@anglianwater Friend recieved court papers from Anglian water.

[The GodMother]

Hi All

 

I had a phone call earlier today from a friends support worker. My friend and 9 of her other clients have all recieved court papers from Anglian water(AW) for the swearage. I have agreed to assist were l can but it gets complicated.

 

* these are all Mental health patients and AW knows that.

* they have recieved no bills letters or anything from AW this year

* all the bills/bank statements are sent to the support worker direct from the company.

* support worker sent payment plan offers to AW december 2012 and aw have not replied to the letter.

* standing orders set up for payments on all accounts and they have gone out as planned, some months more than was agreed has been paid. Never missed a payment.

* Money never returned to the defendant either

* some are due to up the payment amounts as debts paid off.

* support worker is not going to cancel standing orders, l have advised its not a good idea either as this could make things worse but is going to up the payments to those who can. I have said that it might help the argument but if anything defently shows a willingness to pay.

* CPR not followed nor any paperwork has been sent to defendants.

* Some of the money is for small amounts that have been paid now, went out of accounts yesterday, so really no claim.

* last year AW turn the water to whole area off and caused problems for everyone over night. All 10 people have put in claims with AW for washing machines and AW have ignored the claims.

 

I have agreed to help Support Worker as she is clearly out of her depth and on the phone to me sounded like she was panicking. l am not claiming to no it all as everything l have learnt comes from here.

 

Turning the water off was a emergancy but peoples washing machines dishwashers etc went wrong due to this. I no my washing machine and dishwasher went wrong. the inlet water pump on both went wrong and as this further blew the mother board in both machines as result they then did not work. Both machines were digital. They were in warrenty at time of breakdown but when we found out they were not and due to the nature of the breakdowns companys refused to repair telling us to bill AW for them coming out. Was going to cost more than machines worth to come out to fix. l am still waiting on my claim and have emailed the ceo 3 times re this and still being ignored.

 

The Support worker has spoken to her boss who has said that AW had effectivly accepted the payment plan as they have not in writing refused it nor have they sent the money back. I dont know if this is true but there is some logic there. the manager has also said that they should not have ignored the claim and should have sent bills and letters cancelling the payment plan, if one even existed. Also seems to think they are unfairly litigating against these as aw no the situation and the bills are being paid just not enough money to go round especially with 2 water bills gas electric food other debts. one they are claiming from has no cooker or washing machine so is renting one from hughes. l have advised mentioning the claim in the defence.

 

Any help/advise will be appreciated.

[kjun]

Were the payment plans set up by the Support Worker less than the monthly amount required to cover the bills?

 

If this was the case I would guess AW would argue that this was not an agreed arrangement, hence the court claim, but of course they would continue to accept payments towards the account.

 

Can you confirm this is wastewater only as if this was the case any interuption to supply would probably be the responsibility of whoever provide fresh water services and nothing to do with AW which may be why you have had no response to kitchen appliance claims.

 

At the end of the day the Water Industry Act 1991 makes the occupiers of the property liable for water services charges and this will be the legislation that AW will rely on meaning liability is not in question.

 

I am however surprised that they have chosen to litigate if they were aware of the individuals circumstances as I would have thought the better place for a situation like this would be their internal debt advice department (which I am sure they will have) or Trust Fund https://awaf.app.charisgrants.com/ rather than litigation.

 

Personally would call them and explain all this again, explaining the defendants are vunerable customers, asking they withdraw the claim and refer the matter to one of the suggested departments in order to resolve the matter.

[rebel11]

Hi the Godmother

 

There are other avenues to lodge a complaint:-

 

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/complaints/compswehandle/

 

or lodge a complaint with:-

 

http://www.ccwater.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Complaint-leaflet.pdf

 

http://www.ccwater.org.uk/

 

Thread moved to correct forum.

[kjun]

Agreed there are other avenues however at present the court claim is obviously a priority and no complaint to either of these bodies will overide this or lead to the case being withdrawn hence urgent contact with the claimant to re-iterate the Defendants circumstances being the suggestion.

 

Certainly once the claim is resolved then I would agree this is an appropriate action but for now but I cannot see a Defence to the claim unless they are not the occupiers, which we know they are, or there was an agreed payment plan making the claim incorrectly issued, which it appears not to be the case, then appealing to AW to withdraw, is in my opinion (based on my experience working for legal services at another water company), the best option at least in the here and now.

[rebel11]

Clearly the court claim needs to be dealt with, it's a case of getting someone at AW to listen, which they are not doing, even the CEO isn't responding.

 

Agreed there are other avenues however at present the court claim is obviously a priority and no complaint to either of these bodies will overide this or lead to the case being withdrawn hence urgent contact with the claimant to re-iterate the Defendants circumstances being the suggestion.

