Help! - Debt company are demanding payment

fishing4ducks

Hi,

About 6 months ago I received a letter from Severn trent demanding I pay £261 for an overdue water bill plus 2 years of chasing and court fees.

This debt had been run up from a payment issued 1 month after I left the property and I was not contacted until nearly 3 years had passed! When I demanded to know how they had found me, they were unable to say so, and I began the fight against the charges.

After sending proof of leaving the house a month before the initial charge was demanded, Severn trent said that I (and 2 others that I have since lost contact with) were responsible for the debt anyway.

I then did not receive any further contact from them until 6 months later (2 days ago) which was from a Debt collection agency called "Debeo" demanding the full sum be paid immediately.

I am completely lost and don't know what to do, I surely can't be responsible for paying the entire debt can I? I don't see how it is fair that I must pay the whole thing, considering there were 2 other people, we had moved out BEFORE the charge was due and there are an additional 2 years of fees that I was not aware of.

Please help, this is driving me crazy!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Firstly the Debt Collection Agency(DCA) have no interest in the merits of the case; they just want money. So don't bother trying to explain and justify what happened.

From what you state this is a 'third party dispute' and if the account was in your name - you are responsible for the bill.

If you didn't tell them you were leaving(assuming the bill was in your name) you are responsible - how else can the water company know who to bill?

fishing4ducks

Thank you for your quick response,

I understand that they are all faceless companies and applying to their human side would be fruitless (Best throw out that picture of the cute kitten I was holding on to then).

What should my next action be? I'm assuming it will be to pay the debt, do I need to pay the complete sum or am I only responsible for a third?

McKneff

No, its been explained why you dont owe just a third.
Youre responsible for the whole bill

Try and find the others and get the other 2 thirds from them.
Keep all paperwork in case you have to sue them.

fishing4ducks

Well there's no need to be rude, I was simply asking that because the bill is in all 3 peoples names is the debt divided by 3.

But thank you for your help.

maginot

As has been mentioned you are liable for the full amount and therefore will need to pay the full amount and then try and sue the other 2 for their contribution.
All 3 are jointly and severally liable for the bill.

Why did you not sort this out before you left the property? What is your defence against the charges accrued! Someone on here may be able to help with this if anything has been done unfairly! Although from the size of the bill it probably is fair for the time and cost in administration!

Cardew

fishing4ducks wrote: »

I was simply asking that because the bill is in all 3 peoples names is the debt divided by 3.

But thank you for your help.

If the bill is in joint names you are all 'jointly and severally liable'.

Essentially that means that they can come after any of you for the whole amount of the bill; and you have drawn the short straw!!

It is now a third party dispute - which means you sue the others for what you consider they owe.(if you can trace them)

fishing4ducks

Maginot,

Basically, we were under the impression we had settled all bills before leaving the property, and I have since been informed that we were paying the water bill via direct debit (sadly this is not from my account so I cannot confirm 100%).

I understand that charges build up, but I was at no point made aware that we had left the property with any outstanding payments!

I suppose I will need to (somehow) try to determine if in fact the water was being paid via direct debit whilst I was there.

Cardew

fishing4ducks wrote: »

but I was at no point made aware that we had left the property with any outstanding payments!

However you stated initially:

and I was not contacted until nearly 3 years had passed! When I demanded to know how they had found me, they were unable to say so,

From that it doesn't appear you left a forwarding address for them to send you a final bill.

If you read back through the threads on MSE you will find your situation occurs time and again - particularly with students sharing 'digs'.

The gas/electricty/water companies 'sell' the debt to a DCA who have ways of tracing occupants and they invoke the 'jointly and severally liable' provision and come after the money from anyone they can trace.

You will very probably find that your credit record is affected.

McKneff

fishing4ducks wrote: »

Well there's no need to be rude, I was simply asking that because the bill is in all 3 peoples names is the debt divided by 3.

But thank you for your help.

My apoligies if you took it as being rude, I was just endorsing what other people had already said, that any one of you who they caught up with would be liable for all the bill.

dorsetlady67

Make an appointment with your Local CAB{citizens Advice bureau}as they are the best people to get proper advice from.I would suggest taking ALL relevant info with you including the full names of the other persons & date of moving ,anything you can think of take it with you.

Look here to find your nearest advice center & its opening times.
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
Or try & contact them via their Facebook pg.
http://www.facebook.com/CitizensAdvice
However as you seem to be in urgent need of advice I would go with the fastest one & go direct to CAB offfice.

Good luck hope you get it sorted:)