Old water bill debt

sheba2

Please help or advise. We have just received a letter from what appears to be a debt collection agency. It states that we owe £569 and have a CCJ against us for this amount. When we contacted the company we were directed back to the provider who inform us that this amount relates to an address that we moved from in 1997 and that the bill is for a period during the period when we lived there. The CCJ was apparently taken out in 2001 and yet we have only just been informed. We have no recollection of owing this money. Paperwork from that period has long gone and we have changed banks in that time. Strangely we were with this water co. until two years ago when we moved to our current address in a different region. They would have been informed of the move in 1997 and we continued as their customer for a further 6 years so I cant believe they were unable to locate us which is what they are saying. Any suggestions on how to deal with this would be great. Thanks

Fran

I would contact Citizens Advice or a Debt help organisation and ask for their advice on this one. What are the debt collection agency saying that they will do next?

sheba2

The debt collection agency have sent a standard letter via TNT which we received sometime on the 13.07.2006 we had to reply by noon of that day which was impossible as we didn't open the letter until late that afternoon. It says that litigation proceedings will be taken against us for the recovery and lists seizure of assets, arrestment of wages or bankruptcy. They have given us the option to pay monthly. I'm just concerned that we don't owe this money and if by some chance we do why has it taken so long to contact us.

fatbelly

I think you should check that you actually have a CCJ. It would appear on a CRA (Experian, Equifax) check and also be registered at the Registry of CCJs:

Registry Trust Ltd
173-175 Cleveland Street
London
W1P 5PE
Tel: 020 7380 0133

You could also phone the water company or your local court (you'll need the CCJ number) to check this. It may just be that the DCA is clutching at straws and you have a similar name to the debtor.