I received a court claim form on the 7/11/18 (issue date 5/11/18) for unpaid water charges amount totaling £5,095 for the period 1/4/2007 to 31/3/2019 I have lived at the property for longer but never actually paid anything for water rates, due to being unemployed and not being to afford it. have been i receipt of yearly water bills and various uk search limited letters for amount owing. recently shulmans got involved and sent a few letters before court action. all of which i have ignored due to large debt amount. I have rung up northampton county court to verify if the claim form was send by them. they acknowledged the letter and told me the service date is 10/11/2018. Any advice on how to proceed would be very much appreciated as i'm unsure of what i can do and how to go about it. I rang southern water yesterday and enquired to my account and was told it had gone over to their litigation team. I have not rung their litigation team as of yet as i dont want to say the wrong thing. Thank you in advance for any help offered

Hi https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?491828-Southern-Water-UKsearchLTD-Shulmans-court-claim-urgent-help-needed-(past-33-days) We are in exactly the same situation having just received a Letter Before Action Letter from Shulmans/UK Search/ Southern Water for alleged bills between 2007 and 2015. This letter is addressed to my partner and his ex who split in 2015. They claim £3343 is owed but this is the first we know about it. Having read through this thread, I am a little confused as the info appears contradictory.... Are we sending the CAG pack to Southern Water, Shulmans or UK Search in the first instance please?

Name of the Claimant ? Southern Water Services Date of issue – 10/11/2018 33 days was up on 8/12/2018 (3 days ago) only found court letters yesterday. Particulars of Claim The Claimant is a statutory water and sewerage undertaker pursuant to the water Industy Act 1991 (the Act). The Claimant claims the sum of £1700 for unpaid water and/or sewerage charges payable under s.142-144 of the Act and the Claimants Charges Scheme. The unpaid sum of £1600 is for water and/or sewerages services provided to the Defendant(s) at ************ for the period of July 2011 to July 2018. The Claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from July 2018 to November 2018. Claimed amount £1700 Court fee £105 Legal representative costs £80 Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Received 2 letters from shulmans llp - letter before court action, and multiple from UK SEARCH LTD prior to that What is the total value of the claim? £1800 Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? Water When did you enter into the original agreement before or after April 2007 ? Been at the property since 2008 Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/Equifax /Etc...) ? Think so Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Claiment on court form is Southern water but they insist it's been passed to UK Search/Shulmans Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Letters from uksearch Ltd acting on behalf of southern water. Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Probably Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? Not sure Why did you cease payments? Haven't made any payments. On benefits can't afford total sum. What was the date of your last payment? Years ago. Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Yes. Made an online application for Southern Waters NewStart Scheme (was ignored). Tried to negiate a payment plan with Southern Water's legal department but they say their is nothing they can do as the debt as been passed on to UK Search Limited.