Urgent advice needed - 'Final' bill from old address

reallyjammyjam

Hi all

No luck in the water forum so thought I would post here...

Am very worried and hoping someone can give me some advice...

Checked my credit report and there was a search from a debt search agency, phoned up to see more about it and turns out it was done on behalf of Southern Water. They told me the address it was in relation to which I had lived in about 5 years ago. So a couple of months later I receive a letter at my current address to confirm I lived there. Obviously I wasn't going to lie so I didn't do anything at this point.

Then yesterday I receive a 'Final' reminder from SW for £326.46!!! I was gobsmaked. I lived at this address for about 5 months with 4 other people! I am extremely concerned. I haven't phoned them yet as I remember something about there being a way to do things in thsi situation i.e. contacting them and what to say. Obviously this is totally ridiculous...when I received the first letter I was concerned but thought, well they have tracked me down so I assume they will track the other 4 people down I lived with. As it was so long ago and I didn't live there for very long I don't even remember their names myself if they don't have the info for whatever reason.

I just can't see how they can get away with it, just billing me, I mean I don't know without speaking to them if they have billed anyone else but the bill amount is so high I just can't see it. I wasnt' even the account holder, I haven't got a clue if my name was on the bill or not.

Also although they have said on the letter I have ten days to get in contact with them and set up a payment plan (which obv I don't want to do) is that from the date of the letter of the date I received it??

Please help me!

KingElvis

In this case I would deffo phone them and find out what's what. Your need information so you can start dealing with it.

Obviously don't admit to the thing or arrange any payment plans or give out ANY bank details.

Phone the water board and not the DCA and DON'T be bullied.

Jesthar

If your name was on the bill, then I suspect that unfortunately you would likely be the only one liable to pay it, and you would have to reclaim your money from the other parties involved.

If your name wasn't on the bill, though, why are they chasing you? Was it even for the period of time you were living there? They aren't allowed to chase you for a debt which is not in your name, so if they can't answer those basic questions and prove the debt is yours, they can't demand you pay it.

I'd also check your copy of any lease agreement you signed if you still have it, and if water bills were covered in the rent, or if you had to split them between yourselves.

Incidentally, which Debt Agency are chasing you? if this was five years ago, it sounds like it could be nearly Statute Barred anyway, which would explain the pressure to get you to admit to it, as admitting it in writing would give them another six years to chase you.

Elvis is right, be careful about phoning a Debt Collection Agency (DCA) as they are notorious (ALL of them) for lying and bullying people very nastily on the phone. Golden rule is don't admit to anything, and NEVER give them bank account details - treat them as you would fraudsters... Start with the water board and see what they say.

~Jes

reallyjammyjam

Thanks for the replies, the letter is from Southern Water though not from the 'DCA', they haven't chased me for money at all. They were called UK Search Limited, I dont' know if they actually do debt collection or if they literally just search.

It was just agreed that we (the housemates) split the water bill between us and pay Southern Water, so nothing to do with the landlord.

Someone did suggest I just ask for a bill (rather then the final notice with a figure on it) and that might give me some time. However what do I do if they turn around and just say no or fob me off or say that I have to start the payments straight away? I don't know what my rights are here. Can I just say - no I am not paying you until you send me a bill for date - date and they can't take me court?? Thing is am worried they just will anyway then it willl be against the house and stuff?

Been trying to ring CAB but can't get through to advice line. Time is running out however a bit of hope as did speak to one woman who said not to take to much notice of the 10 day thing which is what I am panicking about now. If it's ten days from date of letter then that is Sat, if it's ten days from date of receipt then got 8 more days!

KingElvis

Yep, you don't have to pay anything until they have given you all the facts, a breakdown of charges etc etc

Send them the "prove it" letter

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=33792241&postcount=37

reallyjammyjam

Oh that's brilliant thank you! Will this letter work for the company itself though as well as debt collectors? As it's Southern Water chasing me it's not been passed onto a debt collector (yet)

Jesthar

Oh, yes. Your legal rights are the same no matter who is chasing you.

reallyjammyjam

Great thanks, I am going down the post office to send it recorded delivery today! I can't see how they are going to produce a bill from the time I was there so have a little bit of hope if I keep to my guns then they might just think it's too much hassle and give up. As long as they can't and don't do anything unless they find some proof then I could deal with this.

In the meantime I will see if I can get through to the CAB, so frustrating I don't really want to take a whole day off just to go down there because I can't get through on the phone!

reallyjammyjam

Hi All

Just an update on this (it sounds really stupid but at the time I couldn't find my thread!)

So..Prove it letter sent 17 September 10 in response to the red, final bill of £326.46 for somewhere I lived for a couple of months and about 5 years ago...

Reply dated 29 Sep. In a nutshell -
'your information was obtained from the Electoral Roll',
'account was opened in your name and closed with outstanding balance,no forwarding address for you so bills were still sent to property address',
'it is occupier of premised who is held responsible'
'send tenancy documents etc. to show you were not responsible'

I then replied 25 October, basically bullet pointing some key facts and queries


1. Did not open an account in my name (there was already one in existence so why would I?)
2. Exact amount of time I lived there, also was strange none of previous tenants mentioned it to me, they could still have contacted me at that point.
3. Quoted their letter re occupants held responsible and refered them to the names of 3 other tenants living there at the time (horaa for the internet!!)
4. No effort to track me down whatsoever, I have held SW accounts in my name since
5. Partly to be facetious - how could this debt have accrued and how can the account be closed with money owing.

And last but not least, send me a bill! I also offered to pay them £34.01 which is what I worked out was my share for the time I was there and if they wanted anymore they should contact the other tenants.

Reply dated 11 Nov -

'case allocated to Director's Review Team'
'records show was empty until I moved in'
'we have adjusted our bill to show the time you were there, will send you a statement (they did - £185.70)
'have added the other tenants names to the accounts'
'sorry for not following the appropriate procedures'
'pls pay the £185 or call me to spread the charges'

So I called her and....we hammered out an agreement after I queried a couple more points that I would pay £46.25 and my name would be removed from the account and I would have nothing further to do with it. Result!! Much better then £326!

I hope this helps anyone else going through anything similar, stick to your guns and just be a massive pain in the !!!! and with any luck you will just be too much hard work and they will be happy to get anything they can.

And thanks to everyone who replied and gave advice, it really was invaluable :T

dancingfairy

CHeck your credit file though - you don't want them adding anything else to it that might cause you further problems and what was on there before and how long ago? You don't want them adding defaults or anything.
Best of Luck though -well done so far though.
df

reallyjammyjam

I looked in Jan of this year and can't remember seeing anything, there was the search from the DCA but assume this will dissapear at some stage? I don't know if companies can see that or if they can just see how many searches have been done but not who etc.