Had a demand from AW for a 5yr old property

aldredd

Cardew wrote: »

I agree that IMO 'legally' it would have been your responsibility to have dealt with Anglian as you are the customer, and the LA works for the Landlord.

You might be able to establish with Anglian the period(dates) of the outstanding £200 bill. If the end date is well after you left the property(and you can prove that fact) they might be prepared to reconsider.

However just to repeat, deal with LA and Anglian - not the DCA.

Thanks for your help - I'll start off by asking AW for more details on the bill, and bills in the 1-2 years prior to that + payments made - should help me reconcile everything. I'll also see what I can get out of the LA - they were next to useless at the time, so not expecting much help from them, but may still have copies of what was sent.

Assuming I can show that they were provided a forwarding address, and that no subsequent bill was produced at the time, (as I believe to be the case), can they still pursue me for this? Seems a tad off that they can effectively forget to bill me, and then demand it 5 years later, even if it did transpire that I legally owe it.

Cardew

aldredd wrote: »

Thanks for your help - I'll start off by asking AW for more details on the bill, and bills in the 1-2 years prior to that + payments made - should help me reconcile everything. I'll also see what I can get out of the LA - they were next to useless at the time, so not expecting much help from them, but may still have copies of what was sent.

Assuming I can show that they were provided a forwarding address, and that no subsequent bill was produced at the time, (as I believe to be the case), can they still pursue me for this? Seems a tad off that they can effectively forget to bill me, and then demand it 5 years later, even if it did transpire that I legally owe it.

If the bill is valid, I am afraid they can pursue you for payment. Even if the LA had sent forwarding address, you are not in the clear as a mistake by a company does not mean they cannot correct it. In fact I am looking at a Visa Credit slip I have for £217,927.82 as a rebate for some plumbing goods - sadly they corrected their error!

The difficulty is they have 'sold' your debt to a DCA(sometimes an 'in-house' firm) and, as stated earlier, the DCA are not interested in the merits of the case.

We had a spate of similar cases some while ago, I suspect that some water companies went through their books and sold off all similar debts.

If you are not responsible for the £200, then it is highly likely the next tenant should have paid that sum. Your best hope is that a meter reader took the reading, on which the disputed bill was based, some months after you left the property.

aldredd

Cardew wrote: »

If you are not responsible for the £200, then it is highly likely the next tenant should have paid that sum. Your best hope is that a meter reader took the reading, on which the disputed bill was based, some months after you left the property.

Thanks - I'll look out for that - I'm certain I did a reading, as I remember being on my hands & knees reading it - but that probably went to the LA who may or may not have passed it on.

Let me see what they come back with - thanks for your help

deanos

no time limit, although they tend to only backdate 6yr

http://ccwater.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22

Cardew

deanos wrote: »

no time limit, although they tend to only backdate 6yr

http://ccwater.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22

Sorry deanos but that is not what your link states.

It states that the Water Industry Act does not specify a time limit:

The WIA 1991 does not specify any time limitations on collecting these charges.

That is very different from there being 'no time limit'.

Any debt is subject to the 'statute of limitations' which is 6 years in England and Wales unless there is an Act of Parliament that specifically excludes certain types of debt - like IIRC Council Tax.

deanos

cool,cheers

aldredd

Just thought I'd give an update.
I spoke to AW, and they did have my correct forwarding address. I asked that they send some more info, such as a copy of the final bill and a something showing what payments were made, so I could then reconcile to my bank records. They were ok with this, and told me they'd send something via email.

Yet, I've now called them 4 times to chase this info, and they've still not sent it, but am still receiving letters from them / their agents chasing it. Starting to get pretty frustrating to be honest - I've made it clear I'm happy to make the payment just as long as I can be confortable that it's not a mistake - but they seem to be losing interest in helping and keep making excuses for not sending anything.

I'll let you know how I get on though!

Cardew

You must WRITE - headed COMPLAINT, phone calls are useless.

If no joy contact the Consumer Council for Water.