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South Staffs Water - trying to sort my mums bills now her estate is being settled

askyfullofstars
Posts: 13 Forumite
in Water bills
My mother passed away in July 2016.
I called about a week later to inform them and provide you with my contact details as I am the responsible person for her estate.
I was asked by the advisor if I would like to continue to pay the account (we would just be charged for the supply a flat rate each month, though she could not tell me how much) or if we would like the supply disconnected.
I agreed to pay the supply charge I said that I didn’t have any bank details to set up a direct debit on me at the time, and she said that is fine she would send them out for me.
I have yet to receive anything, and as you can understand I have had a lot on my plate to deal with to chase this up.
Anyway, we have now sold my mothers property and so we went to empty it.
Imagine my surprise when my brother gets there and finds a number of letters addressed to my mum threatening her for non payment and adding charges for non payment to her account. Will I have to pay these?
I called about a week later to inform them and provide you with my contact details as I am the responsible person for her estate.
I was asked by the advisor if I would like to continue to pay the account (we would just be charged for the supply a flat rate each month, though she could not tell me how much) or if we would like the supply disconnected.
I agreed to pay the supply charge I said that I didn’t have any bank details to set up a direct debit on me at the time, and she said that is fine she would send them out for me.
I have yet to receive anything, and as you can understand I have had a lot on my plate to deal with to chase this up.
Anyway, we have now sold my mothers property and so we went to empty it.
Imagine my surprise when my brother gets there and finds a number of letters addressed to my mum threatening her for non payment and adding charges for non payment to her account. Will I have to pay these?
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Comments
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when I did the same for my mum and mum-in-laws place I sent them a letter together with a copy of the death certificates. the same with the phone, council tax and everything else so we never had any problems.
I dont trust telephone calls
Actually If I remember correctly Anglian Water (sewerage) & Essex Water both suspended the account from the day they were notified and didn't charge us any more although we didn't get the houses sold for around six monthsNever under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers0 -
As above and it was SS water as well no problem at all .
Water charges would be either metered or ratable value .0 -
askyfullofstars wrote: »My mother passed away in July 2016.
I called about a week later to inform them and provide you with my contact details as I am the responsible person for her estate.
I was asked by the advisor if I would like to continue to pay the account (we would just be charged for the supply a flat rate each month, though she could not tell me how much) or if we would like the supply disconnected.
I agreed to pay the supply charge I said that I didn’t have any bank details to set up a direct debit on me at the time, and she said that is fine she would send them out for me.
I have yet to receive anything, and as you can understand I have had a lot on my plate to deal with to chase this up.
Anyway, we have now sold my mothers property and so we went to empty it.
Imagine my surprise when my brother gets there and finds a number of letters addressed to my mum threatening her for non payment and adding charges for non payment to her account. Will I have to pay these?
You should check the bills to ensure they are correct.
If so, the bills should be settled from your late mother's estate.
(You may wish to complain about the added charges if you feel them to be infair in the circumstances)
With water companies, as with most utility suppliers, you can add a different mailing address to the account (i.e. different to the supply address)0 -
iirc South Staffs water only supply water - not sewerage facilities. These are mainly provided, and billed, by Severn Trent Water.
Could the bills be from them?
I suggest you ask The Consumer Council for Water to intervene on your behalf. http://www.ccwater.org.uk/0 -
matelodave wrote: »Actually If I remember correctly Anglian Water (sewerage) & Essex Water both suspended the account from the day they were notified and didn't charge us any more although we didn't get the houses sold for around six months
@OP Call BOTH water and sewage co asap - ask for bereavement teams - explain problem. They will have had this occur before.
However, I'm extremely surprised :eek: you (or a.n. other) have failed to check on the house for mail and to see that things are all OK in the intervening period... when you should have discovered those letters! Most insurers would expect regular checks and heating left on or all systems completely drained down.0
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