Yorkshire Water - Help needed - threat of HCEO

[rockyrover]

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.

[dx100uk]

there is a bit of willy waving going on here

and a few 'untruths' on the advisors info to you.

 

firstly the CCJ, do you have a copy?

did you KNOW it was going tocourt?

ie you received papers butdid not respond?

 

what is in the judgement box, that tells you what you have to pay

you sgould abide by that

if there is no monthly figure

or the figure is set too high

you need to go back to the court and get a variation order done.

 

as for this years new bill....

 

water companies make all kinds of demans that

it must be paid in one or two payment in the first XX months of the year

 

that IS NOT TRUE.

 

it can be equally spreadout over 12 payments

 

 

a water bill is NOT A PRIORITY UTILITY BILL. [like gas / electric]

no matter what willy waving they do

 

they cannot 'cut you off' under human rights bill.

 

so for here to try and 'add' this years bill to the CCJ and say HCEO's can get involved is WRONG.

 

dx

[rockyrover]

Hi DX100uk thank you for your reply.

 

Yes I did know it went to court (ages ago) and yes I have (stupidly) ignored it - I don't have any of the paperwork. As I said I have buried my head for a few years now and everything is coming to a head so I am trying to tackle everything head on and get financially sorted.

 

The threat of the HCEO is worrying me.

 

As the debts stand today (after what I have paid this week) - I owe £646.26 this is the amount that (I believe) was subject to court proceedings. The advisor said that in April my new bill will be added which is £253.72 leaving the total amount owing to them as a dead £900.

 

So what should I do? When I offered the £20 every 4 wk this was just to clear the debt. I can afford to pay £5.00 per week for new bill which would basically mean (if they added the debt and new bill together like they want to) I am paying £40 per 4 week NOT the £75 they are demanding.

 

If I put it in writing and pay what I can afford can they still go down the HCEO route?? Even though I am making payments?

[leigh04]

they can't add the new bill onto a previous ccj, they would have to get a new ccj for it.

 

my advice continue to pay 20 for the ccj one and set up a new payment for the new bill ask for a payment card ( if they do them) .

 

I'm with Severn Trent and they have been really good with helping me sort our bills out, 1 is ccj 2 are by payment cards

[rockyrover]

they can't add the new bill onto a previous ccj, they would have to get a new ccj for it.

 

my advice continue to pay 20 for the ccj one and set up a new payment for the new bill ask for a payment card ( if they do them) .

 

I'm with Severn Trent and they have been really good with helping me sort our bills out, 1 is ccj 2 are by payment cards

 

Hi Leigh thanks for your reply.

 

No I understand that the new bill (2013/2014) isn't subject to the CCJ and cannot be enforced with the old debt £646.26 but I don't want the HCEO at my house for that amount either.

 

I think I will just put my proposal in writing and stick to paying it! I will pay £20 every 4 week for the CCJ debt and then pay £5.00 per week for the new bill. My question was whether (despite me now paying) they could (or were likely to) still go for the High Court Writ?

[dx100uk]

there you got good advise

 

you MUST make the CCJ the prority

 

theres nowt to stp you phoning the court and asking WHAT is in the judgement box

 

that way you'll know what you must pay to avoid the hceo's

which can ONLY get involved if you fail to meet the judgement PCM.

 

they CANNOT add the new bill to this nor get HCEO's invplved on it .

 

sadly this is typical of the water companies

they think they are god but they are NOT

 

water is NOT a priority bill.

 

dx

[rockyrover]

As I didn't reply to the CCJ I think the judgement was entered in default therefore no payment rate was set other than payment in full?

Should I be trying to negotiate with the Court or Yorkshire Water?

Confused

I don't even know which court it was at, whether it was a local one or the bulk centre.

[leigh04]

check your credit file and where you see your ccj it should state Which court, mine was Northampton. then you can contact the court to find out about paying hopefully by installments, you will most probably have to do a I & E form to show what you can pay.

 

Noddle is free for credit checks

[rockyrover]

Leigh thank you so much for the heads up about Noddle!

Just signed up and checked my report. Thanks!

 

The CCJ is registered at Northampton as suspected.

What forms do I need to complete etc to get the court to set a payment level?

[leigh04]

you are welcome

 

not sure what forms I suggest you ring the courts and ask/ see what you can do re your situation.

 

Send a letter to your water company marked enforcement team and explain your situation and as its a non priority debt £20 pm is all you can currently afford with another look at circumstances say in 6 months.

[ploddertom]

YW have form for issuing Writs for the HCEO to enforce.

 

The most important thing is to get your debt down to below the magic £600 figure as that will prevent them from issuing.

 

Preferably if you can get it below £540. To make an application for a Variation Order - which if adhered to will also prevent them applying for a Writ

- you need Form N245 from HMCTS website.

 

It is simple to fill in and you send to Courtwhere your CCJ was granted, they in turn should direct it to your local County Court.

 

The cost of the application is £45 or if on certain Benefits or low wage this may be waived

- see Form EX160a & 160c for details. You do have to provide I&E, the Claimant may object but the Court can decide what you have to pay.

 

If they do decide to issue a Writ you will get no warning of this until the HCEO calls.

 

If this does happen then regardless of any paperwork you are given or anything he may say you do not have to let him in.

 

Make a post immediately in the Bailiff Forum and be prepared to apply for a Stay of Execution against the Writ,

this is done on Form N244 and the application cost is £80 unless again you are eligible for Fee Remission.

[rockyrover]

Hi Ploddertom thanks for your reply.

 

Debt is currently at £646.28. Is £600 the limit in which they send debts to HCEO?

[Janie1962]

Have you heard of RESOLVE? It's a scheme whereby if you have arrears of £500+ and keep up agreed repayments on it, YW will write-off a percentage of the debt every quarter. It's a good scheme and really helped me when I had a CCJ. Give YW a call and see what they say. There is also a charity called The Yorkshire Water Community Trust:-

 

http://www.yorkshirewater.com/yw-community-trust.aspx

 

Hopefully, they'll be able to offer some help.

 

Good luck; I've been where you are now, and I'm living proof that it IS possible to escape!

[rockyrover]

Thank you Janie I have just downloaded the application from the Yorkshire Water Community Trust. You're a star.

[ploddertom]

Hi Ploddertom thanks for your reply.

 

Debt is currently at £646.28. Is £600 the limit in which they send debts to HCEO?

 

Yes