me and a water company's multiple CCJ's

[BornThisWay]

I do wish that I had not listened to the advice that water bills were not priority!

 

Have been fighting the mortgage company to keep my house for several years and finally have this under control.

 

I challenged huge bills from Anglian Water but they have obtained two CCJs against me, the first of which (just under £400) has now gone to 'enforcement'. Apparently if I don't pay up the bailiffs will be round next Monday to try and sell my goods. Out of luck on that one as nothing worth selling!

 

Don't know what to do. But wish I had not believed whoever told me that the water bills were not a priority. They are now they have ruined my credit record forever, and have set the bailiffs on me!

[dx100uk]

water bills are not a priority debt like other util bills electric and gas.

 

they are just the same as any other debt like credit cards, unsecured loans etc etc

 

however, like those, you don't totally ignore everything, nor ignore negotiating with them

 

many water companies dictate you pay them in one or two large lumps at the begging of the financial year

there no reason why you cannot negotiate 12 equal payments throughout the financial year with them.

 

but yo must contact them not ignore them totally.

[BornThisWay]

I haven't ignored the bills. I have been arguing with them for months/years that my bills could not be £500 a half year for someone living alone! They did eventually change the meter but not before the court had awarded them two CCJs both of which I tried to defend.

 

I have been paying them back via a standing order but I had to stop it for one month and they have just kicked all this into action.

 

I am going to have to stop paying the mortgage again to pay them I suppose, which means they lender will try and repossess again..........

 

Sometimes I wish I could just run away, let them take what little I have, and they can fight over it!

[dx100uk]

BTW........ok but if you just come on and try and lay blame

after reading ONE SENTENCE on a thread

 

when all this has already happened - its wrong.

 

lets see if we can get you sorted.

 

have you a thread with all the details?

 

dx

[BornThisWay]

I wasn't aware I was trying to lay blame??? I was just saying that whoever told me water was not a priority debt gave me very poor advice and has landed me in a great deal of trouble.

 

That is the truth. Sorry if I should not have said it, but that is how it has affected me.

 

I have queried the amount and the period it covers, but Anglian Water have simply given me a reference number and suggested for further queries I talk to their virtual assistant Amanda!

[dx100uk]

WHERE did cag give YOU that advise to you?

 

where is YOUR thread?

 

dx

[BornThisWay]

I don't have a thread DX and I am not sure why you are being so aggressive towards me?

 

I have spent the last couple of years trying to keep hold of my house and also fighting ridiculous bills from AW of which this is only one,

but I expect they are testing the water for the larger ones.

 

Having read through this and other help sites I have repeatedly seen water bills referred to as low priority.

So I put the mortgage and the Council Tax ahead of them.

 

I think the low priority must refer to the fact they won't cut you off.

In fact I have begged AW to cut me off to stop the high bills.

 

The point I am trying to make is that this has got me into a lot of trouble,

a visit by the bailiffs coming up, and two CCJs on my credit file which mean that I can never sell my house

and get another mortgage even though I have decent equity and could settle all these debts.

 

AW have quite simply ruined my life.

And I just wanted to make the point that treating them as low priority is now the main cause of my distress.

 

But clearly you don't like me saying that for some reason so I won't pursue this matter further.

Sorry I upset you, that was not my intention.

[dx100uk]

own thread created.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

I have created you a thread made from the posts from someones elses that you posted on:

 

that is post 1 here:

 

in you state:

 

I do wish that I had not listened to the advice that water bills were not priority!

Don't know what to do. But wish I had not believed whoever told me that the water bills were not a priority. T

 

hey are now they have ruined my credit record forever, and have set the bailiffs on me!

 

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

 

we cant control what people read and use in their situation that they think is correct

 

however if you'd made your own thread long ago and posted your problems then the CCJ's could well have been avoided.

 

you certainly would not have been told to avoid paying.

 

and def not been told to not pay after they'd got the first, let alone the second CCJ.

 

.....

 

now we need to limit the damage you have sadly caused yourself.

 

tell us the story please.

 

dx

[BornThisWay]

Well DX I have had some brilliant help from the mortgage section of this site and against all the odds and

- I have lost count

- probably 6 visits to court I have fought off aggressive lenders and kept my house.

I will always be eternally grateful for their help.

 

I sense you are judging me on the water bills,

so I don't really want to rake it up again at the moment.

 

Suffice to say I live alone,

I have no living relatives and the past couple of years have been a struggle that it is hard to describe.

 

I think maybe it all got too much for me and in my ignorance I just believed the water was not a priority,

and I continued to fight what were clearly incorrect bills, but I simply couldn't prove it.