 

Certainly once the claim is resolved then I would agree this is an appropriate action but for now but I cannot see a Defence to the claim unless they are not the occupiers, which we know they are, or there was an agreed payment plan making the claim incorrectly issued, which it appears not to be the case, then appealing to AW to withdraw, is in my opinion (based on my experience working for legal services at another water company), the best option at least in the here and now.

[kjun]

The CEO did not respond to issues regarding damage to appliances however the OP stated that AW provide wastewater services and if the said damage was as a result of the supply being turned off this would likely be nothing to do with them instead the fresh water provider (whoever that is I am not familiar with that area)

 

More info regarding the payments made and SO that were set up would be useful as at the moment, and with no disrespect to the OP, this is a third party account, also from a third party.

 

Bottom line is that statute holds the occupiers liable however a phone call to AW legal services, perhaps by the Support Worker, may make them reconsider and refer the matter to other parts of the business which would be a sensible outcome for all parties.

[The GodMother]

Yes this is for sewerage. The reason the water was turned off is because the high street had water coming up threw it. Dont no if it was a manhole cover or anything but the water was turned off all nite. I have spoken with Essex and suffolk water who has told us thats its anglian water who turned it off and anglian water responsible for the damage. It only effected residents near the high street so as my friend and myself are one of them, he lives on the high street l live not far from would guess 10 mins walk away.

It was Anglian that turned off and dug the road up

The standing orders l dont no much about. I would have thought that even if they were rejecting the amount they should have said no to them Also if they were to argue that they never agreed the amount why has it took nearly 2 years for them to bring the claim?

The support work has filed with the courts for a couple of them with no debt the debt does not exist but my friends she is leaving up to me. All l have info wise is the papers and the letter she sent to them in december 2012 as nothing more has come from AW. No bills for the whole of 2013 and 2014 no letter nothing.

 

the papers have no phone number for the solicitor/legal services so how do l find that.

[The GodMother]

Oh and yes l have suggested to call the customer services number but they refuse to put you threw to the legal department or claims it dont exist.

 

Also is it still £1 a month the max a court can take off benefits.

[rebel11]

Hi The Godmother

 

You wrote to the CEO of AW regards damage to the equiptment. Did you complain to him about the whole matter, i.e.

'No bills for the whole of 2013 and 2014 no letter nothing'. You need to write to him about the whole matter. You need to point out that these are 'vulnerable people' and other people have to deal with all their affairs, so some understanding in this matter would be appreciated, explain that this could potentially be damaging for Anglian Water's reputation.

 

Write a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such, Explain what's happened, how they have let you down and what you want them to do.

 

Send it to:-

 

Mr Peter Simpson

Managing Director

Anglian Water Group

[email protected]

[Mr.P]

Looking for current contact info - Sewerage is at arm's length from the parent Anglian Water Group.

 

Edit: Much of the information out there appears to be out of date... I'd suggest dialing 01480 323000 and asking for Claire Russell who is now the Company Secretary (she was head of legal for a while). You may have to be bullish with these people, but you should be able to get the correct number eventually.

[The GodMother]

I have not had any reply from the CEO for my complaint. I have recieved bills but thats it.

 

I have not contacted them re my friend as its not something l have handled.

All l have in front of me is a photo copy of the court front page and a copy of the letter Support worker sent re the payments. the rest of it is on a external hard drive that needs a cable.

[The GodMother]

thanks Mr P now going to call the Support worker.

[kjun]

I am unfamiliar with the department set up within AW but by the sounds of your call Customer Services have confirmed one exists and quite honestly I find it shocking that they refused to put you through to them as in my role once a claim is issued all communications are then directed to legal services.

 

Worth requesting a copy of the LBA from AW as this may have a direct number to legal services rather than the main contact number plus a full account breakdown to see payments and charges.

 

Also the bills/reminders as suggested by Rebel just to check they are being addressed correctly however if the claim has been received I would expect AW to have the correct address and consequently any prior communication sent to the same address by general post would be deemed as recieved by the court in my opinion.

 

Personally if there is a chance a claim may be incorrect or inappropriate I would want to know as soon as possible purely from a costs perspective and even if correct i would want to hear any mitigating circumstances or to discuss potential resolution.

 

Deductions from benefits can be an option and is usually and amount towards ongoing usage plus some towards the debt but this action is usually taken as an alternative to court action without consent if needs be however the DWP will reject this as an option if there are already (2 I think) deductions being made in respect of other debts and AW would need to have their NI Number.

 

Regards the claim itself the Defendant can always file and Admission with an offer of £1.00 per month although this will result in a CCJ being registered against them.

 

With regards to the appliances you could of course lauch your own action however this is not relevant to the claim and the matters should be treated as such.

 

All water companies operate a guaranteed standards scheme (GSS) http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/rightsresponsibilities/standards/ so worth checking this to see if your situation is covered.

