they asking for the whole amount now ? Have they cancelled the payment plan ? You need to check that as it would make a difference to what they want

Check N123 form as that gives you the list they have to fill in before they can go to court for a repo. They are not meant to do a lot of things but they don't seem to be playing by the same rules as we are. That is why I got my MP involved as if they claim to be part of any government scheme and then do not live up to that claim I think the government should be looking into it. We can not sell the house (sink hole estate, thanks Gordon Brown) so repo and bankrupcy seem the only option. Good luck ( though I hope you don't need it)

we have never been in arrears with them before so no charges. But thanks for the reply and the idea is a good one and one I would not have thought about. Our MP has written to GE and asked then to communicate with us, we were promised a call on Friday to discuss options but like everything else GE say it never happened so I have not made the payment for July 30th as I thought that might get someone to call me and ask for it, I know it will lead to charges and extra interest but I am not sure what else I can do.

Oh I am so so sorry.. I know Shelter are very hard to get through to. I started at 8am on the dot and got through at 10.47am and that was redial every minute or so. I wish I was a stronger person cos at the moment I cry at the drop of a hat and I am sure that does not help as they all then think I am weak which then makes it much worse. Be strong and I am wish you all the best. I might not be able to offer practical advice or help but if you wanna rant then I can do that.

I can't answer any of your questions as I am wondering the same myself but the one thing I see here is that 99% of the properties being repo'd go through the auctions and it seems to take a very long time. Have you tried calling Shelter ? They are really helpful and do have a lot of information about the legal side of things. They can also refer you to the community legal advice centre and if you qualify for free legal advice they can help you no end.

Hi all I am new here but am hopeing that you can help me as I have run out of ideas. I hope this is the right part of the forum as this is where it is all heading. We have a £739 per month mortgage with GE for a 3 bed ex council house on a pretty rough estate. We bought the house years ago through Gmac and was then sold to North Yorkshire and from there to GE and that meant we had little control over the terms of the mortgage by the time GE got it and we would never have picked them anyway. The house to begin with did have equity so we were not really bothered but time and governments move on and now there is no equity and I have been made redundant. In May 2010 I knew the date of my redundancy and contact GE to advise that we would be losing a wage and that my husbands wages would not cover everything going out..ie gas/electric, water, insurance, council tax, car and petrol for him to do the 25 mile one way trip to work and the full mortgage ( repayment and interest) I asked what could be done to help me and was advised to write in for interest only. I did that and was turned down. They did not suggest any other options and refused to talk to me about anything for at least 2 weeks. I called 3 times a week to try and get it sorted and looked on line and went to the CCCS and Shelter to get so information. With that I went back to the mortgage company and asked for some hardship help, I sent in my SOA the cccs had done and also my bank statements..Again they turned me down for any changes but did not tell me why. I asked about the homeowners mortgage scheme (they claim to have staff that deal with that daily and know the whole ins and outs) they refered me to an "expert" who claimed they would look into it. All the time the payment is getting nearer and nearer and I have no money, been refused all benefits and have nothing spare. SO they then come back and say they have cancelled all interest only mortgages since June 2009 so clearly can not apply for the homeowners mortgage scheme and the local council can not afford the mortgage rescue scheme (we have no kids and no one is disabled so we are at the bottom of a very long list) So long story short I guess. I can no afford my full mortgage payment and GE will not help. At this state I would happly give them back the house as I can rent here for £500 and it would be less heart ache and stress but that might not be the best option. I have spoken to the FOS and they are going to write to GE and complain as well but that does not increase my monthly bank balance. The community legal advice service will take my case and help me but I need to work out what to do. Should I give the keys up and walk away or let them take me to court and lose the house and have to pay a short fall or end up bankrupt cos this can not go on. We are £470 short per month now and something has to give. I am looking for a job and apply for 3-4 daily but there is little out there in my area and most don't even bother to reply. I have emailed my MP twice to try and ask her to help me communicate with GE and make them go along with the government schemes they signed up to but as yet I have still had not reply nor a appointment for her surgery. Is there anything else I can do ? I can't even get GE to talk to me now and to be honest I am sick of listening to their lies when they do call me back. HELP......please I am losing the will to live ( figure of speak rather then a real threat, honest )