Only get asked for brunch when people have problems. it was good too Friend has CCJ about £1000 with water company, in great financial difficulties and knew water was the only one they couldn't stop. Which way can we progress. Anyone help please?

Hello All, I have a debt with Anglian Water for £175.51 which has been handed to a debt collection company called Advantis who sent me a letter about it, [ATTACH=CONFIG]46977[/ATTACH] I initially just screwed the letter up and was about to bin it, when I stopped and thought I'd better deal with it and try to arrange a payment, so I e-mailed them. After a few days, I got a response back saying that they reject my offer of £15 per month, and I should fill in a statement of means including all of my expenses, which I've done. [ATTACH=CONFIG]46978[/ATTACH] I sent them an e-mail back with the statement of means attached, saying that, no, all I can afford to pay them per month is the £15 I offered. What are my rights here? will they come to my home and try to force entry to take my goods? will they take me to court, and if so, what will happen then? Many thanks. Regards Edit: Images appear to be thumbnails, here's a link to both: dropbox[dot]com/sh/zhesvsae49n5fcp/j13bNxRSYv

Ofwat, the water regulator, says it plans to block Thames Water's request to increase customer bills by up to 8% next year. The regulator has published a draft decision blocking Thames Water's request for the interim increase. Thames had asked to add an extra £29 to the annual average household bill. The draft decision will be followed by a short period of consultation to allow for any new evidence. The final decision is due in November. Thames says it has faced extra costs of £291m, because various items have cost more than the amount estimated when the price regime was set in 2009. Ofwat and Thames disagree about how much these items will cost the company. These include bad debts, the transfer of private sewers, land purchases and higher Environment Agency charges and could not be fully estimated at the time. As part of the regulatory process, Thames Water had planned to apply for an increase once the figures were known, In response to Ofwat's statement, it said: "We will review Ofwat's draft proposals and submit our response in due course." Evidence Every five years, Ofwat sets the prices that water companies can charge. It said it had now looked at the evidence that Thames Water had provided and that although the company did face higher costs, they were not high enough to trigger a price rise. Thames is the only one of the 18 regulated water companies to have applied to the regulator for a bill increase in advance of the next pricing review. Ofwat's chief regulation officer, Sonia Brown, said: "We said we would challenge Thames Water's request. We have looked at the details and do not believe the current evidence justifies an increase in bills." The regulator's consultation on its draft decision gives all parties, including Thames Water, the opportunity to submit new evidence. Any price increase would start from April next year. Ofwat's previous agreement with Thames allows it to increase charges by 1.4% above inflation in 2014-15. More on this story...

ive had a water meter fitted a few months back.. .couple of weeks back wife showed me a wet patch on the kitchen floor, assumed as it was behind fridge freezer that would be the cause. Long story short its now pretty bad and ive ruled out fridge freezer so that only left a very hard to access stop cock/water pipe. ..its housed at the very back of a right angle cupboard. Crawled inside and blow me its leaking bad from it looks like from behind the stop cock. ..im now wondering as there was no leak before water meter was fitted and there is most certainly a bad one now, would the company who fitted the meter be liable. Or is it a case of bad luck.... The amount of water that's leaked will have ruined the carcasses of the cupboards and most likely ruined the screed floor ...cupboards would need ripping out to allow the area to dry at a minimum. any thoughts who is liable...no leak before meter...now a pretty major leak.

OK, so we all get water bills but here is my question.... On my bills I notice that the wastewater volume is the same as the usage volume, ie Thames Water are saying that they process the same volume of wastewater as the water I take form them !! This can't be correct, how can I flush or put down the sink the same amount of water that I take ? Sure when you have a cup of tea you pee but is it the same and what about when boiling water for cooking and the steam that comes off ?, what about when I use my jet wash to clean the car and the water goes into the drive ?, When you hand wash clothes some of the water stays in them (and probably goes into the lawn from the washing line). Come on how can a water company say that the charge for wastewater is the same volume ? Anyone had experience of this or is there a ruling in regard to it, certainly in my view the water going out of the house should be less that the water coming in. rgds

Hi, I have received a claim from severn trent water for £220 as well as around £70 in court costs from Nottingham county court. I have recently moved to London and for that reason have limited funds. I was however under the impression that my previous housemate would be paying this bill who didn't. I can no longer reach out to them. Typically companies go down the route of debt collection first so I am suprised that they have immediately went this route. I would pay the bill however minus the charges which they are not willing to remove. Is there any advice anyone can give more than anything I want to avoid a CCJ on my credit file if I wait till the court will this have a permanent effect on my credit file? Does anyone know that if I can set up a payment plan through STWater while avoiding the CCJ or am I past this point now? Thanks for the help in advance. Regards, timeforachange

I am in dispute with my water supplier. Briefly, when they installed a water meter they caused a leak which remained undetected for a year. It has caused major structural damage to my property. My insurance company are dealing with a claim against them for this. However, part of the damage caused was to a concrete lined pond, which now leaks to the extent that I'm having to put in a couple of cubic meters of water each week. Until my claim against them is finalised (which could take a year or more) this is an ongoing situation because the liability for repair rests with them. They have issued me a) with a bill which includes the amount of water leaked and b) with a subsequent bill which includes the water I'm currently using to refill the pond. I'm refusing to pay and I've told them why (by phone, by letter, by solicitor's letter). However, they keep sending statements and today sent a demand which included a threat to register a default with the Credit Reference Agencies. It is my understanding that OFT guidelines preclude this - as there is a dispute - and I've told them this. However, I don't know if there is any law which prevents them doing so. Does anyone know?

