Why is my water supply such a big issue ?

skellyele

I was accidently late in paying one of my monthly water bills as son as i realized it was paid but my water provider is not a happy bunny although the account is now paid up to date they say that because of this late payment i must pay all my bills in advance for the rest of the year up to April 2013 they have sent us a very threatening letter which tells us the bailiffs will be sent in if we do not pay up monies in advance . Is this legal , can they really expect us to pay in advance ( give them an interest free loan) for water we have not used yet i am almost too scared to answer the door now. I know one payment was late but the account is paid up to date now but they are demanding money for the rest of the year surely thats not right . Debt collector agency keeps ringing us up twice a day we have spoken to Thames water but they refuse to budge. What should i do next . This is becoming very stressful .

yangptangkipperbang

I don't understand why you say a debt collection agency is involved when you also say "the account is now paid up to date".

Also, if you "accidentally" were late why did the water company go to a debt collection agency ?? - this normally only happens after several attempts have been made to recover the money due.

I don't understand how you can be threatened with bailiffs for money that you do not yet owe. You must still owe someone money from before................

electrobix99

How late was the first payment? Seems a tab extreme from Thames Water.

skellyele

We are paid up until end of August 2012 but they are demanding we pay up until April 2013 for water we have not used yet ,thus giving them an interest free loan. so we are paid up to date but in light of this constant harassment from the debt recovery company will ensure all further payments are made on time .

Cardew

Firstly, yes your water charges are due for the year ahead from April. So the bill in April 2012 for the year April 2012 to March 2013 is due for payment in April 2012. This is laid down by Parliament in the Water Act.

Companies however will allow the bill to be paid 50% in April and 50% in October(some bill quarterly) or an agreed payment scheme - normally Direct Debit.

It is not unlike Council Tax which is due at the start of the financial year.

I find it very hard to believe that the baliffs are involved for missing one monthly bill.

mjm3346

I assume you are not on a water meter so they are withdrawing the option to pay monthly, putting you on a standard annual bill which has always been due in advance (usually split into two payments but always in advance)

skellyele

No were not on a water meter but pay monthly set amount form a payment book.

skellyele

The late payment was the huge sum of £ 22.38

samsmoot

I am pretty much alone on this, but I would NEVER pay any advance charges. The Water Act may well say they can make a charges scheme which asks for advance charges - and OFWAT may well approve those charges - but so what?

It's nothing like Council Tax which DOES require advance payment. What's the penalty if you don't pay advance water charges? None. Unless it's proven in court you owe money, you won't be ordered to pay it, and even then you can avoid paying up in certain circumstances. I'd pay them nothing ever again if I were you.

Gothicfairy

If I were you I would take the above advice with a pinch of sale as a CCJ can be issued through non payment of water charges and that can effect you for a very long time.

It sounds extreme for Thames to remove the payment plan option through one missed payment so the question really should be : Is this the first time you have missed a payment or has this happened before because if it has happened before then the recovery process starts where it stopped last time and that would then make perfect sense.

samsmoot

Gothicfairy wrote: »

If I were you I would take the above advice with a pinch of sale as a CCJ can be issued through non payment of water charges and that can effect you for a very long time.

And that's where they've got you - fear of losing in court takes over for most. I, however, take no crap from these people, and because they failed to follow up on their threatened court action against me over advance charges I believe they were bluffing.

I will happily shut up about this if it can be shown that a water company has made a successful claim for advance charges ONLY, after that claim was properly defended.