inter credit chasing south staffs 'wrong' water bill.

[ywncyber]

Hello all,

 

I had a query with a water company at my previous address whereby they charged me water usage charges of £475 for a period of a couple of months

 

As a person living alone and being at work all day, having no hot water other than shower, no garden to water and no car to wash, I found this to be a little alarming and queried the charge (As my usual bill was about £18 a month) - I was on a water meter.

 

The company in question (South Staffs) had the usual drongos on the phone who of course were not able to help in any way. I pro actively kept chasing and calling South Staffs to say I would pay a normal water bill but not one for £475 which in my opinion is completely unfeasible given my setup.

 

This went on for a good month and a half of ME CHASING THEM to resolve this issue so I could pay them.

 

Today I recieved a letter at my new address from a company called INTER CREDIT INTERNATIONAL demanding that I pay the client (South Staffs) said £475 within the next 5 days.

 

To me this isn't a bad debt, its an invoice query that they seem incapable of resolving.

 

Am I right in saying that a court would have to order me to pay this before a collection agency could really do anything? Whats the procedure? It's not even a matter of I cant pay - It's that I will NOT be bullied by South staffs just because they are a big company into paying charges which are nothing short of ridiculous.

 

Any advice on this would be most appreciated.

 

Best regards

 

Luke

[renegadeimp]

Ignore them or simply send a letter saying the debt is in dispute and any further contact from the DCA will be reported to the OFT.

 

A DCA can never, EVER do anything. Unless they own the debt. This one doesnt own it, so theyre all hot air.

Edited October 18, 2013 by renegadeimp

[ywncyber]

renegadeimp, cheers I thought as much but just wanted someone to confirm I wasn't mad.

 

OK I'll send em a letter and any further contact I get will be reported.

 

Thank you.

[dx100uk]

yep tell the dca to go do one!!

 

south staffs need to be reported to ofwat

 

they cant charge you £475 for a period whereby you KNOW from water meter readings

it was XYZ.

 

sar them for the meter readings.

 

dx

[ywncyber]

Hello

 

Update on this one, received two further letters since I posted ( I've been mailing them since the first two, no response yet ).

 

Third letter came today saying they are in process of drawing up court papers, going to charge me legal fees, interest, 50gbp court, 50gbp solicitor etc

 

They then want to make two further points about it affecting my ability to get credit, and that they will apply for bailiff warrant

 

Ps the charges they are charging are based on meter readings... My dispute is that they cannot be accurate.

Any advice?

[dx100uk]

who is this?

 

dx

[ywncyber]

Letter is from inter-credit again. All correspondence is so far.

[dx100uk]

ICI are a bunch of spoofers and chancersat the best of times

 

they got slated in court over the DVLA 'sorn fine' affair.

 

deal directly with SSW

 

how old is this 'debt'

 

dx

[ywncyber]

OK when I next receive correspondence I will ask for the SSW contact that ICI are dealing with

 

Just short of 1.5 years , though they were still debiting me up til maybe 4-5 months ago as I hadn't cancelled the DD and they continued to bill me a long time after I moved out.

[dx100uk]

so you never contacted SSW should have seen your 1st port call of call

 

did you tell when you moved out?

 

you need to get those payments back under the DD guarantee pronto via your bank

[ywncyber]

Yep SSW were my first port of call,

 

I proactively and relentlessly called them over a period of a couple of months telling them something was wrong with the bill

and most of the people I spoke to actually agreed, but were unable or unwilling to do anything.

 

I kept chasing them because I wanted them to bill me a normal, realistic bill

so I could pay and close my account.

 

I did indeed tell them my moving date long before I moved.

 

Hopefully now its been escalated someone with a brain might sort it, I won't start holding my breath any time soon though

[dx100uk]

if you paid them after the end date [move out ]

 

then i'd certainly be invoking the DD guarantee.

 

dx