Received a water bill 5 years after leaving the property

Pommysam

Hi Guys,
Im hoping someone can help me. This morning I received a water bill from Southern Water for the house I lived in at university 5 years ago. The thing is that we must have paid this bill because we got our deposit back and the letting places only give you the deposit back if you can prove you have no outstanding bills.
Unfortunately neither myself nor any of my housemates have any proof of paying this bill so im wondering if anyone can give me any advice or as we have no proof of payment are we fighting a loosing battle?
Thanks

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

The first thing is that water bills can be claimed back for a period of 6 years.

Secondly, as I am sure you are aware, it simply is not any 'defence' to say "we must have paid it".

Someone would have needed to have written to Southern water telling them in advance you were leaving and giving a forwarding address.

You need to find out full details from Southern water asap - in particular dates - before they pass the debt to a Debt Collection Agency(DCA) and you get a black mark on your credit record.

If the bill is for dates when you were not in the house(which is often the case) you might be able to get some reduction if you have proof of moving out.