 

I am trying to get my usage down to nothing by showering and doing my washing at a friend's without a water meter

but of course there are still sewerage charges even if you use no water.

 

I agree this matter is my own fault,

but I am a woman on her own and I did my best with the situation I found myself in. That's all.

[dx100uk]

:lol:hey I don't care nor mind.

 

makes no odds to helping people I help everyone.

 

this really seems strange to me that you have a water meter and they've had you on huge bills

prob find you're feeding the whole row of houses we've seen that before here.

 

are we looking at serious sums here

 

dx

[eggy12]

Not jumping in asking for help but as the Lady has not replied I will carry on for her as it seems im in the same boat.

 

As Dx has pointed out as has BTW water bills are NOT priority, that comes from the ruling that they simply cannot cut you off/put you on trickle feed.

 

They can and will however take it through the courts to get there money owed. I myself have 3 bills with them, two of with CCJ's and charging orders on my home, the other very low as BTW does I just have showers.

 

Last week I received letter from the court with "Warrant Of Execution" giving me till today to pay in full for the larger one (£268) or Bailiffs will be coming.. Cannot pay up in full but can call Bailiff's and hope to come to a weekly arrangement, this will as in BTW's case completely mess up my agreement with mortgage but will face that when it happens.

 

I will however STILL treat this debt as a low priority debt as it is, like they cannot take my home away just make my life a little more difficult it is at the moment/last 5 years... In none priority cases they cannot get blood from a stone

 

Just thought I would drop in and hopefully give BTW some support knowing she is not alone and this is a great place to ask for help..

 

Im with AW btw

 

Eggy12

Edited November 4, 2013 by eggy12

[dx100uk]

redetermination order with the court.

 

DONT pay the bailiff or make an arrangement

 

dx

[BornThisWay]

Oh hi Eggy, thanks for your response. I had given up on this thread as with the greatest of respect dx100 was completely failing to understand this issue.

 

Did you say you have charging orders on your house? I am terrified of that as I have read that they will attempt to force a sale.

 

It would be ironic and terribly sad if after years of trying to hold onto my house I lose it because of Anglian Water! This is the issue with AW - no idea about other water companies - no, they will not cut you off, but that is somewhat of a moot point if you have lost your house!

 

I agree that the bailiffs cannot get what we haven't got. After paying my mortgage and living expenses there is nothing left for hideous water bills for water I never used but I am not sure what I can do to prevent them moving from bailiff threat to charging order? The bailiffs are very welcome - if I had anything worth selling I would have sold it by now!

 

Sorry you are going through this too and I think it is very very important that other readers remember that while water companies cannot cut you off - they can make your life a misery and take everything you have got.

 

Thanks again for your helpful reply. BTW xx

[flexeh]

I had given up on this thread as with the greatest of respect dx100 was completely failing to understand this issue.

 

Sorry to jump in but i feel that to be a bit Harsh.

 

Dx100uk asked you multiple times for the facts, so he could try and help and you blanked him. He didn't want to give general advice, my guessing is he wanted background on how it has got as bad as it has then he could tailor his response to your needs. Especially as a general comment from someone in the past is one of the things you are not happy with.

[BornThisWay]

Flexeh my post about this got off to a bad start because DX100UK jumped at me from the outset because he thought I was saying that I had received bad advice on here. I explained that I had not, but simply that I wished I had not taken the advice I had been given.

 

I then found his whole style to be aggressive and dismissive. I felt like a naughty schoolgirl being told off for my stupidity. I felt bullied actually.

 

So I simply went away. All I would say is, as a point of order, people who come here are asking for help. Not to be lectured to in a tone that implies that the author is way more intelligent and that you are stupid and are the instrument of your own problems.

 

Eggy above understands what I am saying and the positive from this is that we have maybe publicised for others that while you do not HAVE to pay your water bill ahead of other bills, the powers used by some - we are talking here of Anglian Water - are capable of getting you CCJs, visits by bailiffs, attachments to earnings, and charging orders on your home, which can - and I believe have - caused the loss of that home.

 

Water bills should not be dismissed as low priority since they cannot cut you off. AW would have done me a favour if they had cut me off!!! This may all be since privatisation, I don't know. But anyone who thinks that the water companies are sleeping giants is in for a miserable awakening as Eggy and I have discovered to our cost!

[frugal-mum]

Hi my husband works in the building trade and he says there is no way your bills should be so high if your use is so minimal. I see someone has suggested it could be a shared service sup;plying more than one house but have you also considered the possibility of a leak on your water supply.

 

 

I have no idea how old your property is and what kind of pipework supplies your house but many older properties are still on old lead services and these do leak due to age and deterioration of the pipe. I think you can ask the water company to check for leaks but if it on your side of the supply you are responsible.