I have recently moved from a 2 bed house where i paid £44 a month to Anglian water (not metered)to a brand new second floor flat and suddenly my water bill has gone up to £71 a month (this property is metered)... I cant possible afford that much and written to tell them so and to look at my details again.. I live alone ..No dishwasher i limit my use of washing machine and use the shower not the bath... I am currantly on Employment Support and that water bill is a large chunk out of my meagre benefit.. They have sent me a payment book with £71 a month on each page.... Can i cross that out and pay £50 Appreciate any advice

Hi all, We are in quite a sticky situation that I hope someone here can advise on. We moved into an old house 12 months ago that has a fully electric heating and immersion hot water system. The hot water cylinder is a very old copper tank that is about 4feet tall. It has very little/thin original insulation. In October last year we complained to the letting agency that the water was taking 3 hours to heat and wasn't staying hot. She advised us that the insulation was not the landlords responsibility and that we would have to install our own insulation jacket. I challenged that opinion and they sent someone around to fit a jacket themselves. Early this year the duel immersion failed and the longer element that heats the full tank wasn't working, so that we only get hot water from the top half of the tank. To cut a long story short, the letting agent has sent 3 separate electricians from the same firm out to check it over and all three electricians have said the tank is long passed its sell by date and that it really needs to be replaced for a more modern tank. I have had a response from the letting agent today to say the electricians are not qualified to make that assessment and that their plumber has already offered costs to the landlord who has confirmed they will not replace the tank as it is not 'essential'. We are a family of 2 adults and 4 children and live in Scotland. So it seems we are being told to 'like it or lump it'.... Does anyone know how we stand regarding the hot water system? Is the landlord within their rights to say that heating the top 12 inches of the tank is acceptable? We are really sick about this....

my wife checked her credit ref this morning and found that a default has been added to her credit file dated 13 march 2013 for £303. she moved out of the property in 2006 and the credit date is 2006. there has been no contact with the water company since this date. My question is Can a debt from 2006 be marked as a default in 2013? Many Thanks for your help

Hi, I haven't posted in awhile so I will try to keep it brief as possible. Quick background information. I had 4 major foot operations, none particularly successful and then I was run over by a car as a pedestrian crushing my operated on foot. Being previously self employed it left me unable to work and in severe debt. I received a pitiful amount of compensation which I spent catching up on debts and bills. To top it off despite being house bound and in a wheel chair ATOS found me fit to work (even claiming I can walk up stairs despite interviewing me in my ground floor flat). I have been on appeal now for 17 months and receive just £60 a week after the CSA and crisis loan repayments. For a long time I have been paying Southern water £30 a month which is more realistically than I can afford. They have been demanding I pay £65 which they say is my rate able value of my one bedroom flat that has been condemned by Environmental health and the housing associations own surveyor. I have told them that that amount is not achievable on my income and have asked for a water meter. They refused saying it is not possible in a flat (they have since fitted one to a neighbours identical property). I then asked for an assessed rate which they told me would cost me more. In December they called in their bully boys CSA debt collectors which we agreed to continue on £30 a month. I struggled and paid £35 a month to try to show I am willing. Becuase of a DWP error I missed a payment and they are now demanding the whole £768 in one payment. I am not really bothered about court as I own absolutely nothing so baliffs would be a waste of time. I don't even own a bed as it rotted away in my damp ridden flat. Is their any help for people as the water bill is totally out of control. I can't seem to get any help and they constantly harass me.

I have a debt with South West Water, starting back in 2007 when I had a breakdown and stopped coping with daily life. There appears to be a debt of around £4,400 which has been passed on to Orbit Debt Collectors. I have registered with Southwest Water online and see that there is another £1,400 also outstanding. Nowhere can I see a simple breakdown of how much is owed for each year. I rang the South West Water Debt helpline number today to organise setting up an online account to deal with this current years bill and to organise a second account for the debt so I can keep paying that off. The guy on the phone wasn't at all nice and just kept telling me I have to deal with Orbit, so I pointed out that actually I wanted to deal with SWW and just pay the debt not Orbits fees but he insisted that I can only pay the debt through orbit and that there are no fees?? Surely that can't be right can it? Meanwhile I have a calling card from Orbit telling me to call their agent, I'm hesitant to do so and end up in some war of words with him, South West Water were bad enough and for someone trying to start to cope again it sure as hell makes me want to just re-bury my head.

