Anglian Water! £2800 bill!

[ctid1987]

water bills will not be on a cra file.

 

I wuold setup a payment arrangement directly with AW

 

£1PCM will do

 

 

dx

 

Thanks Dx.

 

I've offered to repay, but they reckon I have to contact SRJ.

 

What to do now? I can't force them to accept my money can I?

[dx100uk]

you don't offer you tell them

 

use your internet banking portal and the details from the letter/bill

 

they cannot refuse It that way

 

or tell them you refuse to go thru or pay a debt collection agency as they have no scruples and cannot be trusted

 

if Anglia want you to pay, then they sing by your song.

 

dx

[ctid1987]

They phoned me earlier, and I told them I only wanted to deal with them in writing...

 

This is what they sent me -

 

Dear Mr B**************

 

Thank you for getting in touch about the balance outstanding for account *****1 811,

I’m replying by email as you requested when I spoke to you today.

 

The balance outstanding *****1 811

I understand you feel the bills are incorrect as we cannot backdate charges over six years.

I think what you are referring to is the Limitation Act 1980, which does state that we couldn’t take action through the Courts on a debt of over six years old.

 

However, this doesn’t apply if contact or payment has been made by the customer during the last six years.

Which for this account, we’ve received both payment and contact within the last six years and so, we can still pursue this balance.

 

Also, you mention that we’ve backdated the charges.

This is not the case,

this is an old balance and bills were issued at the time the services were used.

Therefore, we are not backdating charges but chasing for a previous balance which is due.

 

Third party agencies

I’m sorry that you don’t wish to deal with any third parties regarding this issue.

However, we have employed a third party to recover the balance outstanding.

 

You advised in the first instance you wouldn’t do this unless all the relevant details were provided

and I can see we’ve sent you a copy of all the bills that show this information.

 

What’s next?

 

You will need to contact SRJ Debt Recoveries Ltd on 0845 313 7200 to arrange payments.

 

I understand this is not the response you were looking for but I hope I’ve explained this for you.

However, if you have any other questions, please call 0800 1693 630, where we will be happy to help.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Scott Smith

Customer Services

 

...........................................................................................

 

What shall I say back to them??

[citizenB]

I am a little confused by the "contact".. that would only apply if liability had been acknowledged. Did either of you acknowledge that there was a liability owed by either you or your partner.

 

As for payment, was there payment made ?

 

I find it quite strange they have assigned one account but not the other ?

[ctid1987]

The other account that we owe £300 on we have a payment book for that we are paying £40 a month on.

 

The last payment made to the account above - ***** 1811 was £42.72 on the 25th August 2009.

[ctid1987]

Please see below for a breakdown of payments etc. We have only been at this address since November 2006 though, anything before that was from my partners old address!!

 

[ATTACH]44836[/ATTACH]

[dx100uk]

you've already posted these in post 17.

 

as I see it

 

there is no way out of either of the debts.

 

1018......... 2005-30.6.13 - £2869.93 [last payment 25/8/9] with SRJ

1362 31/7/9 - 1/7/12 £369.69 with AW

new 2/7/12 - today with AW

 

I would pay SRJ £10PCM for 1018

I would pay AW £10PCM for 1362

 

get the bank details to do both by YOUR internet banking site

 

dx

[ctid1987]

At the time of the last payment for 1018 it was to AW not SRJ, I take it this doesn't make a difference?

 

Plus the ammount from 2006 is carried over from a previous address, does this count?

[ctid1987]

And sorry to sound a numpty, we have two bank accounts, Santander and Nationwide, how do we set it up online? Standing order??

[dx100uk]

At the time of the last payment for 1018 it was to AW not SRJ, I take it this doesn't make a difference?

 

Plus the ammount from 2006 is carried over from a previous address, does this count?

 

well unless you can prove no payments were made on that debt for 6yrs prior to then, then no.

 

either will do

you'll prob find AW listed under pay bill or something alike

 

just use the account no. as the ref number

you'll not find srj though

but I cant see why you cant pay both to AW

 

why don't you make a £10 [or whatever] payment to each account to AW

then in about a week

phone AW and check they have them.

 

dx

[ctid1987]

£10 PCM for each bill sounds brilliant! Mrs is in bed at the mo, so will confirm everything with her tomorrow and get it setup for next week.

 

Thanks Chaps!

 

Will need some help on a few other debts im trying to clear for her. My SAR's are being sorted as we speak, so will update the relevant threads as and when I receive them.

[dx100uk]

no bother

 

dx

[ctid1987]

I enquired to see if they had received my payments and received this...

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

 

 

I can confirm that two payments of £5.00 were credited to the accounts ****1811 and ****5348 on 6 September 2013.

