Hi everyone I am hoping someone can give me some advice please. I have a ccj with southern water for £1200 from last year I know I should have got this sorted before it escalated to this however as I was already paying a council tax debt that took priority and I honestly wanted to clear that which as of last week i finally have done. I struggled to pay my council tax bill at the rate they requested and with the added water bill payment on top it was impossible to keep up so i missed a few payments and I stupidily put this debt on the back burner . However yesterday a HCEO called to say he was here to collect the debt which is now with charges added £2267 I did tell him that theres no way i have that kind of money and he said i would have to get it as he will be back to collect in full or remove my goods although i never let him in. I wondered if there is any way i could get southern water to take the debt back from him although they have said the debt is now with an outside agency and to deal with them. I am unable to pay the original £1200 bill in full never mind the added charges on top, I honestly don't know what to do next so any advice would be very gratefully received.

I have a strange problem. I own a wood and two fields. Over the past twwenty five years or so, I have permitted two local farmers in succession to use the fields, in return for maintaining hedges and fences. Unbeknown to myself either one or both or them between themselves had a water supply and meter connected to one of the fields which already had a sheep dip tank. The meter I am informed is hidden in a hedge. The first occupant moved on some ten years or more ago, the second died some nine months ago. I have never used any piped water on my property always, assuming there was none there and brought it in by bowser. Having no need for a permanent supply and would never have given permission for one, especially with a meter. Any advice wouild be welcome. Carningli. I have now recieved a bill from the water company for over £1,500.

Hi, newbie here. In February I had a letter from Marstons about my SE Water debt, around £1800, come to take your stuff and all that, rung the bailiff and eventually came to an agreement to pay back £200 a month which I am now down to less than £100. Got my bill from SE Water in April for about £36. Rung water people and asked how to pay it and they said it will be passed on to Marstons and I will pay through them. Ok I thought. Got another bill through this week and now asking for £900. Rung them up to find out why it was so high and I find out that out of the £200 I have been paying to Marstons they are keeping £50 for themselves and the Water people are only getting £150 so all the money I have been paying to clear this debt is only getting part cleared and now I am having to pay twice. Oh yea and they won't talk to me about it properly until I am payed up with Marstons. Is there anyone that can help me because I feel I am getting screwed by the big boys. Thanks in advance.

Now, this is not actually a panic as such. However some prompt advice would be appreciated! Some background. We're both self-employed and income can be sporadic. Last year was a poor trading year though this year is considerably better. Arrears from last year of approx 50% of bill carried over into this years bill. Starting to make inroads into the balance at the beginning of the billing year and write to them in June setting out intention to reduce balance to less than £400 by end December then to £0 by March. Also emphasised that: Unpredictable income makes DDs or SOs for periodic set dates impracticable. Larger payments will be made when funds allow to reduce the balance faster. No correspondence will be entered into with any third parties. No response. Payment made in July then a threatogram arrives from a DCA in August demanding full amount - ignored (see above). Further threatogram received from DCA, then silence. Still no acknowledgment of letter of June. Large payment made on 23rd October, then Court Claim (CCBC) for full balance, plus solicitors and court costs, received on 24th October, issued on the 19th. Now, this is not a panic because a further large payment can be made and we were on target to hit the zero balance before Christmas. However, I spoke to them yesterday and they say they have no record of my June letter and will not withdraw the claim unless the sums demanded are paid in full before the claim proceeds. Firstly, I am well annoyed at the trigger happy use of the courts and the denial of my letter. It is conceivable they didn't receive it but more likely they have simply lost it. They wouldn't deliberately destroy it - would they? [Memo to self: if it's important, register it!] Secondly, I'll be damned if I'm just going to shell out the solicitors and court charges just to kill the matter - I need to know if they are inevitable. Thirdly, I'm a little suspicious of some advice they gave, namely "write it all down on the defence form and send it back to us - then maybe we can work something out". This to me sounds like "load up the gun and hand it to me". And finally, I feel wronged! Do I have a defence here that could be filed to the court? I could pay off most off the balance next week and probably would have done so - very keen not to repeat last Christmas and the stress-fest it became - so could that show as further good intention? Thoughts anyone?

