Southern Water/Moorcroft chasing me for £45

zetortractortrailer

Basically, I was slightly late paying my water bill for last month, and I paid it in full by bank transfer about three weeks ago. About two weeks later I received a letter from a debt collection agency called Moorcroft claiming I owe them £45.

I immediately phoned Southern Water to question this and the operator said it was a mistake and they would take the charge off and phone me back to confirm this had happened. They never did, so I phoned again the next day and the next operator I spoke to also said it was a mistake and that they would cancel the charge and phone me back to confirm it, which they never did. The day after I was on holiday for a week so I wasn't able to chase this any more.

Today I received another letter from Moorcroft demanding I pay them £45 or they will take further action. I phoned Southern Water straight away and told the what the other operators had said when I phoned a week or so ago, to which they replied that it should never have been cancelled and that I still owe them £45. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and they said one would call me back, but they haven't done so yet. Southern Water keeps claiming they will phone me back, but never do.

Strangely enough, the £45 charge seems to be on their system and Moorcroft seems to think I owe it to them. So who is actually charging me the £45, is it Southern Water or Moorcroft?

Personally I think this is an absolutely disgusting charge considering I have paid Southern Water in full and I have no intention of paying these thieves.

What can I do about this? Also to what extent will ignoring it affect my credit rating?

Unfortunately, as I have no choice in water supplier I have to stay with these Southern Water filth, how will indefinitely being £45 in debt to them affect my dealings with them? Could they eventually just cut me off?

Thanks for any advice on this.

sourcrates

Hi,


So this £45 is not for an outstanding water bill, but some kind of charge ?
You can ignore Moorcrap completely, they are only acting for southern water, and have no means to penalise you whatsoever, is it southern water chasing for this money, or just Moorcrap ?

You need to find out what this charge is for, stay off the phone as you have no record of what's been said, its best to send a written complaint asking for a breakdown of this £45 charge.

Go to there website, follow the complaints procedure.

Does your water provider appear on your credit file ?, mine does not, I think some do though, if they don't, then it cant hurt your credit file, if they do, they can register a default should they wish.

rizla_king

zetortractortrailer wrote: »

Strangely enough, the £45 charge seems to be on their system and Moorcroft seems to think I owe it to them. So who is actually charging me the £45, is it Southern Water or Moorcroft?

you owe morons nothing. if you owe anythign it is SW and you can tell morons to jog on.

dispute the SW charge or arrears in writing

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/complaints-procedure

and go to http://www.ccwater.org.uk/adviceandcomplaints/ if needed

zetortractortrailer

Yes, I paid my water bill to them in full by bank transfer three weeks ago, this £45 is purely an admin fee of some sort.

I have Googled it, and according to other posts £45 appears to be the standard charge of late payment, but I can't work out if that is charged by Moorcroft or Southern Water.

A few of the posts I've read seem to suggest that £45 is Moorcroft's standard fee, but surely if it was purely Moorcroft's fee then it wouldn't be on my Southern Water account?

As you suggest I think I will have to email Southern Water to actually get a breakdown of what this £45 charge is actually for and who is charging it. Is there any particular way I should word this, any phrasing I should avoid?

sourcrates

zetortractortrailer wrote: »

As you suggest I think I will have to email Southern Water to actually get a breakdown of what this £45 charge is actually for and who is charging it. Is there any particular way I should word this, any phrasing I should avoid?

You can use the provit letter, just edit it to your own circumstances.

Send by email if you wish, but a written copy would be better.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

rizla_king

zetortractortrailer wrote: »

As you suggest I think I will have to email Southern Water to actually get a breakdown of what this £45 charge is actually for and who is charging it. Is there any particular way I should word this, any phrasing I should avoid?

just demand a breakdown and justification as you will be taking it to an independent dispute resolution service if you are noit satisfied with their answer.

rizla_king

sourcrates wrote: »

You can use the provit letter, just edit it to your own circumstances.[/url]

would need A LOT of editing and nearly all of that doesn't apply top water debts

zetortractortrailer

rizla_king wrote: »

would need A LOT of editing and nearly all of that doesn't apply top water debts

It isn't a water debt though per se, I owe them nothing in terms of the water bill and I'm not disputing it. I'm disputing what appears to be a late payment charge.

Or does the fact it's being charged by a water company still mean it is a water debt regardless of whether the charge is actually to do with water usage itself?

rizla_king

Account No: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim the amounts of £45 is owed by myself.

[STRIKE]I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to CREDITOR[/STRIKE]

you do as you have been billed. you just dispute it.

[STRIKE]I am familiar with the Consumer Credit sourcebook of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which states the following rules.

"A firm must not ignore or disregard a customer's claim that a debt has been settled or is disputed and must not continue to make demands for payment without providing clear justification and/or evidence as to why the customer's claim is not valid." 7.5.3

"A firm must suspend any steps it takes or its agent takes in the recovery of a debt from a customer where the customer disputes the debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds." 7.14.1

"Where a customer disputes a debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds, the firm must investigate the dispute and provide details of the debt to the customer in a timely manner." 7.14.3

"Where there is a dispute as to the identity of the borrower or hirer or as to the amount of the debt, it is for the firm (and not the customer) to establish, as the case may be, that the customer is the correct person in relation to the debt or that the amount is the correct amount owed under the agreement." 7.14.4

"A firm must provide a customer with information on the outcome of its investigations into a debt which the customer disputed on valid grounds." 7.14.5

"Where a customer disputes a debt and the firm seeking to recover the debt is not the lender or the owner, the firm must:
(1) pass the information provided by the customer to the lender or the owner; or
(2) if the firm has authority from the lender or owner to investigate a dispute, it must notify the lender or owner of the outcome of the investigation." 7.14.6
[/STRIKE]

not applicable as water co is not fca regulated. nor are the activities of a collector on their behalf, even if the do do other regulated work

[STRIKE]In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.
[/STRIKE]

youve not asked yet

[STRIKE] Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.[/STRIKE]

not reached that stage yet

I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above accounts unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question.

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.

[STRIKE] Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the FCA of your actions.[/STRIKE]

doesn't apply

[STRIKE] If appropriate I will also take this matter forward as a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service and Information Commissioner's Office.[/STRIKE]

doesn't apply

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

rizla_king

so if you edit out the parts of the prove it letter that dont apply you may as well not bother!

foolofbeans

As for cutting you off - I believe this never happens. I have a debt from last years unpaid water bill and have just had it added on to this years payments. Not one charge or debt warning letter (hopefully I haven't jinxed that!)