Name (maliciously?) added to Water Bill from a house I left 2 years ago...

mart.vader

Gothicfairy wrote: »

Problem is of course that he does owe something and should have had an account

OP says the bill was for the period after he moved out - if this is true, then he does not owe anything.

Originally posted by Cardew - It will save a lot of hassle if the OP can prove he lived elsewhere for the period in dispute.

Yes - that is quite correct

Gothicfairy

Yes I get that but what I am saying is that he should have had an account when he was living there and didn't so that period will be owed. This bill is in dispute for sure but he never paid the water company anything and he should have.

Cardew

Gothicfairy wrote: »

Yes I get that but what I am saying is that he should have had an account when he was living there and didn't so that period will be owed. This bill is in dispute for sure but he never paid the water company anything and he should have.

Sorry that is supposition.

There is no mention of an outstanding bill for the period to 31 March 2010.

As the property has RV based charges, the bill for the period to 31 March 2010 should have been paid in October 2009(i.e. 6 months ahead)

The OP was in the property for 2 months from Jan to March 2010 and the bill had been paid for that period and the OP has stated that the landlord was paying the bills.

So as far as the water company are concerned there is no outstanding bill for the period the OP was the occupant. Obviously the landlord could have insisted that the account was put in the OPs name for the 2 months - but didn't. Otherwise there would be an outstanding bill.

The bill in question is for the period after the OP left the property. If the account wasn't in his name, and not metered, he can hardly be expected to inform the water company he was leaving.

Gothicfairy

Cardew wrote: »

Sorry that is supposition.

There is no mention of an outstanding bill for the period to 31 March 2010.

As the property has RV based charges, the bill for the period to 31 March 2010 should have been paid in October 2009(i.e. 6 months ahead)

The OP was in the property for 2 months from Jan to March 2010 and the bill had been paid for that period and the OP has stated that the landlord was paying the bills.

So as far as the water company are concerned there is no outstanding bill for the period the OP was the occupant. Obviously the landlord could have insisted that the account was put in the OPs name for the 2 months - but didn't. Otherwise there would be an outstanding bill.

The bill in question is for the period after the OP left the property. If the account wasn't in his name, and not metered, he can hardly be expected to inform the water company he was leaving.

Sorry but the op did not say the landlord paid at all..he said he paid the landlord who then ran off ..so it would lead me to believe that the bill was not paid and they have applied the op's details based on the info they have.
As far as they are aware the bill is outstanding and as the op never had an account or informed them of any details they are now coming after him for the whole lot.
Fair or not he is the one who will have to prove he was not there not the other way around and it would seem he is unable to do that as he doesn't have any paperwork from this property.
The water company will not care at all about the third party aspect of it all and it is now down to the op to fight his corner.

Oh and you can't say there isn't an outstanding bill for the period the op lived there as it might well just be behind or it could even be going to the past tenant..that is just supposition

Cardew

We are going around in circles.

The OP stated:

During all this time(Jan - Mar 2010) the monthly £800 included all bills.

The OP is not being hassled for a bill for period to March 2010. Either it was paid, or someone else is being chased for that period.

Gothicfairy

Exactly..the op needs to provide evidence of where they were during that time scale and it will all be sorted out.

supashammy

So to update you as to where I am.

I calmed the Debt Collectors by telling them I will be ringing Thames Water.

I rang my old Letting Agent who knows all about the pain I (we) had dealing with the landlord.

Letting Agent passed me on a PDF of the Tenancy Agreement which clearly states the landlord is liable for the bills.

I phoned Thames Water. Explained the situation and they put my account on hold for a month to supply them evidence.

I emailed them a copy of the (unsigned) tenancy agreement. This PDF also didn't have the dates on as it was more of a template. I have told Thames Water to come back to me if they need me to hunt down the signed version (I think I have it :S). Regardless, I didn't last that long in the place!

I am waiting for a response. They say it will be in 5 days.

I have also arranged to pop back to the London flat in a couple weeks to see what other postal treasures I have there.

Should I do anything else in the meantime?

Thank you everybody for your responses do far. I don't expect to pay anything here, I just want to clear this up and clear my name if it has been tarnished at all.

S.