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

marliepanda wrote: »

I mean that simply not a thing. Council tax is charged on a property. The council don't care if 2 people live there or if 200 people live there. There is no 'your mum pays this and you pay that...'

How did the water company get your name? Who paid the water bills before now?

They could have contacted the credit reference agency they report accounts to, to ascertain who at the address in question has the fattest file, and then assume this person is responsible for the water bill. The water companies have form for this. Thames Water have engaged in this questionable practice in the past. The OP should look into this and perhaps take up the matter with the ICO.


Remember also that you don't have a contract with the water company and you don't authorise them to access your credit files. They just do it anyway - another one to complain to the ICO about.

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

CT is levied on the property, not on an individual. Your mum is the billpayer, How you you then divide the bill up between you/contribute to it is purely between you and her.
Water is the same. Why haven't you discussed this with your mum instead of just ignoring it? If her account is somehow in arrears then it is possible that your name has been picked up as the new occupier. Is she not still paying it monthly by DD? If so, where are those payments being credited to?
NI has nothing to do with hours worked: you pay NI once your earnings reach £157pw. If your 'full time' friends are not paying it, they are either on a very low and illegal wage, or they are doing cash in hand jobs. But, since it's deducted at source, they probably are already paying it.
It's admirable that you do make a decent contribution to the bills already: when you finally leave home and have to pay all the bills yourself, you will get far less of a shock than your friends, when they have to pay rent, CT, gas, electricity, water, phone, transort, insurance etc themselves, instead of being subsidised by the bank of mum and dad.