[The GodMother]

Its not just my appliances

SW tried to speak to solicitor on the phone number but was told as not defendant they cant. Looks like a defence needs to go in stating all of the above and demanding proof of bills. Stupid thing is this will be paid up b4 it gets to a hearing or even far into court.

[kjun]

That would be right as per Data Protection however if the SW phones while with the Defendant who then gives permission to discuss this should negate that issue and copies of the bills can be requested then.

 

It would be best to get these as soon as possible however if they are addressed correctly then claiming non receipt will not constitute a vaild defence as I would also expect their to be additional payment reminders and an LBA that have been sent (ask for these too and an account statement would be helpful as well in order to see how the debt has accured as well as being satisfied all payments made have been received and allocated correctly)

[The GodMother]

Well the SW has written permission to speak to anyone necessary on the cliebts behalf. The SW went to CEOs office who confirmed it. He then told them to speak to her. Anyway yesterday the support worker was told they dont care if mental health patients or if debts paid off alrest if bills not sent they are going ahead. According to the computer we are wrong. He even said for them to take out loans to get this paid. Clearly not advisable.

 

One of the clients is suicidal and another a schoprenic. Sothis is not helping.

[The GodMother]

The SW asked for this info to be faxed over but the arrogant worker refused to. Told her to make a court application but they would contest it as a delaying tatic.

 

What l dont get is a payment scheme was set up but they now claim they no nothing about it despite the CEOs office confirming it.

[kjun]

I have to say I am somewhat surprised that this would be their position and certainly is not the way this would be handled within the Water Company I work for.

 

Copies of documents would be provided as part of the hearing papers if it goes that far but it is always preferable to try and obtain resolution long before that stage purely from a costs perspective if nothing else.

 

Perhaps these can be obtained from the automated line as per their website (below)

 

You can call our automated service on 0800 032 6237 to request a copy of your bill. Please note, you'll need your Anglian Water account number to hand.

 

Aside from that I can only assume from the information provided that the payments being made are not part of an agreed plan and do not cover the outstanding sums as well as ongoing usage hence why they are intent on the claim proceeding.

 

Hard to see a Defence if this is the case as legislation holds them liable and this will be a major factor if it goes to hearing which will incur further costs plus a CCJ if AW win.

 

Perhaps a Tomlin Order may be a possibility to avoid this and it is something I would certainly consider strongly as an outcome to proceedings.

[BankFodder]

Sorry but the story is not very clear.

 

I gather that a number of mental health patients are being sued by AW for arrears

I gather that the MHPs have been paying instalments to AW over a period of time without difficulty and AW have not objected.

Now AW have unexpectedly issued claims.

Additiionally, there was a water stoppage which has damaged various appliances belonging to these people and AW will not deal with it.

 

Is this all correct?

 

If this is the story then I don't see any problem and I would say that AW can be estopped from discontinuing the instalments.

Furthermore they can be made defendants to a counterclaim for the damaged appliances.

 

We can draft the defence and counterclaim for you.

 

Do all of theses MHPs live together?

When was the claim issued?

Has it been acknowledged?

When is the return date?

 

Would anyone be prepared to talk to the Press?

[BankFodder]

In fact, I think that you should put us directly in contact with the support worker.

Please will you email us at our admin email address. Put AW in the subject line.

[BankFodder]

I dearly wish that somebody would come along and respond to this thread before some mistake is made in the defence document which will soon have to be filed.

 

It is very frustrating to get involved in a thread and then find that the people who started it seem to disappear

[kjun]

Original posts states bills/statements sent direct to SW so it is likely all pre-action letters including LBA were sent to the same person so does she still have these?

 

The original post does not state claim amount and dates of outstanding invoices is it possible some of these were pre 2012 when the SW set up the SO as if so payments would firstly be allocated to the oldest invoice first.

 

Did these payments at least cover the ongoing usage at that time?

[The GodMother]

Some reason l am not getting any notifications to say the thread has been responded to. Nor anything from cag in response to any threads l am on.

 

I dont no whats going on. I sent AW a cpr for all the bills letters etc re this and they have not responded.

 

The claim was issued on the 20th Nove recieved in the SWs office on 25th Nov acknowledged after that. I have decided to hand her back my friends case as l am rather busy with a new baby and stuff to do with other kids time of year etc.

 

No BF the dont all live together as they live in the community in 1 bed flats. The debt is now paid off anyway as it was only £150.

[BankFodder]

OK. so long as it is settled. As I indicated above, it wouldn't have caused much of a problem.

Maybe you could check your spam box. I see that your email provider is a company which frequently bins our emails automatically

[The GodMother]

I have drafted a defence telling the courts the debt does not exist as the defendant paid XX on the 1st december by standing order. Anglian water are fully aware of the schedule for payments and they were in defendants opinion trying to force him to make payments he cant afford further to this have advised the courts than anglian water knows he is a mental health patient.

 

I have also asked the courts to throw the case out and award compensation to my friend