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 Folks - I alongwith my wife lived as a lodger for around 6 months in one of the rooms in this property with resident live in landlord. On one morning (November 2012) I saw a letter addressed to me mentioning "Urgent - Do not Ignore", and found that it was a letter from Moorcroft (on behalf of Thames water) asking for paying debt of around GBP 300 as a matter of urgency !! I never ever contacted Thames water and had never had any agreement with them or requested their services at all ... Neither I ever gave my address to them nor I understand how they got to know that I live there as a lodger. I was living there as a lodger and my lodger agreement (on a simple plain paper made by landlord) signed by me and the resident landlord clearly says that the rent is inclusive of all the bills including water. I called Moorcroft and explained the whole situation and gave them my contact number - to which they responded that if you think that landlord should be held responsible for paying this rent - you need to talk and convince him for the same. !! When I talked to the landlord he responded in a suspicious manner saying - "Just ignore these people and they can't do anything, I will write them a letter. Its just that they are trying to find someone who lives in this property who can respond to them as I am not responding to them due to a dispute I have with Thames water" . After around 4 months, now I have started getting calls and texts from Moorcroft asking to get in touch which means that the landlord never responded to them and the debt is still outstanding... I now live as a lodger at a new address and am concerned how can I get this off my head. I want things to be clear so that my credit history etc. doesn't get affected for future sake and obviously I am not the one who should be paying this debt.. Please would you be able to advice and help me asap? Many thanks Cheers.

Hello All, A friend has just informed me that Northumbrian Water, have charged him an extra £4.55 Dishonoured Direct debit fee after the DD for sum of £50 ish failed to be collected by them. Is this not another "overcharge penalty" for the service. All answers, advice and info will be gratefully received. "EXEMPLO DUCEMUS"

Hi guys, We're moving from a modern property to an older property without a water metre. We'd like to keep it that way but as I understand it, the water company can and most probably will, make us have a water meter when the account name is changed to ours. Are there any exceptions exclusions to this? and when we do change the account into our name, is there time limit for them to notify us that they'd like us to have a meter? As always, many thanks in advance

Hi, I have recently received a number of letters from a debt collection agency, and now one from their solicitors, about a water biil. Back in 2008, I was asked to babysit a building site for a friends, friend. I lived in the site caravan and let contractors and potential buyers in to the site on weekends and during the evening. I was asked to keep people out, which I did. I am now being asked to pay almost £700 for the year I carried out these duties in water rates. I have asked the debt agency for proof of the bill. I have also told them I was not resposnsible for the building site, but they are just increasing the amount owed and threatening with a CCJ. Where do I stand as I dont have any bills, I have never signed any contract and certainly dont have the money to pay for someone else's house build! Unfortunately I also dont have the details of the owners of the house which sold according to the internet for £3 million. Thanks for any advice

Hi, I've just had a letter from Southern Water saying that they will change the billing from rateable value to average consumption of other properties in the area. Looking at the estimate the bill will be £100 more than the current one. I asked how it worked and they said that they will now estimate the bill by averaging the use of other 3 bedroom houses in the area and charge me that. Can they do this? I live alone in a 3 bed house, and the other houses have full families etc... in them? Not to mention the majority of them have gardens and my garden was paved :-/ I told them to install a meter, but they said they were unable to due to the pipes being inaccessible. Surely this isn't my problem? Any advice would be handy...

Just after some advice. We have an outstanding bill to YW on a former address. We were initially contacted by Rockford who wanted £50 paying monthly but we told them we can only afford £5. They agreed to this but kept sending letters to us claiming that a repayment plan had not been set up. We have paid this for a few months now. Last month we were contacted by LCS and I replied telling them how we have been paying an agreed sum of £5 to Rockford and that we will continue with this and to provide their banking details for a standing order. In response to this I have received a letter asking me to call them to discuss this. It also says in regards to the call: 'There are a number of reasons for this and may be a simple clarity of details held pertaining to you'. Obviously there are not problems with any of the details they hold. They have my address and that's all they need so this is obviously just to get me to call. My question really relates to the repayment plan I had with Rockford. They weren't at all happy with the set up so this looks to me as though it's been passed on in the hope that LCS can get more money out of us, but good luck to them. So basically is there anything that says LCS should continue with my prior arrangement set up with Rockford? Thanks Lee.

Hello, first time on here hope I've got the right place to find what I'm looking for. We bought our house in 1999, the vendors retained some land approx 2 acres, the main water line that feeds our house runs under the land they retained, It was stipulated that we have access to water pipe for repairs and renawals etc, it was also stipulated that the vendors retain the right of use from that line from one tap for agricultural use only. This has never been a problem as the land has had very little use and the owner is very rarly there. The only problem we have had is when he left the tap running and we had a greatly reduced water pressure. A potential problem may now arise as they are selling the 2 acres and it is advertised as having a mains water supply, can his original right of use made in an agreement with us now be passed on to new people, they may go in to the land and if the water is in constant use it will greatly affect us through lack of pressure, can we ask the vendor to remove the detail as it having mains water supply? I would be very grateful for any input, many thanks, David

