Anglian Water offered me an easier payments due to COVID, but only now I found it counts as unpaid debt and shows on credit record

[Todd from Toddmorden]

Hi I wonder if anyone can help out

 

I spoke to Anglian Water a few months back , when phoning them up to make a payment for £150. They said to me that because of my situation due to Covid, that I didnt have to pay the whole thing in one go, but could use interest free installments.

 

I took them up on their offer and paying £20 a month

 

I have only just found out, that they still consider it an outstanding debt and have registered it on my credit file for all of these months.

 

It's infuriating - I could have put it on a credit card and had no registration of this debt! The only difference there, is that I would be paying the interest on the Credit Card

 

Does anyone have any advice please?

 

Regards and thanks

[BankFodder]

Who brought up the subject, you or them?

[dx100uk]

18 minutes ago, Todd from Toddmorden said:

I spoke to Anglian Water a few months back , when phoning them up to make a payment for £150. They said to me that because of my situation due to Covid, that I didnt have to pay the whole thing in one go, but could use interest free instalments.

 

nothing to do with covid.

you can always pay your water bill in instalments 

its just these water companies think they have magical powers to demand payment upfront in two larger payments .

as long as your bill is paid by the next april. you can choose to pay in 12 payments at any time.

 

its probably because you entered into a payment arrangement they've recorded it.

 

just remember water is NOT a priority bill like gas/electric it's treated the same way as any consumer credit debt.

i'e non payment results a CCJ etc .

[Todd from Toddmorden]

@BankFodder I only noticed when I checked my credit record. Hopefully , I have a recording, but as far as I remember , she offered and said that it was possible to pay £20 a month  . At that time I was expecting to pay the full amount on my CC , which I would have done had I known that they would stick it down as unpaid debt

 

 

[AndyOrch]

How do you normally pay your water bill....? It sounds like one payment and not by 12 monthly payments Direct Debit ? 

You say you spoke to them a couple of months back ( Jan2021) ?  

What month does your water charges start ?

What date did they expect full payment ?

Was the £150 you intended to pay for this current years charge ?

What date did the default markers show on your credit file ?

 

Quote

I have only just found out, that they still consider it an outstanding debt and have registered it on my credit file for all of these months.

 

How many months you only rang them in Jan 2021 ?

 

https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/account-and-bill/pay-my-bill/

 

Andy

 

 

.

[dx100uk]

typically runs with CTAX dates so april to april.

[AndyOrch]

 Yes but If you already pay monthly by Direct Debit ...then its 12 annual payment's

 

 

.

[Todd from Toddmorden]

no , I didnt have a direct debit normally, I just paid them when the bill was due . Im also phoning them right now to put that outstanding on the credit card, so it doesnt run for any more months as a bad debt

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Todd from Toddmorden

[BankFodder]

My view is that if somebody has not fallen behind with payments and then simply goes into some kind of instalment plan to protect against falling behind in the future then it's extremely unfair to put it down on their credit file.
However, if the request came from you then I see a very slender justification for marking your credit file but I still think it's unfair.

On the other hand, if you are on the phone to them, up-to-date – and then the conversation somehow led to them suggesting "we could organise an instalment plan for you if that would help…" Then I think it's wholly unfair and I think it could be challenged.

Of course like almost everybody who come to this forum – you don't record your calls. Even people who have been here for years never record their calls even though it's plastered all over the place – read our customer services guide.

In addition to any advice is given here, I suggest that you sent them an SAR. It would be interesting to know exactly how the conversation progressed and how the issue of instalments was introduced.
 

[Todd from Toddmorden]

thanks I am sure I did record, but I need to go to office to get this . Of course its always the ones where I think 'this wont be problematic', where i dont record, which turn out to be the important ones

 

thanks for your support

 

[kjun]

Only unmeasured water services charges run from April to March akin to council tax and are usually issued between February and April for the full yearly charge.

 

Unmeasured water service charges are payable in advance however there is the option to pay these monthly from either April to January or April to March depending on the water company.

 

If a payment arrangement is not set up upon receipt then technically the whole bill is due a bit like council tax where you lose the right to pay by instalments though most will still do this months later.

 

The magical powers that allow water companies to ask for payment in advance are their household charges schemes which are raised pursuant to s.143 of The Water Industry Act 1991 and are approved every year by OFWAT along with how much they can charge.