 

 

 

Please note that the current outstanding balance on the account ****5348 is £364.69. I have now updated our records regarding the standing order which you have set up to pay towards this account and your next monthly instalment of £5.00 is due to reach us by 8 October 2013. Although paying this amount will reduce the debt, it will not be enough to clear the outstanding amount before your next bill is issued. The outstanding balance will be added to your next bill as arrears.

 

 

The current outstanding balance on the account ****1811 is £2,864.63. Unfortunately, we are unable to action this account as it has been transferred to Advantis Debt Collection Agency. Therefore, I would kindly request you

to contact them from the below contact details for further assistance regarding the arrears on this account.

 

Advantis

Minton Hollins Building

Shelton Old Road

Stoke on Trent

ST4 7RY

 

Telephone : 0844 55 65 4400

Fax no : 01782 747575

 

 

If we can be of further assistance please e-mail us at [email protected] or telephone on 08457 91 91 55 where our customer services staff will be pleased to help.

[ctid1987]

I thought I'd be a bit cheeky and offer £5 a month on both accounts. As they have no way of means testing me I thought it was a satisfactory amount.

 

Funny though that the original account has been passed onto another DCA. It was SRJ previously, now Advantis. No offer of repaying my payment either, so where do I go from here??

[ctid1987]

Dx?

[dx100uk]

ok now you sort of have these running

 

as they have pointed out

 

you really need to p'haps address the future of this years bill

 

ideally you need to pay this so's it clears before the next years bill starts in april.

 

so p'haps see if you can work that in.

just don't forget even though the new bill comes in in april.

you are entitled to divide that by 12 and pay monthly no matter what they say.

 

the older debt [not this years]

 

can be dropped to what you like

they are NOT a priority util co. [like gas/elec]

and water debts can be treated as any other normal debt.

 

as for atlantis, if AW still own the debt, stuff 'em and pay them directly.

 

dx

[ctid1987]

Ok, No problem Ill see what I can do in regards to the newer debt - Ill probably increase the payment.

 

Regarding the older debt how can I tell who owns it??

[dx100uk]

ask AW .

 

I don't think you'll find it on any CRA file

 

might be there but I doubt it.

 

unless you get WRITTEN proof by way of a Noitce of Assignment

from AW AND Atlantis

stating atlantis has bought the debt

pay AW.

 

never known a water debt to be sold anyhow.

 

dx

 

 

dx

[dx100uk]

sri advantis

 

seem to be spoofers going by passed threads here

 

i'd pay AW by BACS they cant refuse.

dx

[silverfox1961]

Hi

Not sure if this will help but Anglian water have a trust fund which they don't advertise a lot

 

http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/household/your-account/problems-paying/assistance/

 

Give it a go, you never know if you don't ask

[ctid1987]

Thanks for your help chaps.

 

Advantis have agreed to cancel one account. However they are being stubborn about the other one!!

 

.................................................................................................................................................................

 

Dear Miss S,

 

We write in response to your recent correspondence with these offices.

 

We can confirm that we are now able to correspond with you via email as your email address has passed our data protection checks.

 

Please see below a copy of our response to your initial email:

 

‘Dear Miss S,

 

We write with regards to your recent correspondence.

 

We are writing to advise you that we have received a response from our client with regards to your account.

 

Our client has advised that Mr B has made a payment of £5.00 to the account by standing order. We have written to him to advise him that he needs to contact you regarding a payment arrangement but that we would let you know of the recent payment.

 

Therefore, please contact our office at the earliest convenience to discuss repayment. Please ensure that the Advantis Reference above is quoted in all communications.

 

If we do not hear from you within 14 days from the date of this letter your account will be returned to our collection process. It is in your best interest to contact us and maintain your payments to prevent any possibility of legal action on your account. Please telephone 0844 55 65 440 where one of our trained advisors will be happy to help.’

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Administration Department

 

....................................................................................................................................

 

Is there any law that stops them chasing me as I am paying the original person I owe money to?

 

Thanks again.

[dx100uk]

quite honestly i'd ignore them.

 

or

 

you write back

 

stating they do not own the account

 

and you are paying the OC directly.

 

as for passing there security checks etc

that's quite funny

 

trying to make themselves out to be something authoritarians!!

 

dx

[ctid1987]

I know, I found it quite funny myself and strung them along a bit. I left it at please contact AW to confirm anything else, I will not be replying and I received the above.

 

The thing is AW are still adamant that I have to contact Advantis, even though I have in writing from them the following...

 

When we’ve exhausted our in-house process and have not been successful in obtaining payment,

we arrange with agencies for them to pursue the debt for us.

 

The debt was previously with SRJ.

As they were unable to obtain payment, they sent the account back to us and it was forwarded to another debt collection agency (Advantis) in line with our normal procedures.

