Overpaid, can I get a refund?

SivEd

Hi there,

I am with Wessex Water and got behind on my payments a few years ago.

I finally got it all sorted with them about a year ago and agreed to pay off the arrears at £80 a month, which has been happening ever since without issue.

Anyway, I have received my statement today and it shows that I have not only caught up on the bill but that I am now £120 in credit (in fact probably more because they have been taking two payments but the other one for £11 a month isn't on the bill for some reason, so I need to sort out what's been going on).

I am a single guy - therefore very dirty and hardly use any water at all! My normal monthly bill is way less than £20.

I would now like to create a new direct debit for my real usage and get a refund of the current credit balance.

I am having an awkward month caused by an large and unexpected bill which leaves me quite desperate this month to the point of being short of food! So this could be a godsend if I can get my hands onto it.

My question is: is that possible/normal? Will I have any issues with Wessex Water asking them for a refund of the credit balance? I would have thought they would have told me once the debt was repaid rather than endlessly taking more money...

Thanks for any advice

matelodave

You could always ask however they may feel that as you had a lump of their money they might want to keep some of yours as insurance against you defaulting again.

SivEd

Just to update people, I called them and they were fine about the refund though they would only post a cheque... remember them!? So it will take 5 days for the cheque to arrive and another 5 days for it to clear, unless that has changed recently and they have finally sped the process up (now that no-one uses them any more).

They re-did a new standing order at £40 a month which I feel might be a little high, but we'll see and perhaps that is because of my shady past with them, though from my point of view that's less than half what I was paying so if that gets me into credit all the better.

Thanks again.