Default for water bill on an old address

davidprentice

I used to share a rented house with other people.

The water bill was in my name and one other.

I had my name removed when I left (or so I thought).

My credit report has just shown a default for the water company at that address for last month.

What can I do about this? Can I get the default removed?

Southern water are closed until tomorrow, so I just wsnted to get an idea of what I need to do before I can call them in the morning.

National_Debtline

Hi David

Welcome to MSE. The first thing to do is contact Southern Water and ask them for more details about the debt. What period does it cover? When do their records show you moved out? Whose names are on the debt?

You should not be held liable for the water bill after you moved out. Hopefully their records show you contacted them to inform them you were moving out. It will help if you can prove you were living elsewhere, for example if you were registered to pay council tax or water at a different address. They may then accept you had moved out, even if their records do not currently reflect this. If they accept this is not your debt they should agree to remove the default from your credit report.

If you are confident you did inform them you moved out, but they don’t agree, you could make a subject access request under the Data Protection Act. They can charge you a £10 fee for doing this but it means they must provide all information they hold on you within 40 days. There is a sample letter you can use to make this request here https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Personal-information-under-the-Data-Protection-Act-(sole-name).aspx.

Susie
@Natdebtline