Moorcroft - Anglian Water

[sytra]

Hi after some advice,

 

In sep i received a letter from Moorcroft re an address i left in 2004, they are chasing an Anglian Water bill (i originally thought it had been paid when i left), however in 2006 i got a letter and a copy of the bill from another Debt collector and realising my mistake i made a few payments towards the outstanding amount then things changed and i was short of cash so missed the payments and eventually forgot all about it.

 

Now in sep 08 Moorcroft sent a letter for the original amount, so i sent a letter explaining i had no idea what the debt was etc, now they have just written back with the dates of the outstanding bill ending in Oct 04 and no mention of the payments made already. now i left the property in july 04 so a few months before they are claiming (i am in rented property so have my new tennancy ag from july 04 as proof, and my old tennancy ag at the flat in question ended in july 04)

 

In their letter they also state Anglian are unable to provide a copy of the bill due to the age of the account.

 

Now i am not prepared to pay:

A: For the 10 weeks or so after i moved out

B: If they cannot provide a bill

c: For money i have already paid them in the past through another collector.

 

Would it be in my best interest to ignore the letter and see what happens, or send another letter explaining my reasons for not paying, for eg, cant supply a bill how can they prove any debt actually exists?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Sytra

[janesyd]

I've had dealings with Moorcroft myself and i can tell you they don't knnow their arse from their elbow.

 

All companies have to keep copies of bills for 7years (tax reasons, so i've been made to believe) so anglian water will have it on record so will Moorcroft stick to your guns.

 

others will be able to give you better advice than me

[sytra]

Well a bolt out of the blue!!

 

I did write to moorcroft re this alledged debt and they dissapeared (no surprises there), however i have just started to get letters from Anglian Water themselves saying that i still owe this money, threatening action etc...

 

Can a water bill be statute barred baring in mind that it is coming up for 8 years?

If not any ideas how i can get them off my back, as for the last 6 years i have actually managed to get myself a reasonable credit record with no major debt (the first time in 20 years), and i dont want them screwing this up.

 

Thank you for your advice

[silverfox1961]

Hi

A debt can be SB so long as no payment has been made nor a written acknowledgment of the debt in a six year period (5 years in Scotland)

 

As you made some payments in 06, it is unlikely to be SB

[sytra]

I did make a couple of payments, however they have not been acknowledged by moorcroft when they tried to collect or Anglian themselves so the payments seem to have gone astray somewhere. Anglian say that the amount outstanding is xxxx and as no payments have been made or offered etc they have no alternative but to consider further action. The amount they claim is owed is exactly the same as when they first tried to claim over 3 years ago.

[silverfox1961]

Well if they cannot prove a payment stopping the SB clock then I would argue the toss. Are you still a customer of theirs at your address now?

[sytra]

I'm not, the account at our present address is in my wifes name although it is still with Anglian.

 

My biggest concern was that i am sure i read somewhere that a water bill doesn't come under the same statute as other debts / agreements and as such couldn't become statute barred. However as you say it can become barred i think i might just go with it for now and deal with any action if and when it does materialise.

[sytra]

Hi, a couple of years ago i started getting letters from Moorcroft re an Anglian Water bill from a property i lived in until July 04,

 

I have ignored all letters from them until a few weeks ago when i sent them a SB letter,

 

they responded by saying they will hold the account until they have contacted AW.

 

Anyway this week i get 2 letters from Moorcroft again:

 

1, saying debt is from Sep 03 - Oct 04 (i moved out of property in July 04)

2, second letter is exactly same amount, but a different address and dates, the dates are June 09 - April 10 (I have never lived at this address, didn't even know where it was).

 

I do admit i used to live at the first address and "may" have left a small bill due,

but due to state of mind and health at the time i forgot a lot of debts,

 

however i left this address nearly 9 years ago so do know this is statute barred hence why i sent them a SB letter.

 

Since leaving this address i have had Anglian Water supply my new address without any questions until we moved in 2012.

 

The second address Moorcroft claim this relates to is nothing to do with me,

i have never lived there, never lived any where near it.

 

I know i need to send Moorcroft the letter re confirming SB on the one address

but is there a letter template i can send re the address i have never even heard of?

[dx100uk]

pers i'd ignore them

 

they are trying it on with you.

 

phishing trip

dx

[sytra]

OK thank you DX, filed it is then

[sytra]

Update on this problem

Moorcroft have backed off, but

 

since last year have had a couple of letters from SRJ Debt Recoveries one of which was threatening legal action again.

 

Knowing exactly how old this debt is (10 years now)

I sent them a statute barred letter a couple of weeks ago,

then today I get a letter saying they have contacted their client

and the information they hold is correct and the debt still stands.

 

I phoned them (I know, shouldn't do it)

and after they said the call may be recorded I confirmed yet again that if there is a debt it is statute barred,

 

the girl the other end said that the supervisor had put a note on the account saying that (wait for it, this will give you a laugh)

that it cannot be statute barred,

the only way it can become SB is if it was subject to a court claim....

 

sent them the second letter (ignoring the SB) today see what comes back now.

 

I should add this debt never has shown on my CF,

 

I took out a subscription earlier just to double check and there is diddly squat from AW and no CCJ's at all.

 

Like to see them try legal action now!

[dx100uk]

little tip

 

IGNORE THE FLEECERS

 

dx