Can I have a bit of advice please?

MrsMalthouse

Hi there. Sorry for the long tale but I feel it's necessary...

Back in 2009 I lived in a privately rented property. In the Tenancy Agreement I had for that property it states that the Landlord is responsible for water rates. I thought great and all was well. I received a couple of bills from United Utilities addressed to the Landlord so I phoned him up to tell him he had some mail. He told me to open and read the letters to him over the phone-which I did. He tried to say that it was for the period that my father lived in the property before me and my time at the property and that we needed to pay it. I informed my father of this and he contacted the Landlord, informing him of the clause in the contract which says we are not liable for the bills.
At this point, landlord gets a bit nasty and in order to prevent him harassing me whilst I was a tenant in of of his homes, my father paid £90 towards the bill-approx half at the time. He sent a note to the landlord along with the cheque which he photocopied saying that it did not mean that he was accepting responsibility for the debt and that it was a goodwill gesture to help avoid causing any trouble.

A short while later, I moved out of the property and I heard nothing from the landlord. Approx 2/3 years down the line, my father gets a letter from a debt agency sating he owes £139 to United Utilities for the property. My father contacted them and disputed this. He sent in copies of the original agreement to prove that he was not liable. It seems that things are sorted for him now as they have started chasing me for the debt.

The company is Buchanan Clarke and Wells. I telephoned them when I received the letter from them and told them that I did not owe the debt as it was the landlords responsibility but they said I need to provide proof of this or else I will be liable. I told them that I never made any agreement with United Utilities or signed anything and they said that it didn't matter as it wasn't a financial agreement-whatever that means!

The problem is, even though my father has still got his tenancy agreement and mine was exactly the same as his, I have lost mine in the house move! Can anyone advise on what I should do on this as I really don't think I should have to pay it. The landlord must have given them mine and my father's details as they were probably chasing him about it originally. Also, the £90 cheque my father gave to the landlord with the note has obviously gone straight into the landlord's pocket instead of the water bill as it is still at the £140 mark. I feel like the debt company are trying to trick me and I don't know what my rights are!

Please help!!!:(

podperson

I would suggest sending them a prove it (from the template letters sections) basically asking them for what evidence they have that you owe this debt. Since it sounds like the bills were never in your name can't see how they would be able to get anywhere with this.

Hannah_10

This debt was never in your name though was it?

MrsMalthouse

No it was never in my name-they must have got my name from the Landlord when they were chasing him up about it.

MrsMalthouse

podperson wrote: »

I would suggest sending them a prove it (from the template letters sections) basically asking them for what evidence they have that you owe this debt. Since it sounds like the bills were never in your name can't see how they would be able to get anywhere with this.

They are telling me that I need to prove that it's the landlords debt or else they will class it as my debt. I got married in Nov '08 and they don't even have my married name-The letter I got and the man I spoke to on the phone referred to me in my maiden name.

Hannah_10

Then they are playing very stupid games at the Debt Colelction Agency, because you don't need a tennancy to prove you don't owe it, it's not got your name on it, therefore it's not yours. Send the prove it letter signed for to start with, then come back if they bother to reply.

Prove it letter is here... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=23624459&postcount=3

Hannah_10

MrsMalthouse wrote: »

They are telling me that I need to prove that it's the landlords debt or else they will class it as my debt.

They're talking out of thier rears, the burden of proof legally is on them, not on you.

This is why debt collectors love the phone and why you should as of now observe the golden rule. That golden rule is "everything in writing".

MrsMalthouse

Hannah_10 wrote: »

They're talking out of thier rears, the burden of proof legally is on them, not on you.

This is why debt collectors love the phone and why you should as of now observe the golden rule. That golden rule is "everything in writing".

Thanks for your advice-I've never had any dealings with DCA's before so it's a bit nerve wracking. I told them that I want everything in writing from now on which they agreed to-although I'm not sure they'll listen to that!

If I tell them that they have to prove it and send the letter you have suggested, won't they just keep harassing me and writing me letters etc until I'm so scared to open the mail or answer the phone that I pay?! (You read some awful stories on here!)

Hannah_10

They probably wont listen to that, but I have come to consider them to be a bit like toddlers throwing tantrums, you have to give it the same "zone out and say it again" approach. "No you're not having a lolly", "I will only communicate in writing", it all comes out on auto-pilot after a while. I now often prefix with "yeah yeah, heard it all before... I will only communicate in writing".

MrsMalthouse

Would it be a good idea to contact United Utilities and explain the situation to them and see if they would be willing to get the DCA to leave me alone and chase up the landlord? I currently have no debt with them.

Hannah_10

No it wouldn't. What it would do is embroil you further into the twisted web of all this cr*p. Best way to deal with out and out bull is to play a dead straight bat and say as little as possible.

The trouble with being a nice person is you tend to assume other people and companies are nice people. That they can be reasoned with, that they will understand a mistake. Forget everything you've learned in life so far about how to get people to respond to a mistake, they aren't interested.

What they care about is getting money, they don't care if it's from the landlord, your Dad, you or Peter Pan. That you are so willing to bite the bait and respond in any way means to them you are a good person to bother. The more you respond the more hassle you will get until they've ground you down to submission. No, being human about it doesn't work.

You need to be more mechanical about it, sad but true. Remember, you do not owe this. There is no point at which the bill itself was in your name, so whatever has been put on the account was after the event. Well that's not on, if that was Ok then we'd all be signing our debts over to our worst enemies and having a good hard laugh. No, there has been a rule breach here and the rules are what's going to protect you here, not being a vulnerable human who can be wound up to breaking point. Vent your feelings to your best mate over a cuppa and some rich tea, keep strictly to the facts witht he DCA or you will get more hassle not less.