I missed my last payment - I just overlooked it got a letter dated 28 August saying Overdue Account: £48.55. If you don't pay in full, we may pursue you in the courts and add £65 for legal costs and fees. We will register defaults with CRAs and "impact" your ability to gain credit, etc. [English is not their strong point - impact is not a verb.] Phone us to agree a solution to this "serious issue", etc. I can pay, and will pay, but I feel the rude and aggressive tone deserves a response. I'm considering delaying payment until 28 September and writing to them to say that this is because of the tone of the letter. Why didn't they just write and ask me to pay the overlooked bill? What a repulsive company!

Welsh water have since been awarded a CCJ against me for unpaid water rates which I had a dispute over. My question is this, my origonal water bill was £2,800 and they have been awarded a CCJ for £3,400 the rest was legal charges or fees as they like to call them I phoned them and agreed to pay £3000 immiediatly to bring the case to an end, as you can imagine they refused point blank and have done so from the start. Am I within my rights to ask for a detailed run down of there costs and recipts so I can reduce the so called charges elements to there claim. I am more than willing to pay some costs and the actual water bill itself. What plan of action can I take from here.

Having a bit of fun with the above who deal with my waste water. They had been sending lovely red coloured bits of paper every month becasue I had missed one payment of £25, so by their account I was behind with my payments as per my "payment plan"? Confusing as I have never had any such payment plan in place previously, as they have sent me the bill, and I have always set up a standing order to pay them over the year, monthly, no payment plan or agreement/contract has ever been signed by me or them? So the latest letter is now another brightly coloured "Notification before default" informing me that if I do not pay or set up a payment plan by next month then they will mark my credit file with a default which will stay on for blah blah blah, and make obtaining credit yadda yadda yadda, yawn yawn! They are demanding the full years bill, which is never going to happen, if they're lucky £15 a month at most, but my question is how can they mark a credit file without any such agreement contract being in place? I'm not in the slightest bit bothered by this credit file lark, so they're threatening the wrong person, I'm just spoiling for a fight.

Thames Water has asked its regulator, Ofwat, for permission to raise prices. It wants to put up bills by about £29 per household during 2014-15, but has asked Ofwat if it can spread the rise over more than one year. The company says the rise is needed because of increases in Environment Agency charges and to cover the cost of preparing for the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. Ofwat will examine the proposal and make a decision in three months. More...

Hi help please! East Surrey waters solicitors sent me a letter 17th June saying reply in 14 days or we will take yout to court for the approx £270 you owe. I replied in writing immediately explaining my difficult position (2 babies, recently become single parent) please could they accept payment arrangement of £50.00 per month by DD. I had not heard back from them until today i received a claim form from the local county court for the amount o/s and court costs etc. I called them up and explained i had sent the letter requesting payament arrangement but the girl said nothing she could do as it had not been received. I have to go to court. I send everything by recorded delivery but can I find the receipt for this one, NO!! Im so annoyed with myself, ive searched high and low, I have however found the receipt for the posting i did that day which shows i paid for a recorded signed for letter but just doesnt give me the tracking nuimber! Can someone advise what i could do about this. I have been working hard to repair my credit rating sp really upset this has happened

Hi All, I am posting this as I am looking for some advice regarding a CCJ logged on my account. To try and keep the long story short I recently signed up to Experian and I have found that I have a CCJ logged on my previous address which I was unaware of. After speaking to Northampton County Court it was from Anglian Water and for the amount of £227. I rang Anglian Water and explained to them that I had left the address and they still thought I lived there even though I notified them on the phone (unfortunately I dont have proof...), so I sent them a letter with a copy of a letter from the estate agents explaining the dates of my tenancy. They re-issued me a bill which was £105.09 + an £87 County Court Claim fee totalling £192.09. Now that amount conflicts with the amount on my credit file, so I rang Anglian Water and they claim the amount is correct but the additional cost to make it to £227 is from a debt agency they passed the debt onto. After speaking with Northampton County Court they have told me the claim came from Anglian Water not a debt agency. Would this mean I may have a case to get the CCJ set aside? As the amount billed from Anglian Water is conflicting the amount on the claim? Obviously I accept I can't get the CCJ set aside due to moving house and not receiving the letters as I have no proof I notified them of the address change. If anyone can give me some advice that would be great Thanks Rob

We are currently looking at replacing our lead supply pipe since all of our floors are up at the moment anyway. From what we can tell, we share a lead supply pipe with 3 other properties (terraced) something like this: x----1-----2-----3----4 Where x is the stopcock and we are property number 3. Neighbor number 4's supply pipe splits off from our property under our living room floor; we think a similar thing happens for properties 1&2 as our supply pipe seems to head off outside as apposed to neighbor number 2's house. Neighbor number four also wishes to replace her lead supply pipe. Ideally we both wish to have our own supply pipe as water pressure is naff, especially when everybody is fighting for water in the mornings! Does anybody have any experience with Yorkshire Water in terms of getting off lead piping and getting a separate supply at the same time? I know they have a scheme where they will replace the lead upto the property boundary if you replace the stuff on your property boundary (that's fine, we're both prepared to dig a trench and lay 25mm MDPE etc). With this being that case, are Yorkshire Water likely to impose additional fees to give us both a separate supply?