Hello everyone. I have a situation and I'm really confused what to do. Me and my bf live in a rented house. Twoo weeks ago someone rings the landline and asks for someone who we've never heard of. My bf answered the phone and said that this person doesn't live here. They ask for his name as a referer and he gave it to them. Last week we receive a bill for £2700 dated 3 years back till now. That was a really nasty suprise. When we moved in we signed a tenancy agreement(it's just my name on it) that the rent we pay each month is inclusive of all utility bills. Once we received the letter, my bf called them straight away and told them that he is not responsible it's the landlord but they said they charge the consumers not the landlords and that the tenacy agreement is a private one and they don't care about it. The landlord refuses to pay this money. What do we do so that we clear the debt off my bf's name? I hope that someone helps with ideas. It will be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Everyone... I hope someone can help me! I have had a water bill of £573 when it is usually £25. We have had a lot of harassment from a neighbour, even been to Court and won but she just won't leave us alone! During the hose pipe ban, someone rang Veolia and accused us of washing cars in our field! We never take cars into the field and certainly wouldn't wash them in there. For one thing the field is too wet in winter to get a car in! We are trying to obtain a copy of the tape from Veolia as they won't disclose the persons name but they tape the call. Whoever turned the tap on, climbed over the field gate and turned it on while the hose was attached so that the hose dribbled for months. We rarely even go into the field and never hardly use the tap so it was not discovered for months! The result is a huge bill which I just cannot pay. What I can't understand is why didn't Veolia alert us when they read the meter the first time? Surely they must have realised there was a problem! My question is...how can I get out of paying this bill? What is the best way of getting Veolia to take pity on me? How do I stand legally? I have a threatening letter now...they are going to cut the water off....I don't use it anyway, but they will issue court proceedings. Thank you.

Hi, I am private tenant living in rented flat. I had my short term lease starting Dec 2011. Since december there was no heat and hot water in the aprtment. I sent many reminder to landlord but he did seem bit intrested in fixing anything. After 2 months, in march 4th, I sent him communication regarding moving out due to these issue and his failure to address the same. He came in couple of days without any information in my absense. My family (Wife and children) were at home. Now, he emailed me that it was my fault that I didn't turned on few switches . Meanwhile, I had already given advance deposit to new place where I was plannig to shift. I went ahead with my move. He has claimed my full deposit as rent due to lease break and now filed a case for damages repair against me. What are my options here? Can I sue him for unavailability of essential utilities. Also, he topup deposit from advance rent cheque against written agreement. Written agrement stated for 1 month deposit but he topped up for 2 stating that flat was untidy.

Hi, Been an avid viewer of the forums for some time as it gives fantastic advice... Here's the story anyway... My girlfriend has had a MCOL from yorkshire water for the whole year ( we're not on a meter ). ..because we both started on JSA and couldn't pay it for 2 months as we were waiting for the claim to go through... As we were a couple of months late.. ..( due to just trying to keep the lights on ) they went straight down the court route... Claim is for £265 Solicitors £50 Court Fee £15 Now....i've acknowledged service for her ( it's in her name only as it's her house ).... Now my next step is...i have to fill in the form before the 28 days is up offering how much to pay... Council tax arrears are only taking £3.50 a week ( as we didn't claim until we were really desperate as my work went pete tong ) out of the benefits... So my real questions are... 1) How much do i offer on the form to send to yorkshire water? 2) No way on earth can we pay the whole lot...so looks like she'll get a CCJ...( she's not bothered as she doesn't want credit ). 3) She owns her house outright.......implications.... 4) Generally any other advice you can give... I realise we're going to have to admit the claim....more of a what to do next. ( We're not into the last 14 days yet...first 14 days passing soon ) So advice appreciated...seems very harsh...to kill someones credit...for 6 years..for 2 months...when money has been none existant. Regards, Stormski PS: We haven't got a phone ( and use a friends internet )

Hi Guys, I have recently replaced the lead water supply pipe in my property as I was receiving poor water pressure. I only got 8l/s and apparently should be getting 12l/s. I applied to Portsmouth Water (my supplier) to do this and they said they will replace the water supply from the road (which I have to replace up to) to the mains supply in the middle of the road. They said they were doing this as it was also lead too, meaning I would then have a lead free supply. They sent me some paper work to fill in about how much water I use. From the calculations it said I need a 25mm supply pipe. I sent the forms off then received back an agreement with a note saying sign and return. I read the agreement which said I was agreeing to a water meter to be installed as it was a new supply. I do not agree with a water meter as I dont want one. Am I in my right as this is only a replacement supply and not a new supply? Now they are saying that I will only get a 20mm pipe unless I pay for the additional works digging the road up which they would be doing anyway. I have already replaced my supply to the edge of my property with 25mm pipe. Surely the supplier has a duty to supply my property with the connection I need? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dan