Hi all (again). Needing a lot of advice lately! I am proof that burying your head in the sand is the worst thing you can do Yorkshire Water have a CCJ against me for unpaid water charges. I haven't made any payments against this CCJ. I received a letter dated 01 March advising me that if I didn't contact them within 7 days they would be applying to the High Court for a Writ of Execution. The amount outstanding was £674.96. I called and made an offer of payment £20 every 4 weeks, I gave her my income & expenditure details which showed £20 was what I could afford. She said that the minimum payment she could accept was £75 per 4 week as this was due to the fact that when 2013/2014 water bill is added it is £928.68 and it needs to be cleared within a certain period? Anyway, I made the payment of £20.00 there and then on the phone and she said that I needed to call by Friday (today) and make a payment of £8.68 (which I have done) which would stop the issuing of a High Court Writ. My question is what do I do? I can't afford to pay £75 every 4 weeks but I also really don't relish in the though of HCEO.

just sent my htc one x to o2 for the second time and just been told its water dammiged. i kno for a fact the phone has not been near any water o2 are saying phone has got suface corrosion throu the usb charging port. heres the full story got the htc one x in april was sent in for repair in aug as it had crashed and was in a turn on and try to boot then would go off and repeat the cycle. phone was replaced with a recon unit. phone that i got was crashing poor signal very bad wifi but perservied with it until feb 2013. sent it in for repair and got a text tonight to say that the phone was not being repaird under the warrenty. i rang cs to find out what was going on and he spoke to the repair center who said water damage via the usb port and that there was staining on the pcb. i kno for a fact that the phone has not been near any water or in a kitchen or a bathroom as he implied. also he was very quick to tell me the repair would be £181 then after a few mins a good will of £120 would get me a phone reduced from £300 so i was more suspicius and told them no if i accepted that then i would be accepting that i was admiting doing the damage to my phone. also a funny thing is my partner had a htc one x that went faulty and it was sent in for repair and it had very big faults ie screen not working proper crashing poor signal and no one could hear you on a phone call. got phone back repaired with no info and first day back it started to crash rang o2 and they rang the repair center who said the phone had that many problems it should have been replaced with a new referbished. so any way o2 cs said they would send one out and to have this one sat ready so we did that got new one and it wouldnt turn on so anouther call to o2 and the advisor said it had been checked and updated to the latest firmwhare and couldnt understand why it was sent out faulty. any way they replaced it for the htc one x pluss. im questening the reliabilty of the repair center and also wether they just sent my phone with any mother bord out hoping for the best. aparently there is photos being sent with the phone im going to get a engineers report done on it etc. has any one else sufferd simula with phones from o2 and also is there any other advice any one can give me. im not going to let this drop as i clearly belive im in the right here

This is my first post and I am wondering if someone can give me advice. I have checked through several threads and made notes but am now confused as to how to proceed. Just a brief explanation so far: I have received a claim form from Northampton Bulk Centre regarding impending action. I am searching through my paperwork and am panicking. I only received it on 13.2.13 and the date of issue is 13.2.13, so I only have a short time to reply. I am sending back my acknowledgement stating that I am going to be contesting the claim. I requested my water company allow me to install a water distiller and have found that the Dept of Health will cover the payments for this. I have received no response from the water company, just a string of aggressive and threatening letters. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks.

I have noticed on the bill Thames Water have a charge for waste water to be treated. Was this always the case but not itemised? As I have never seen this on a bill before. Seems like an extra revenue source has been created to squeeze consumers pockets further. Thanks.

Morning. I have been away for the past three weeks and walked into my house this morning (about an hour ago) and found a letter on the doormat from Wessex Water threatening a County Court Claim for an unpaid Water Bill which has genuinely been overlooked. As it stands, I do not have £156 just to give away to the Water Company. My financial situation is absolutely dire at the moment as my house mate is making no contribution to Rent, Council Tax or anything else for that matter. But routinely helps himself to my food and electric, gas etc So I've stopped buying food for the moment and have made other arrangements to eat! Kicking him out is proving difficult but I'm getting there slowly. Basically, I don't want to arrange a repayment plan at this stage, because I simply don't know how my finances are due to pan out over the next 6 months. Long story short, I have a serious medical condition which will require surgery within the next month or 2. The recovery time is closer to 6 months and I am on Employment Support Allowance, DLA and the rest because I cannot work more than 10 hours a week without become physically and mentally exhausted. I also have reasonably serious Mental Health Conditions which certainly along with the other medical condition above doesn't bode well with stress at all......... I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not looking for a way of not paying the bill. Personally I am more than comfortable with paying the water bill. But my financial situation is constantly changing so I don't want to agree to say £20 a month because in 2 months I might not have it. Then again, I might have more. I have read that water is not to be considered a Priority Debt. If this is the case, why am I being threatened with a County Court Claim for £156? Can anyone suggest how I can tackle this one please? In the eyes of the Council with Council Tax etc, I am classed as Disabled and a Vulnerable Person if that makes any difference?! Is a £1 Token Payment Per Month an option for now until I know what my circumstances are? Also, because of the disability. I do use an awful lot of water (About £350 Per Years worth) Please ask if you need any further information. Thanks and hope you can help me out Shark