 

As the charge basis does not seem to have been specified it could be a metered charges which are usually issued 6 monthly and payable upon receipt unless you have an arrangement set from the start of the billing period as by the six month point and issue of the bill you will have used that supply.

 

Probably a little more info needed, when the bill was sent, the billing period, metered or non metered to understand if payment was late or not...

 

 

[Todd from Toddmorden]

I phoned them up to clear out all charges with my credit card today (which I would have done before had I known that they would impact my credit file).

The person explained how they operate, and read the file from my last call on 1st Dec, where I set up the payments

 

She said they offer two payment plans:

1. A 'Payment Scheme' . This covers your average expected monthly usage and any more that you wish to pay.

2. An 'Instalment Plan' .  This is if you cannot cover your expected monthly usage and is an offer to pay less 

 

On the notes on the system, I was entered into a 'Payment Plan'  . Although this is as clear as mud to me as to which one this is, in effect it was the second one , as I was only paying £20 a month

 

I didnt know this until today, but , Option1 Payment Scheme has null/postive effect on credit record   whereas Option2 Instalment plan has negative effect on credit record

 

She explained that 'A Flag' , or A for Arrangement is entered onto my credit record for every month that I was on that scheme. 

 

This is not as bad as default (for which she says there is none on my record) , but still I would rather these 'A' flags are not there 

 

At the time of the arrangement I certainly was not informed that it affect my credit file otherwise I would not have taken that option

 

Regards

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

So where does that leave you? What do you want to do?

Also, it still doesn't seem that you have any evidence that they didn't explain this to you – and I think to make any successful challenge, that would have to be established

[kjun]

Most water companies are very complaints averse as would ideally like to avoid cases involving the CCW (Consumer Council for Water).

 

I suspect a complaint or email to the CEO will likely have them remove these especially as you have now cleared it.

 

Keep to the facts, be assertive but not aggressive, and explain the misunderstanding and how you really would rather not have to escalate matters and see how it pans out....

 

good luck 

 

For information the options referred to are as a result of instruction from OFWAT for water companies to provide as much assistance as possible to customers who may be struggling to pay water services charges.

 

If a customer cannot afford to pay what they are being charged then an affordable payment plan will be set up based on their income and expenditure.

 

Makes sense really from both parties points of view as the water company gets something as the usual alternative is simply non payment.

[Todd from Toddmorden]

This is an update 

 

In summary -  I spoke to Anglian Water a few months back , when phoning them up to make a payment. They said to me that because of COVID, didnt have to pay the whole thing in one go, but could use interest free instalments. I accepted this but I only then found out that it was considered an outstanding debt and have registered negatively it on my credit file for all of these months.

 

 

 

So - I knew that I had recorded that call somewhere, and finally I found the recording.

 

So they brought up the subject of a Payment Plan   "So what we could do, don't worry too much. If you've received any letters or anything, don't worry, you can disregard those now. What we could do if we may be look at possibly some form of payment plan that would be affordable for you at the moment" . She mentioned the Payment Plan a few  times . At no point does she say that this will be entered into my credit record.

 

I specifically mentioned my concerns about my credit record and she replied

"so many companies now use the whole credit reporting thing like similar to us, and it does report you as either negatively if obviously you are behind on your bills, or positively if you are up to date,…. So tricky, isn't it when you… bless you, obviously, you can't help it either. It's you know, the way of the world at the moment with COVID. Bless you. Well, if you're happy with that, I could just put you on the 20 pound monthly again, just to keep the account ticking over"

 

I phoned them since, and it turns out they don't have a thing called a Payment Plan  . Either its a Payment Scheme (no effect on Credit Record) or 'Instalment Plan'  (puts an 'A' flag on credit record). They had put me on the second one. When I found out about this, I paid the full balance with my credit card. 

 

At the time of the arrangement I certainly was not informed that it affect my credit file otherwise I would not have taken that option.

 

I'd like to get these A records removed if that is possible

 

Many thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dx100uk]

when covid payments schemes were introduced by the Gov't , it clearly stated they WOULD effect ones credit record.

 

dx

 

[Todd from Toddmorden]

Does anyone have an idea about the next steps I can take to possibly remove the entries from my Credit Record please? It would really be appreciated

[dx100uk]

if this is the only 'bad' thing, then it won't hurt even a mortgage application to a prime lender in the current market.