Hi there... I'm hoping somebody can help me out on how to proceed with the following case. Two agencies have recently contacted me with outstanding balances with Anglian Water at an old address (call it Address 1). Accepting liability for this amount at Address 1, I made several payments to the first company and was then contacted by the second for a different amount at the same address. This prompted me to hold all further action and payments with both companies, and query the debt with the provider, as I've held only one account at the address. Both companies then dropped their action and referred me back to provider. Whilst awaiting information on the balance owing and date ranges etc I'd requested from Anglian, they unscrupulously referred me to a third debt collector for the first amount. Again, I requested this company hold their enforcement action on the basis that I am disputing the debt. Having today received the information I requested, it seems that Anglian have posted the payments I made to the first company to an even older (2003 - 2004) address (Address 2) with an outstanding balance, despite the initial contact being explicitly about Address 1. It's clear that the provider is trying to legitimise the much older debt with current payments collected under false pretenses, but can anybody help me on the specifics of statute barred debts? Am I correct in thinking that a debt for which the provider has seen no correspondence from the debtor for six years cannot then be collected? Does the full amount (even if much of the period is well outside the 6 year period) then become enforcable? Is there precedent by which a company can amalgamate together an account from outside the 6 year period with one which is inside it (even if, as is the case here, one account was in several names and another not) in order to be able to collect? And finally, is there a pro-forma response for refusing to pay a debt as it is outside the 6 year limitation? Thanks all.

I have received a huge bill from South East Water and an unfounded letter threatening legal proceedings. Does anyone who the best person to make a complaint to? I'd rather not write just a 'Dear Sir' letter Thanks in advance.

Hi Everybody, Just a quick question? Around 18 months I went through a divorce, my wife left and moved into rental accommodation, myself staying in the family home! I went onthe tenancy agreement for her rental accommodation but I never moved in! Ireceived a letter to my home address yesterday from Southern water. Saying thatI and wife owed £127 I never lived there. I could ask her to pay but she doesn’tcare less. She moved out In January! I think they got my address fromthe electoral roll as they said they have sent previous letters. So what shall Ido? 1. Just ignore it as they may not sure of where I liveand this letter has taken * months to get to me. 2. Phone up and say that I had never lived at the address and have never used the waterthere and back this up with the electoral roll and council tax bill? 3. Or just pay them and factor it in as a cost ofan ugly divorce I could just give them her details but she would just ignoret hem ? Any advice would be great?

Hi everyone, My Anglian Water debt is now with Scotcall after being with Moorcroft for a while. My question is do I make the offer of payment(however small) to Scotcall or direct to Anglian Water? Many thanks.

Just been served court papers (via Northampton's court bulk centre) for an outstanding debt to Anglian Water. AW have added £50 solicitor's/£15 court fee. The court fee I can understand, but the £50 sol fee is a bit much. Can I contest the sol fee?

Hello, Looking for some advice if possible. I have got in a real mess with Welsh Water and they have reduced the water pressure in my house. I now have no hot water and not enough pressure to refill my toilet which is upstairs. A few years ago, when I ended up as the only person living in my house I switched to a water meter. I was paying on DD and all was rosey. Suddenly, somehow a bill for just under £1000 turned up. I just couldn't understand it. It turns out my water meter was feeding not only my house by my next door neighbours house!. Welsh Water came round and took the water meter off. They then returned a few weeks later to try and fit a meter inside the house but the engineer seemed to think it wasn't possible. About 2 weeks ago WW called me and stated that my water bill for 2012/2013 was due and it is £1300 based on my houses rateable value. So, after not really not knowing how to work out how much they owed me and how much I owed them I stuck my head in the sand. Now I have no water pressure. Just a dribble. Im going to call WW now and try and sort it out but was wondering can i demand a water meter? I really really cannot afford over £100 a month for water and sewerage. I really need to get on a meter. Can they refuse to fit a meter? Thanks