Amazing. Just called ThamesWater - you know, one of those companies which doesn't seem to pay much tax and whose CEO only got £274,000 bonus because he didn't do very well. I wanted to inform them about a new address and to open a new account. I asked them what the fixed charges were for and the woman told me that it was for maintaining the meter and for taking meter readings. I said great, so you'll be round to read the meter, then. She said, No - we don't do that on moving in. You'll have to do it yourself. When I started to point out that this didn't seem to make sense when she had just told me that the £84 per year covered reading the meter, - she just hung up the phone on me!!!!

Good Morning Im having a few problems with Advantis credit so hope someone can help please. Cut a long story short, my partner (who has lived with me for 6 years) used to run a pub with his ex wife. during that time he was declared bankrupt so put the business in his wifes name. they split up some time later. When i met him they had been split up about 8 or 9 month. He got a letter from advantis saying he owed £5k + to anglian water. Assuming this is from the pub, he has argued apart from anything it is statute barred but he was bankrupt so did not have the business in his name plus she kept it on after they split up (unsure for how long) so surely it is her debt. they are arguing it is not SB as they have made contact (not to my boyfriend they havent, this is the first he has heard.) They are now saying if she didnt change the name is it fraud and report to the police, get a crime ref etc and give it to them. (as if, we would just get laughed at). The account is on hold for 14 days until he replies. Any help would be great please thank you

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

Good afternoon everyone! I've been renting a room in a flat with live in Landlord for 5 months. The landlord and his 2 little daughters live in the other room of this 2 bedroom flat. I didn't register with Thames Water and have no idea why the bill came in my name. I don't mind paying bills, but this situation seems ridiculous. As far as I know everywhere people pay around £100 pounds a year(!) for water. But here they ask £500 for the 4 month's period. The landlord receives benefits from the Council and it is very easy to establish who is the main person here. Why on earth would Thames Water chose to send such a bill in my name?? Can anyone please help me and tell me what to do??

I had Anglian Water contact me at my address kindly telling that I owe over £3000!! I asked how this could be as I had only lived at my partners address since last year and their records indicated I had been there since I think 2010, and I had somehow taken on my partners previous debt? I phoned them and explained everything offered £40 a week but was told that my partners debt's go back to 2005 and I was indicated as living here etc. they wanted proof of my old address/new address which I sent them and then received this email - Dear Mr Anthony **** ** ****** CLOSE NORTHAMPTON Thank you for your recent e-mail. I can confirm that we have now updated our records as per the proof which you have provided and the revised bill should reach you within the next five working days. Unfortunately, however I was unable to contact you or Ms ......... on the numbers provided as the calls went unanswered. The information on the both the accounts are listed below for your reference. Account number Account holder Liability period Current outstanding balance 1362**** Mr Anthony ***** 1 July 2012 – current £369.69 1018**** Miss Theresa **** 21 November 2005 – 30 June 2012 £2,869.63 I have now set up a payment arrangement on the account 1362**** and the new payment booklet should reach you within the next seven working days. The first monthly instalment of £40.00 will be due on 8 June 2013. However we are unable to set up a payment arrangement on the account 1018**** as it has been transferred to SRJ Debt Recoveries Ltd, therefore if you wish to set up a payment arrangement on this account, kindly contact SRJ Debt Recoveries Ltd from the below given contact details. SRJ Debt Recoveries Ltd 3 Genesis Business Park Albert Drive Woking Surrey GU21 5RW Telephone No: 0845 313 7200 Fax No : 01483 714845 If you’ve any further queries, we are here to help. Go to www.anglianwater.co.uk, our virtual assistant, Amanda, can answer many questions and guide you to further help. Customer Services ...................................................................... To which I replied - From the 1st July onwards the account should show as a joint amount as we both live here and are responsible for the water payments. I will not deal with or enter into any negotiations with debt collection agencies unless they can prove that i/we owe them the money with all of the previous statements / meter readings etc. Kind regards, Anthony. ...................................................................... Is there any way we can go about writing off the previous debt? I dont mind being £300 in arrears but not £3000!! My Mrs has said that in and around 2008 she cancelled the direct debit she had with them after they increased it without her knowing and she incurred bank charges - she never paid them again. However most of the debt was from her previous address before 2005!!! What can we do? SAR? Thanks again, Tony.

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.

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 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.