Utilities from old house

gracie83

I left my rented accommodation on the 15th July 2007, all utilities were given notice letters and on the same day all the utilities were transfered to my new home. I have not missed any of the utilities payments - all direct debit.

Right I had not heard anything from the new tenants of the house or the utility companies so I assumed everything was ok. This morning I received a pile of red letters from my old letting agent. The bills are from electricity and water most of them are at red stage and water is threatening court action! All these letters date back to July/August - nice of them to get them to me so fast! I phone the gas and electricity and they are nice enough to waive the bills so that is £150 of the pile removed. The water bill which was for £217 and even though they acknowledge that the years worth of water should be payed by the new tenant, they say I still owe them a months worth of water at £37.50 and that the debt is in my name dating from August. Now I have paid water rates by direct debit and I have paid for august but they do not know which house the water is for! They said they will send me a letter with more information.

My query is will this unpaid debt affect my credit rating etc. I am so angry that both the landlord and the water board know where I live and neither of them have told me about the outstanding money!

I had a go at the letting agent and they say it is perfectly normal for this to happen!

angelavdavis

Wait for response from Water Company first before acting. If you don't hear within the month, write letters outlining your complaints to the Water Company (enclosing the original copy letter as proof you notified them well in advance and direct debit dates), send recorded delivery and state in the letter that although you clearly notified them that you were moving, their inability to acknowledge that they have made an error and remove this debt from your credit record has forced you to now make a formal complaint to Consumer Council for water and OfWat. I would also add in that letter that if they either apply or fail to remove any notice that may have been applied to any credit file which would affect your ability to obtain future credit, that you will make no hesitation complaining about this to the Information Officer as they are clearly in breach of the Data Protection Act.

You therefore look forward to hearing from them with regard to the acknowledgement from them that this debt has been removed from their records within 30 working days.

I would then write covering letters asking for their assistance/guidance to both CCWAT and OFWAT and enclosing the original and new letters to the Water company. Again, send recorded.

Wait and see what happens then! If they do not acknowledge the letter in 30 working days, I suggest you follow up with a letter clearly stating that you have tried on several occasions to remedy the situation and as you haven't heard from them within the time-frame, that you are left with no option than to assume that the matter is now closed.

If it goes to court, you have a letter trail and proof they signed for the letters but not responded. Don't bother dealing over the phone - they are muppets!