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/households-social-tariffs-230423610.html

Hey Guys, Tonight I've received a letter from Anglia Water regarding an unpaid bill of £550 from a house i lived at around 6 years ago. As I've mentioned in previous posts I was homeless between April 2007 and Jan 2010 i don't know or cant remember what i owed to who before that happened.. . therefore I've never received a letter regarding this before. Most of my records and paperwork are lost. Of course I'm hoping that this can be Statute Barred but does that apply to water companies? the trouble is i cant quite remember when i left this address, I'm pretty positive i had moved out of the house well before Christmas 2006 but not sure it was as early as that June, Once i moved all bills were in my partners name so the account was not moved with me. Also i only lived at the house for 6 months so I'm not sure how i ran up £550 worth of bills. At the moment the debt still appears to be with the water company but they are threatening to forward the debt to a collection agency if they don't hear from me by the 26th, i am concerned that this will go on my credit records, i have been doing well to build my credit back up and i could do without my credit card company and bank cancelling my accounts. I'm concerned about replying to them and acknowledging a debt, so any advise on how to respond to this. Any help is greatly appreciated and many thanks in advance Regards Mark

Hi my fellow Caggers, here is the background..... Myself, my wife and 4 children live in a rented house and have done for a few years. we are on full benefits currently. We could not pay our bill some time ago and went bankrupt due to the debt and other credit card debts. That was in November 2011. Since then, we got a bill from Anglian Water which seems incredibly high, around £200 a MONTH! we are very frugal with water, baths once a week! We are on a meter. The house we live in is an old farmhouse split into 2 properties. we have alleged we must be being charged for neighbour as he doesn't have a meter, but landlord, estate who own building, and water board have always said NO we are NOT being billed for neighbours water. Have been in discussion for some time about these bills as 1) we can't pay it and 2) we are SURE something as amiss here with our supply, despite the fervent denials. FUNNILY ENOUGH........... the other day I had cause to dig a hole in the garden, and I just happened to find the WATER SUPPLY pipe into the house! No damage I might add! It turns left under the garden into our house, but a piece carried on (T connector). I turned off the water meter at the roadside, and disconnected the 3rd pipe, since we are assured we are not supplying anyone else. 5 minutes later our neighbour pops around saying "why is my water off"?!!! I explained situation to him and he said he HAS BEEN PAYING A BILL FOR DECADES! He is not on a meter, and said he pays a VERY small bill monthly. Yet when I turn my house supply off, his supply goes off too, interesting!! During communications with Anglian Water I got a letter a few months back saying that we MAY be supplying our neighbour and they will "look into it" by sending a team to inspect the metering of the properties. Never did. I today received a Legal action and Debt Collection Notification for £600, plus a threat of incurring £125 court fees if I don't pay up as this are issuing legal proceedings. I am LIVID. So, my plan is as follows... To write a letter claiming their threats are harassing and worrying for my family, and legally unfounded since the bill is clearly incorrect. I will include photos I took of the under ground supply, and I intend to inform them that I WILL NOT PAY ONE MERRY CENT of their bill, full stop. They have screwed up, they have billed me and my neighbour for the same water, and have no way of working out how much of the £600 is our water or our neighbours water. My feeling is a court would not uphold their claim since they have clearly screwed up. I am hoping for some feedback or advice on how best to approach this. Thanks

I got one of these a few months ago, and connected it to the downpipe off my garage roof. I use that water to water the garden, saving me water (I'm metered). Rainwater is also better for your plants than tap water as it's slightly more acidic and contains more nitrogen than tap water.

A bill arrived at my parents address from STW. It was address to myself and my old flatmate. I rang an told them that i would be paying half and to contact my old flatmate to recover the other outstanding monies owed. I tried to give them the address of our letting agent but their exact words were "we dont care who pays it as long as it's payed" i sent them a cheque for half the outstanding amount and a letter explaining the situation also giving them the address of our old letting agent to contact my flatemate. i also asked them to remove me from the account. i have now received a notice of court action demanding the remaining portion of the bill. the letter makes no reference to my letter i sent to them and simply threatens me with court action in 2 weeks if the bill is not paid in full. i cannot afford to pay my old flatmates half. I am fully aware of the jointly and severally laws. my question is: if STW take court action against the account, who will be liable? will they simply harass me for the rest of the money and leave my old flatmate out of it? will i get a CCJ whilst my old flatmate gets away Scot free despite both our names being on the bill? i have been more than helpful, paying my share and giving contact details to obtain monies from my old flatmate. we do not speak anymore.