Strange question maybe, but I moved into a shop with flat above it. The Electric and Gas were single suppliers, so one account for each utility for both shop and flat. The water companies have separate accounts, so we get 2 demands for clean water for shop and flat, plus 2 separate demands for sewage/waste water. So for one supply of water to both flat and shop, used by my wife and me, we get two bills, and we get two bills for waste water. The hot water/central heating is fed from the same boiler to both parts of the building, the waste is taken into the same drain.The shop has two sinks and one toilet Can they reasonably charge twice for the same supply ? Or am I being stupid ?

Can anyone tell me this - if I moved out of a property in 2008, my only crime being that I didn;t tell the water company, (I was up to date), if the new occupant chooses not to fill in the form or pay the water, can they then come after me for nearly five years worth of water rates?! I didn;t tell them I had moved out fair enough, but I owed nothing, and I moved to a property where I had no responsibility for any of the outgoings, so they didn;t need to know where i was going. I know the person who lives there now, and I collect his dog daily for a good walk'. The water company say they have asked the neighbours who lives there, and been told it is me. However the landlord has confirmed who the tenant is and how long he has lived there. Clearly the tenant has a lot to answer for to the water board, but I do not, and I am so angry with the waterboard as they insist I pay then nearly £2K, unless i give them details of the current resident?!! This is nuts isn;t it? Any suggestions chaps?

Hi All, I'm hoping someone might be able to offer some advice... I bought a new-build flat (for my sins) on the Hyde Housing shared ownership scheme in 2007. Since then, my water bill has continually increased year on year from £13 to £98 per month. Early last year, Thames Water confirmed there was a leak in underground pipework feeding the property. In December, following a lot of further investigation and heel dragging, they confirmed it was a customer side leak and that I would have to arrange for repair. On review of my water bills, it seems that the leak started in year 3. Despite initially arranging for investigation, Hyde Housing are now washing their hands of the matter advising that I am responsible for the repair as leaseholder. Whilst that might be so, I can't help thinking that new pipework should last longer than 3 years. Does anyone know what rights, if any, I might have to pursue this and whether I should be forcing this issue on Hyde (or Rydon Construction as builders, or via the Zurich Warranty)? Yours very stressed and fed up, Laura

I am having major issues with welsh water at present. I have recived court papers from nottingham that are taking me to court for unpaid water bills. This is where things get a little dicy and need some help please. I am a single person, living along for the past 10 years and welsh water have had me on the unmetered water and sewrage bill through whole of this time. However on 3 occations I have requested a meter be fitted "On there Advice" thus reducing my bill by a third however they have still not come to fit it after trying numerous times. I paid them £300 off one bill a while back now, and I said to them then this will be the last payment I make until my water meter is fitted and I am billed for the correct usage of said water. This has been ignored totally and so I am being billed 2/3 to much for water and sewrage and now I am ending up with a CCJ because of there incompatance. Can someone please help as I had the papers served on 24th Jan but they arrived yesterday. Much thanks

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?

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel so sick at the moment and really do feel like everything is getting on top of me and can no longer cope So, the past 18 months have been pure hell. I lost my job twice, have spent the past year earning next to nothing and my wife only works part time. We have a CT debt which I'm dealing with on another post, countless Payday loans which we are working through, and now this has just come through my door. I've been totally irresponsible and stuck my head in the sand and everything is just spiralling out of control but just when I think we're starting to get on top of things something else jumps up and knocks me down again. I came home from work yesterday to find that Marstons had visited us in relation to unpaid Water Bills. They have posted a letter through with the following: Debt £787.42 Costs £ 147 Execution Costs £111.75 Officers Fees £362.38 Total Levy £1358.55 It then follows with the wording regarding non payment in full, siezing of goods etc I've been reading about Stays etc but just don't know where to start let alone get this sorted before they come back again. I just feel like a complete let down to my family at the moment

Hello all, My partner and I are living in a private rented property which has now been without hot water (not even warm) for just under two months. We have incurred great expense of having to travel to relatives for our weekly bath/shower and also costs associated with continually boiling kettles for hair washing etc. Now, the problem is that our landlord has messed us (and others) about something chronic. My partner has lost days at work and I myself could well do without the stress at the moment as I am dealing with bipolar. I have spoken to my family and things have gotten to a stage where I now want to take my landlord to court for damages. I believe that the amount of time that he has taken to resolve this matter is outrageous (particularly given the time of year). This matter has made the property unihabitable. What is everyone's opinion on the idea of legal action? Many thanks, timetoshine