20, live with mum,got a water bill, small rant too

Joshtk

Last month I received a water bill addressed to me of £167 from Thames Water, I'm 20, live with my mum and I'm not on the tenancy agreement as far as I know, my mum (shes a retired nurse, she's 65 this year, just if that provides any helpful info) just told me to ignore it as it was probably a mistake (silly I know), anyway I kept it to see if it would come up on my next Clearscore report, and it did, and has gone down as a negative, which has really annoyed me because as a young person I'm trying to have a nice and clean credit history with no late payments etc, I always pay my credit cards on time and never ever overspend and I have a bit saved up, I've tried to phone them but at the moment they won't accept calls from general inquiries because of the snow.

I'm quite annoyed and I'm just really wondering if I am responsible for this bill? I have friends older than me who still live at home and they've all got nowhere near as many letters etc about stuff they have to pay, I'm the only one of my friends who pay council tax (£76 a month at the moment) and national insurance (and now possible a water bill) and I currently only work less than 20 hours a week (I make around £500 a month) whilst others work full time and haven't been demanded a penny from. And yes before anyone says it, THATS LIFE:( and all that, but it strongly feels like my friends and other people I know are getting away scott free.

Anyway I'd really just like to know where I stand on this if anyone can help me, the Clearscore report also states the Thames water account has been open since November of 2016 in my name.

As far as I know my mum pays the water bill herself but I don't have a clue why I have an account too, just to clarify also, if I am for some reason responsible for this bill I will pay it :j

Let me know if you guys need any additional info, and yes I will be phoning Thames water as soon as possible
Thanks

ALSO I do pay my mum 'rent' of a 1/3 of whatever my paycheck is every month ranging from around 150-185 every month just in case you think I don't contribute )

GwylimT

I take it don!!!8217;t use any water?

PasturesNew

A bill comes to a house. One house, one bill.
You need to get out mum's bills and your one then phone the water company.
There's no separate "your bill" - one bill to be paid .... so have mum's bills stopped? If mum's bill stopped and your name's now on the bills, phone them up to ask why/how and get it changed back.

JJ_Egan

Never ignore a debt contact the company before its referred on .

Checkout who actually pays the water bill for the address you live at before anything .

Joshtk

A good point, I haven't seen a water bill for a good year or so before this one last month

Joshtk

PasturesNew wrote: »

A bill comes to a house. One house, one bill.
You need to get out mum's bills and your one then phone the water company.
There's no separate "your bill" - one bill to be paid .... so have mum's bills stopped? If mum's bill stopped and your name's now on the bills, phone them up to ask why/how and get it changed back.

A good point, I haven't seen a water bill for a good year or so before this one last month

Joshtk

GwylimT wrote: »

I take it don!!!8217;t use any water?

Nahh i died of dehydration 6 years ago

Norman_Castle

Joshtk wrote: »

I'm the only one of my friends who pay council tax (£76 a month at the moment) and national insurance (and now possible a water bill)

Do you and your mother pay separate council tax bills? There should only be one bill which covers all occupants. If you pay separate bills your home may be incorrectly registered as two properties hence the separate water bill.

Joshtk

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Do you and your mother pay separate council tax bills? There should only be one bill which covers all occupants. If you pay separate bills your home may be incorrectly registered as two properties hence the separate water bill.

ah no its all in one bill, i just found out how much I personally need to pay by phoning the council and then give that to my mum every month along with my 'rent', thanks for the reply though

dogshome

The OP pays £76 a month Council Tax ?

a) Is this just a contribution given to Mum towards her bill ?
or
b) The bill is addressed directly to the OP as the householder.?

If the answer is ( b ), then the reason why the Water Co are billing her is that she is registered as head of the household

Cardew

Joshtk wrote: »

ah no its all in one bill, i just found out how much I personally need to pay by phoning the council and then give that to my mum every month along with my 'rent', thanks for the reply though

I suspect the council mean that if your mother lived alone she would get a 25% reduction in council tax. - and possibly other reductions dependant on he income.