Hi All, I have an issue with STW that I would like help with if possible. After recieving a rebate of £200.00 in Oct 2009, STW changed my water meter in Nov 2009 stating that it was faulty. As I was paying by DD I never really took any notice of the charges being made until I was forced into changing the way payments were being taken due to being unemployed in 2010. On informing STW that I could no longer make monthly DD they sent my a bill for over £500. After much arguments backwards and forwards STW agreed to change the meter in March 2012, I had stopped making payments to them in June 2011 due to this dispute. I had in the meanwhile asked The Consumer Council For Water to look into the dispute for me. Unfortunately their response was to agree with STW that if the meter states that I used x amount of water then that was the amount used. Once the new meter had been fitted in March 2012 I started taking readings and managed to work out that our daily consumption is 0.34 units. I was therefore more than a little suprised by the letters I recieved from STW last week. One letter stated that the meter was faulty but had been undercharging and the second letter was a bill asking for payment from June 2011 until May 2012 an amount due of over £1200.00. After being woken up by my partner with smelling salts I started to work out what I had paid over the years to STW. I then calculated what I should have paid based on the 0.34 units used daily. I get a figure of over £1700 overcharged from 2001 to 2011. My question to my fellow Caggers is this: Would it be fair of me to ask for this money to be refunded and to add a 8% simple interest to the final figure? Also to ask STW to stop using figures based on a faulty meter to advise me of my current years bill? Thanks in advance BP

