Severn Trent water and court

Gazzanoo

Hi i hope somebody can help with this, we moved in to our council flat last april, got water bill mid july with a final demand, as my wife is on DLA and i am her carer i asked for a payment agreement, the said i had to pay £30 per month to pay bill before next bill was due to which i agreed, i made first 3 payments and due to my wife having to have heart surgery i forgot to pay the 4th but started to pay again in the fifth month. Next thing i get a letter from Northhampton court saying Severn Trent had applied for a court order for the money and i had to pay immedietley, the balance plus £80 court costs which almost wipes out what i had already paid.
How can the take you to court without notice and for a service that will not be complete till March 2012(water supply) Any suggestions would be welcome. I am still paying £30 per month but the new balance is now £230 instead of £150.

Thanks

Ravenblue

Hi Gazzanoo - have you tried calling Severn Trent Water? This doesn't sound right and they may have made a mistake, in which case you shouldn't have to pay the court charges. Hope you get this sorted!

Ravenblue

I've just checked with a friend who works at Severn Trent Water. Hope the following helps:

If a payment is missed, you should receive a reminder from Severn Trent Water. If three installments are missed on the due date then the payment plan could be cancelled (not one!). A notice should be sent to you informing you that the payment plan has been cancelled and that the balance is now due. Before Severn Trent Water take you to court, you should have received a solicitors letter warning of court action and only then would court proceedings go ahead.

So it really does sound as if there has been a mistake made. All the best, I'll be interested in how you get on.

Gazzanoo

Been in touch with them and was told coz i missed a payment the agreement is null and void and said they notified me they would apply to court for enforcement if i did miss. Will just carry on paying and stop when origional amount is paid and see what happens then.
Thanks

Cardew

Gazzanoo wrote: »

How can the take you to court without notice and for a service that will not be complete till March 2012(water supply)

Much like a TV licence, Car Tax, insurance - your payment for water is due in advance i.e. last April

With water(and TV) as a concession they allow you to pay in installments.

I am surprised this went to court without prior correspondence, unless you have a poor credit record and they decided to take a hard line.

WhiteHorse

Gazzanoo wrote: »

Hi i hope somebody can help with this, we moved in to our council flat last april, got water bill mid july with a final demand,

You arrived in April, and had a Final demand in July? That's really going for it.

the said i had to pay £30 per month

That seems an awful lot. Exactly what is it for? Metered or unmetered? Both clean and foul water?

Next thing i get a letter from Northhampton court saying Severn Trent had applied for a court order for the money and i had to pay immedietley, the balance plus £80 court costs which almost wipes out what i had already paid.

Clarify with the court and then ask for full details in writing.

How can the take you to court without notice and for a service that will not be complete till March 2012 (water supply)

How it not complete? Surely water and drains are either there or they are not? How can they then charge? Ask Severn Trent to supply a full breakdown of their claim.

Gazzanoo

No previous debt the wording was "total amount due immediatley".
The £30 per month was to pay it off in the time they normally allow which was fair.
It is a court letter and it does say something about non notification.
I am given the oppertunity to question the debt, but its the court costs that have p*&#ed me off not the origional which i am paying.
:mad:

Gazzanoo

What i meant by how can they take me to court for only a part service, only 8 months of a 12 months contract and 6 months of it paid for,,,, seems a little harsh. But In the words of Doris Day Que sera sera.:)

Gothicfairy

The full amount becomes due the moment the payment plan is broken and they are now taking accounts to court on mass..just the way they work now.

Cardew

Gazzanoo wrote: »

What i meant by how can they take me to court for only a part service, only 8 months of a 12 months contract and 6 months of it paid for,,,, seems a little harsh. But In the words of Doris Day Que sera sera.:)

I gave the answer above.

Like many accounts the full payment for the year is due at the beginning of the year - in the case of water in the April.

You pay in advance(i.e. it becomes due) for TV licence, Car Tax, car insurance, House insurance, Council Tax etc Most of these allow you to pay in either monthly or 6 monthly installments.

Where monthly payments are allowed it is far better to pay by monthly Direct Debit as then you don't forget.

They are obviously taking a very hard line if anyone defaults on payment.

samsmoot

Cardew wrote: »

Much like a TV licence, Car Tax, insurance - your payment for water is due in advance i.e. last April

With water(and TV) as a concession they allow you to pay in installments.

You may be right, Cardew, but I'm going to have to stick my nose in here and argue the point.

I have been telling folk for years not to pay their water charges in advance. The difference between those other items mentioned above and water charges is that you can choose not to have a TV, Car, Insurance etc. You must, however, have a water supply. If you don't want those other things then you are obliged to pay nothing for them. If you do want them, then you accept the terms. Water, however, and sewerage removal, is a requirement by law. No law, however, states that water charges must be paid in advance. Yes, the water companies can make a 'charges scheme' along whatever lines they like, but that doesn't mean to say that we have to do what they tell us to do.

I would be interested to know if advance charges have ever been recovered in a county court when that claim was properly defended. I invited South Staffs to take their intended court action over such alleged 'debt' but they wouldn't.

I firmly believe that, as I have stated many times, water companies have no more right to recover advance charges than does your window cleaner.

Your water company could, in theory, insist on being paid 10 years in advance in gold coins - according to the strict letter of the law - but you could just say 'no'. That's the situation we have here - they want what they want but you don't have to give it to them. I'm adamant on that until I'm proven wrong. On what basis would a judge order that you pay for services that you haven't had the benefit of? Only if you agreed to have them, or if the law specifically said you had to pay for them. The law says that if you choose to watch TV, then you must pay a fee in advance for your licence. Same as when you want to drive your car - the law says you must pay money in advance to get insurance. Council Tax is also payable in advance, because that's what the law says. Water and sewerage charges, however, exist because of a charges scheme, whose sole purpose was/is to enable the water companies to make a charge, as opposed to their previous, nationalised existence when things worked differently. That's it - that section (in the relevant Water Act) is there so that they can get their money - simple as that. Your window cleaner is also allowed to make a charges scheme -'That'll be £2 per small window, £3 per large window' etc. How is your water company in any better position than your window washer to ask for money in advance? They're not, according to what the law says.

Please correct me if I have got this wrong, and yes, let's refer to the law - I'm feeling like writing but not like doing research right now but unless new laws have been introduced I don't see anything written that contradicts my belief.