paying a water debt.

guestman

if say i had a LARGE water bill, well actualy it was so long without been payed i forgot even about paying it!!!. Now last time i rang them they wanted £55 a week out of my crapp £220 a week wage ,they wouldnt accept les so i just said send me they payment card then and ill pay what i can, they refused, ill not set up a direct debit as i have a feelign they will accidently take extra money... so will only be using the card in a payzone shop. now if i ring them and say look ill start paying £20 a week and increase in 2/3 months time when ive paid other little things of, do they have to accept my £20 a week? or should i not even ring them and just start paying £20a week inaway.

Gothicfairy

They don't have to agree anything, you owe the bill because you forgot and they have offered a payment plan to clear the debt. If you don't pay what they want they will just send it to a debt collector and after that apply for a CCJ.
The water companies are one that you can't bully into taking less as they have a totally different set of rules and guidelines and most of the recovery is done when so many reminders are sent no matter what.
Also they can't take more then the agreed amount for a DD as that is part of the whole DD protection..

They will probably not even send you a card without a payment plan being agreed.

Have you thought about how you are going to manage your next bill as that will be mounting up as well as the debt ?


You could try applying for the trustfund as that might help, although I would rather it went to someone who did not just forget and was earning a wage ( £220 per week is more then a lot of people get ) but I don't make the rules as as such you might qualify.

gamby111

hi ive just lost my job threw no fault of my own and i am living on 72.oo per week i have 1 child as jsa have sanaction me so are not paying me 71.oo due to me i have a debt over 700.00 to severn trent water and i pay 40.00 per month which id due out on the 1oth june 2012 i rang them and asked them if i could possibly pay them less to which they said no i lsao applied for the trust fund 1 year ago and got turned down as i had a direct debit paln set up with them already. if i cancellel the direct debit will i be accepted for the severn trent water fund to pay the 700.00 arrears off and then set up a lower d.d.I will only have 30.00 to live in next week if this comes out of my bank

annie1975_2

£55 a week is a lot to pay out of £220,when you have other bills to pay as well. Iwould be tempted to start sending them the £20 a week (by cheque),that way at least u are making the effort.

This happened to someone I know a few years back,and he offered them £10 a week to which they refused,and they took him to court.When he got there he told the court he had offered them £10 a week to which they refused , and the court ordered him to pay it back at £5 a week.

Now Im not saying this will happen to you but dont just not pay anything,at least make the effort.

Depth_Charge

gamby111 wrote: »

hi ive just lost my job threw no fault of my own and i am living on 72.oo per week i have 1 child as jsa have sanaction me so are not paying me 71.oo due to me i have a debt over 700.00 to severn trent water and i pay 40.00 per month which id due out on the 1oth june 2012 i rang them and asked them if i could possibly pay them less to which they said no i lsao applied for the trust fund 1 year ago and got turned down as i had a direct debit paln set up with them already. if i cancellel the direct debit will i be accepted for the severn trent water fund to pay the 700.00 arrears off and then set up a lower d.d.I will only have 30.00 to live in next week if this comes out of my bank

Hi gamby

First of all you might be able to appeal the benefits sanction etc, you may be able to get assistance from a CAB or Welfare Rights Agency with this (there may be time limits so you will need to act). Also there might be some help, support & info on here (link below)

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=139

As for the water debt, a few questions first if i may

Have Severn Trent already obtained a County Court Judgement for part or the full amount you owe them?

Have you any other debts?

If so can you put up details etc as that will help or better still your SOA as this will give us a clearer picture

You may have a number of options depending on your circumstances

What Severn Trent tell you you can't do and what is actual reality can / may be two completely different things as you and your child cannot be expected to live on fresh air.

I understand that you should be able to make another application to the Severn Trent Trust Fund if 6 months has elapsed since your last one. Best to get help from a recognised debt & money adviser with this if so.

PS - might be better if you start your own thread