 

We don’t formally assign or novate debts to external agencies.

 

We simply instruct them to recover monies on our behalf.

 

We are their clients and they don’t ‘own’ the debt. You’ll still need to contact Advantis to arrange payment.

 

I’ve let Advantis know that you’ve made a payment to us for the account which is with them of £5. I’d suggest that you cancel your standing order to account ********811.

 

What do I say to AW in regards to that above? I will only pay them and no one else??

[ctid1987]

In fact here is the complete email....

 

...........................................................................................................................

 

Dear Mr B

 

******* 811 ******** 348

 

Thank you for your time yesterday.

 

You’ll receive your next bill in January 2014.

 

When we’ve exhausted our in-house process and have not been successful in obtaining payment, we arrange with agencies for them to pursue the debt for us. The debt was previously with SRJ. As they were unable to obtain payment, they sent the account back to us and it was forwarded to another debt collection agency (Advantis) in line with our normal procedures.

 

We don’t formally assign or novate debts to external agencies. We simply instruct them to recover monies on our behalf. We are their clients and they don’t ‘own’ the debt. You’ll still need to contact Advantis to arrange payment.

 

I’ve let Advantis know that you’ve made a payment to us for the account which is with them of £5. I’d suggest that you cancel your standing order to account ********811.

 

With regard to your current account, using the true readings for July 2012 and January 2013, your annual consumption works out at 206m3. This means you need to pay £61.22 a month just to cover your usage (£734.73 per year). Your payment of £5 a month is inadequate and the arrears on the account will only increase. I’ve cancelled the arrangement and would ask that you contact our debt resolution team on 0800 169 3630 to discuss this further. I’ve held the account until 10 October 2013 to give you time to get in touch.

 

However, this amount of water is what we’d expect 3 people to use who are classed as ‘above average users’. This is only an estimate, some people use more, some less.

 

If there are only two people in your property, I’d suggest you carry out flow and leak tests as outlined in the attached leaflet to make sure there are no problems and you’re not paying for water you’re not using.

 

As Miss S is occupying the property and jointly and severally liable for the charges, I’ve added her name to your account as you’ve previously requested.

 

I trust I’ve explained the situation clearly for you. Should you have any further queries, we’ll be able to answer these for you when you call.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Elaine Hindle

Customer Relations

 

............................................................................................................................

 

I then received this straight after ...

 

..............................................................................................................................

 

Dear Mr B

 

I realised that I’d omitted to make a point about the possibility of looking at putting you on a different tariff to save you money.

 

There are two social tariffs that you may be eligible for: WaterSure and AquaCare Plus tariffs that are dependent on you being in receipt of benefits. To be eligible you must be receiving one of the following:

 

· Income Support

 

· Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance

 

· Housing Benefit

 

· Council Tax Benefit (not Discount or Relief)

 

· Working Tax Credit

 

· Child Tax Credit (this does not qualify if you receive the family element

 

· only)

 

· Pension Credit

 

· Employment and Support Allowance.

 

 

On top of this, to be eligible for the WaterSure tariff you’d also need to be receiving treatment for a medical condition that means you need to use significant extra water, or have three dependent children under the age of 19 living in the household for whom the person receiving the above benefit also claims Child Benefit.

 

If you do not meet the second requirement then you may still be eligible for our AquaCare Plus tariff.

 

As I looked further back on our records I realised there’s a note to say there are 7 people in the property. Please accept my apologies for my oversight.

 

On WaterSure your annual bill would be £434 and on Aquacare Plus your annual bill would be £528.22. Please let us know if you’re in receipt of any of the above which would make you eligible.

 

Kind regards

 

Elaine Hindle

.................................................................................................................

very kindly omitted to tell us the above info eh? We're paying £700 a year when we could be paying two thirds of that??

 

I work full time, but in what is classed as a Low income job, so we get a portion of our rent paid by housing benefit.

 

So I replied with the following.

 

.....................................................................................................................

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your response. I will continue to pay the amount on *******811 every month. You have agreed above that debt collection agencies do not own the debt and as such I should only be paying the money to you which I will continue to do so. Please cancel any DCA on the above account as as far as I am aware you cannot refuse payment on any account owing money.

 

Can I ask why we weren't on the lower tariff previously? If we had of been, I'd hazard a guess we wouldn't be in so much debt now.

We are in receipt of housing benefit and council tax benefit, although I work we are classed as on a low income. We also receive Disability Living Allowance for one of our children. And before I moved in here when ******811 was accrued my partner received Income support since 2005.

 

Kind Regards

Anthony

[dx100uk]

time to ask for a backdated discount me thinks

 

they have not treated your fairly

 

esp if they knew about the above.

 

dx