Here is the story (numbers are rounded) Yorkshire water billed us for about £600 for year 2012-2013. £300 due in April, £300 due in October. April instalment bill by some reason was not paid. Now they filed money claim for £725, (£600 plus £70 legal fee plus £55 court fee. The same one went to Mrs. Readalot.) Aprently we are whooping 2 month late with the first payment. My actions so far. - Called them and notified them that Mrs. Readalot is not anymore a leaseholder or owner of the property in question (lease was changed long time ago and it is in my name only), they have changed their records accordingly. - Filed acknowledgement of service and defence in name of Mrs Readalot, the defence is along the lines that she is not leaseholder of the property and not liable for the bills. - Filed acknowledgement of service in my name. Now is the most interesting part.. . I called them (call is recorded) tried to negotiate a quick and amicable settlement but they refused to even discuss it and the party line was "you need to file admission form and send it to yorkshire water". Some quotes from that conversation: - "Have you received the paperwork from the court yet" - Me: "Yes I have" - "Well you need to fill the admission form and send to ourselves" - "This is the process that you need to follow" .. - Me: "I want to reach a repayment agreement" - "No you cannot do it now, we've reached the court stage" - "You need to fill the paperwork from the court and send it back to US" - You can fill in the court forms with repayment offer and send it to us and we will look into it and if we accept we will add 40£ to your account. - Me: What 40£ are for. - 40£ will be added for the judgement. Then CCJ will be on your record. - Me: "Please do not try to mislead me" - "I am not trying to mislead you. If you not make payment in full within 14 days you will have a CCJ entered onto your account, onto your credit file" ... - Me: "This is wrong, this should not be like that, what you are telling me is not true " - "This is the process" - Me: "You are lying to me, in my face" ... - Me: "All I want is to settle this matter amicably out of court" - "Unfortunately , if you cannot pay the balance within 14 days, because the court paper have been issued, the CCJ will be entered and you need to make an offer of payment via the court papers" ... - "That's the paperwork that you have received, if you do not pay the full balance within 14 days the judgement will be entered and you will have that black mark on your credit file for 6 years" - "Well, it is a lie.." ... - "You need to send us repayment offer.. if we accept the offer there will be 40£ added to your account and confirmation will be send to yourself..." - Me: "But what will happen with the ongoing money claim then?" - "It will go ahead and you will have CCJ on your credit file for 6 years" ... - "Because you cannot pay in full the only way [to deal with this] is to admit on the admission form and send it to us" - Me: "or defend" - "Sorry? " - Me: "I can admit or defend, is it true" - "Can you repeat this please?" - Me: "I can admit the claim or defend the claim" ... - "You do not have to attend court, all you have to do. The court has already been done, the court has already been done without you being there" - Me: "The court has already been done without me being there already?" [ WTF!? ] - Me: "Are you saying the judgement has been entered without me?" - "The judgement has not been entered yet, we need you to fill the paperwork and send it back to us and once it has been received the judgement will be entered" ... - Me: "do you understand that you are intentionally trying to mislead me." - "I am not intentionally trying to mislead you , I am just advising you on what the process is" - Me: "I do not want your legal advise, you are advising me incorrectly, you are lying in my face and only back off when I confront you. And this conversation is being recorded, transcript of this conversation will go to court to show unfair relationship between us and your breach of OFT guidelines and there will be a claim to OFT. I do not want any of that, I just want to settle this matter out of court now and you are telling me that 'no way'" ... - "You have not responded to our letters... It is not until now that the judgement have been entered that you are trying to contact us" - Me: "The judgement have been entered!?" - "Yes. the judgement have been entered. Now. Whether you admit that claim or you defend that claim. That judgement will strill be entered and you will have that mark on your credit file for 6 years. The easiest way to deal with it would be to admit the claim" - Me: "The judgement will be entered!?" - "Yes.The judgement will be entered..." - Me: "You are confusing me. Will be entered or have been entered? Which one is it?" - "the judgement will be entered if you admit the claim. If you didn't admit the claim and send the admission form then the judgement will still be entered by default. So either way, whether you respond to that letter or not you are still going to have a judgement going agains you and CCJ issued on your credit file. The easiest way to deal with would be send us the addmission form and set an arrangement...so CCJ now is unavoidable but if once you pay your balance in full we will send you a letter of satisfaction which you can present to court and your CCJ will be marked as satisfied" - Me: "haha.. this is so much going to OFT guys... this record is going to OFT to show them how you mislead your customers .. you are telling me outright lies, you are telling me outright lies right now! You lied to me on multiply occasion, when I confront you, you back off a little bit and then keep telling me lies. This is ridiculous" - "We sent you letter we made you aware of the situation..." - Me: "and then when I contact you, you bamboozle me with waffle!" .. - Me: "Well I am calling you now trying to reach a settlement of this matter" - "It has got to a point of no return now" - Me: "Point of no return, ha.." .. There is some more of that but other party sounds very tired and I let her go. If you are still here, it seems I will defend the claim potentially arguing "unfair relationship". Also the water bills insane (we have no meter), I will be requesting them to set up a meter which should reduce the charges in half (based on our consumption in previous house) This will make the claimed money wildly inaccurate. Also since one defendant on the claim is obviously no liable, she will be claiming legal fees. Will see if I can settle this matter the day before court for half the price. Any advise and suggestions are very welcome.

