Sudden water bill from South Staffordshire water

frenchie851

Hi

I moved into my house 6 months ago and registered with all the utility companies as you do...

So I phoned both water companies that operate in my area only to be told by both of them that they did not supply the water to my property and that I would receive a letter from the supplier shortly.....

....each month rolled by with no notice from a water company and I would make the same phone call only to be told the same thing.

Christmas Eve arrives and my parents were over. Whilst I was at work a water representative from South Staffs water knocked on the door and asked who lived there. My mum gave my details and now I've received a bill for £250 with 2 days notice to pay it.

Is there anything I can do about this as I wanted to set up a direct debit 6 months ago and noone was willing to accept responsibility for the property. My boiler has broken and I simply don't have the money to pay a bill in January with 2 days notice!

At my wits end at the moment!

macman

Was SS one of the two companies you originally phoned?
The suppliers aren't psychic, and have no idea when a property changes hands unless you tell them.
You should be able to negotiate a payment plan with them-but did you not put the money aside in a savings account, since you knew that eventually you would have to pay the arrears?

frenchie851

Yes I phoned South Staffs and Severn Trent. Companies aren't psychic but presumably the previous occupiers stopped paying it and therefore they should have sent a letter. Also shouldn't they know which properties they are accountable for?

As regards to putting money aside, yes I did. However my partner broke his leg badly in September and was off work for 12 weeks so money has been extremely tight. So after a run of disasters I'm pretty skint!

DaveTheMus

as above

if you were going to pay ddeb, then the amount you were going to pay should have been set aside.....they will let you set up a payment plan, the '2 days' thing was probably just a prompt for you to contact them.

frenchie851

As explained previously there's only so much money that can be saved when you're hemorrhaging it elsewhere on other needs.

So there's no accountability for SS then? What a surprise.

macman

You have no way of knowing if the outgoing occupier closed the account or not. You could always have asked a neighbour who the supplier was, but you ignored it for 6 months.
The call centre agent you originally spoke to was clearly misinformed (maybe they misheard the address, or the property does not appear on their database), but that doesn't invalidate your responsibility to pay for the arrears built up. You've had 6m interest free credit-what 'accountability' do you think SS are liable for?
Your point about not being able to put the money aside is illogical. If you had set up the account successfully on occupation, then how would you have paid it then?

frenchie851

I call every month so surely they didn't mishear the address on every occasion. The letter now states that I owe money from when I moved in so presumably the previous owner did stop payments.

Thank you for your sympathy in regards to my recent financial troubles meaning that I have had to spend any 'saved water cash' on feeding myself, commuting to work and caring for my injured partner. This is much appreciated.

I put a post on MSE for advice on how to approach the water company on my short notice bill, not to be reprimanded like a naughty school girl by someone who clearly has no practical advice and only judgments to make.

As regards to 'ignoring' and not setting up an account correctly, I have already expressed how I intended and tried to do this. Please do not bother to comment if you have no information of any use and only intend to infuriate.

macman

You miss the point completely. You have my sympathies for your personal and financial problems, but these will be of no interest to SS.
The bill, assuming it is correctly calculated, is payable in full and all you can do is try to negotiate a repayment plan. On the basis that you were misinformed about the supplier, you could make a written complaint, but the most that this is going to get you is a small goodwill credit, as you have suffered no loss: indeed you have benefited by the credit (inadvertantly) given for 6 months.
If your idea of advice is for someone to tell you that they'll halve the bill or waive it, then it's not going to happen.

Cardew

I assume the property doesn't have a meter? This is from the South Stafford website.

Payment difficulties

Although our water charges are among the lowest in the country, we understand that you may sometimes have difficulty paying the bill. This section gives you information on what you can do if you are in this situation.

• I'm having trouble paying my bill. What should I do?
• We know that sometimes finding the money to pay your bill can be difficult so it is very important if you are having difficulties that you contact us as soon as possible. We are here to help, but we can only help if you tell us. Call us straightaway on 0800 0930 610.
• There are a number of ways for you to pay your bill. When you contact us we will try to come to a satisfactory agreement and may be able to offer, monthly, fortnightly or weekly instalments tailored to suit your needs.

If not metered that bill will be for the period when you moved in until 31 March 2014. You may be able to set up a payment plan.

I hope this isn't the case, but I believe that South Staffs Water only supply water and Severn Trent charge for the sewerage; although they might bill you on behalf of Severn Trent. You need to check, or post details on here and we can check for you. The Rateable Value(RV) is most important.

samsmoot

frenchie851 wrote: »

I call every month so surely they didn't mishear the address on every occasion. The letter now states that I owe money from when I moved in so presumably the previous owner did stop payments.

Thank you for your sympathy in regards to my recent financial troubles meaning that I have had to spend any 'saved water cash' on feeding myself, commuting to work and caring for my injured partner. This is much appreciated.

I put a post on MSE for advice on how to approach the water company on my short notice bill, not to be reprimanded like a naughty school girl by someone who clearly has no practical advice and only judgments to make.

As regards to 'ignoring' and not setting up an account correctly, I have already expressed how I intended and tried to do this. Please do not bother to comment if you have no information of any use and only intend to infuriate.

Don't expect much of anything against water companies or for the poverty stricken on this board.


To start with you may qualify for financial assistance from your water company's charitable trust, being as you are struggling at the moment. I would write to SS asking that collection of the arrears be put on hold whilst you apply to the trust, and ask them also to send you the necessary paperwork to make the application. They may suggest you need the CAB's help but you can do it yourself.


If you are paying current charges you should stand some chance of getting some help, though they may still insist on you paying something towards the arrears. Not sure what their attitude is these days.


The offer to make if the charity refuses help is around £3.50 per week to clear the arrears, as this is the rate for DWP repayments and a fair amount in your situation.


FYI SS are pretty slack in their debt recovery process. Keep them busy with letters needing responses and you can stall payment for a while.


Please ask if you need further info or help with the letter.

frenchie851

samsmoot wrote: »

Don't expect much of anything against water companies or for the poverty stricken on this board.


To start with you may qualify for financial assistance from your water company's charitable trust, being as you are struggling at the moment. I would write to SS asking that collection of the arrears be put on hold whilst you apply to the trust, and ask them also to send you the necessary paperwork to make the application. They may suggest you need the CAB's help but you can do it yourself.


If you are paying current charges you should stand some chance of getting some help, though they may still insist on you paying something towards the arrears. Not sure what their attitude is these days.


The offer to make if the charity refuses help is around £3.50 per week to clear the arrears, as this is the rate for DWP repayments and a fair amount in your situation.


FYI SS are pretty slack in their debt recovery process. Keep them busy with letters needing responses and you can stall payment for a while.


Please ask if you need further info or help with the letter.

Thanks Samsmoot for your informative and constructive reply I shall follow your lead and call them tomorrow