Hi Everyone I need some advice please since I have been out of work now for 2 1/2 years and can only get JSA for a single person, I don't have any savings and water bill was and is still behind, in March 2010 Severn Trent suggested I contact the trust fund, I did and was with the trust fund from May 2010, I had to pay £5 a week for 39 weeks, I was doing so up until around December 2010, I had paid 26 weeks, they had paid the same to my account, they check every 13 weeks, when they checked in March 2011, they saw I had not paid the final 13 weeks, so cancelled the rest of the grant, a friend did me a letter requesting to see if they could help, i I tried for a crisis loan or something, but they said no, everything went up in December 2010, food and everything, my electric is a key meter at present with eon, but british gas are soon going to supply the electric with the gas, which is also a prepayment meter, so after the trust fund refused anymore help, I sent a letter to severn trent, in April severn trent replied and updated the records, The trust fund suggested I contact severn trent to make a new arrangement, I did so early May 2011, I told them it was obvious I could no longer afford the £5 a week, so could they come to some sort of new payment arrangement, a reply came a week later, they said £5 a week was the minimum they could arrange, and they would be making an applicaion for water direct and if successful would be deducted from my benefit each week, I made enquiries in the mentime at the job centre to find out how much they would stop, I was told £3.40 to cover any arrears plus a consumption allowance on top, a friend a mine had this stopped from his benefit for water, and he had to pay £8.50 a week from his benefit, the benefit for a single person at present is £135 every 2 weeks not £500 a month like this Government keep saying, so you take away £17 each time for water then around £45- £50 for electric it does not leave much for shopping, all my creditors are getting £1 per month from debts I had when I was working for 9 years previous to being unemployed, I usualy spend around £30- £35 on shopping but remember this has to last me 2 weeks, I don't smoke or drink and can't go out because I can't afford to, every letter sent for a job is either not successful or you don't get a reply, even after an interview most of the time you hear nothing else, so as time went by I had not thought no more about the water until I was going through my paperwork just after christmas and filing it, when I realised I had not heard anything from severn trent or the job centre regarding the water, I asked my advisor in January this year, all he said was nothing had ben set up and to ring them, to ring them cost a lot of money, money I don't have, because like all phone numbers these days they are 0845 numbers which cost a fortune o phone, the other day a telemessage came severn trent had at sometime had a system issue so no bills or reminders or anything had been sent out, so this must have been since last May, now they are wanting a figure for the back payment Immediately, then another figure by April and the same in October, or I can pay the full bill in one lump, there is no way I can pay any of the figures they mention, I now do not no which way to turn, they have been having a computer problem by the sounds of it, but if they had accepted maybe £3 a week when I asked for their help, i might not have had this problem now, I am now depressed, and I suffer from Osteoarthritis, I think it might the disability and my age of 54 which is stopping me getting a job, even though it is against the law to discriminate anyone nowadays, I understand about Equality and Diversity as we covered the subject on the College course I did last March - June and got City & Guilds Certificates, but to me it seems like it only applies to some and not all, so any help what to do here would be helpful, you cant see the C.A.B. without an appointment and you can't make an appointment as they have no e-mail and never answer the phone, so please help if you can Thanks Keith

Hi, I'm sure I am going to be advised to "accept it and move on" but I checked my latest online bill yesterday and it was just under £100 instead of the normal £43 for 2 Galaxy S handsets on 600 minutes each. Anyway, I checked the bill and found one call had cost £44.66 plus VAT (£53.59). It was for a call lasting 2 hours 33 minutes to an 0843 number. I avoid calling 0843, 0844 or 0871 numbers from landlines let alone mobiles, but do get calls from them and I must have accidentally done something that activated a call to this number - but 153 minutes? So I dialed the number from my office phone to receive recorded advise on how to reclaim bank charges which gave me several options to choose on how to proceed. I stayed on the line for 2 minutes without pressing anything but complete silence. Surely a call would time out after a few minutes silence? If not why stop after 153 minutes - the call finished at 6pm and no calls were made or received until 9am the following morning? Do you think they would they consider cancelling or reducing the charge for this call? I know should block calls to premium numbers as I have done with International ones (stored that I text) and I do accept that I pushed the button, my handset confirms this, but I wanted to check how providers, in this case Vodafone normally deal with charges like this. I don't want to be fobbed off, if someone has had a positive experience in a similar situation. Thanks for any ideas.

Please if you live alone or a couple.If you have no garden or use the Launderette for your washing study if a water meter would be beneficial for you.The Water Companies in league with Ofwat do not want to publicise water meters and their policy is still the same as in 1999 when these minutes of a meeting were made. JM explained that NWT would include with the bill a statement that there was a meter option available and ask its customers if they would like any further information. JM said that they had considered not explaining that a meter would be fitted free at this stage. However, people requesting further information would receive literature stating that the meter option was free of charge. The CSC supported a low key approach in promoting the free meter entitlement. CW asked how NWT would promote the free meter option to unmeasured customers experiencing payment difficulties who could benefit from moving to a measured charge. JM explained that if an unmeasured customer is having difficulty in paying its bill NWT will advise the customer that it may be beneficial for them to have a meter installed i.e. depending on the rateable value of its property and typical usage. CW stressed that they should continue to promote the meter option to vulnerable customers.” YOUR CURRENT YEARLY BILL UNITED UTILITIES FIGURES ONE PERSON £300-£400 SAVINGS £45-£145 £400-£500 SAVINGS £145-£245 £500-£600 SAVINGS £245-£345 TWO PEOPLE £400-£500 SAVINGS £28-£128 £500-£600 SAVINGS £128-£228