Thames Water applied adverse credit unlawfully - can I claim compensation

sflow

Hi,

I have two water accounts with Thames Water since 2019. There have always been issues with the receipt of bills at both the addresses since I became account holder. However, I sometimes made payments in good faith expecting to receive bill copies later, however none arrived despite repeated requests.

Eventually in late 2020 I asked TW to add the accounts to the online billing portal. They could only set one up due to system limitations. Even then the online billing portal worked briefly, then stopped working for a period of 1 year +. I kept receiving bill notifications with a link to the portal but I was either unable to logon or to view/download bills. I have video recording of the attempts to access bills. I called TW repeatedly to escalate issues/ask for paper bills. When it all failed, I asked for the bill amounting to just over £170 to be emailed to me - they refused on the grounds of Data Protection.

Around July 2021, I got a letter from a debt collection agency regarding tehg outstanding amount. I said I just needed a copy of the bill. They contacted TW who denied I had contacted them re issues with portal/postal. The debt agency asked me to raise a SAR and they put forward a complaint on my behalf, they would stop all demands for payment until the SAR and compliant had been addressed. I received an acknowledgement to the SAR from TW, then nothing else from either debt agency or TW. In December 2021, I had a letter from a different debt collection agency. 

In February 2022, I applied for a mortgage. This was declined due to adverse credit. I was gobsmacked as as far as I was aware all my bills were being dealt with. After much toing and froing with contractual and data terms, I was notified that it the adverse credit related to an a water bill. I called TW and asked for the adverse credit to be removed. They refused on the grounds they had followed due process. TW refused to contact me or address my written communication. It cost me around £2000 financially in fees and application costs.

The portal suddenly started working in Q1 2022, but there was now the billing info for the second property showing against original login credentials. I heard nothing further with respect to bills for the first property. Later that year, an oocupant complained she was being pursued by TW for unpaid bills - this was the first I knew of the matter. They had applied adverse credit to her file, and she was stressed.

Both of us contacted TW. TW said I had instructed them to pursue the occupant. I have never told TW that the occupnat was liable for water bills. Hence I refuted their claims and asked them to provide the email or call recording or any other evidenc ethat shows this. Needless to say none has been provided.

I raised a complaint with the CCW. I was told they have limited powers to make water companies do anything. I was advised to contact the ICO. In December 2024, the CCW adjudication process exonerated TW for their despicable conduct to the customer.

I had asked for copies of all  bills against all accounts since the day I took over as account holder to be made available. TW did not see it necessary to call to discuss my grievances. So I called TW and spent 1.5 hours going through the billing for the first property as this was no longer available on the portal. It appears that Thames Water made changes to the billing system and the account statement shows an opening  balance in Feb 2019 of £202.38. I am unable to correlate this any bill/payments so have asked TW to provide an explanation. Having reconciled the statement with my bank statements going back 2019, I have identified payments made from my bank account to Thames Water in 2019/2020 amounting to £737 which are not shown on the account summary. I have written to the CEO Office and asked for an investigation. They have yet to provide their full and final response to this query/complaint. I have also raised the matter with my local MP and they seem unable to assist.

In the meantime I have contacted their call center and agreed that all demands for payment be put on hold until the query/complaint is dealt with in full. I have notified the TW CEO office of this agreement. However, I have received radio silence on the matter and I keep receiving demands for payment from TW. 

Please can you advise me what I should do next.

Nasqueron

Knowing you owed them money, albeit not getting bills, did you pay anything towards the debt?

sflow

Everything was paid up on time when bills were recieved until they started having a load of problems with their billing portal/systems. Prior to this if I never received bills, they would post it to my email, sometimes a whole year later and I would pay it off. However, when I did not receive all the bills they claimed they sent during the height of the issues with billing systems and asked them to email it to me as portal/post route was not working, they refused on the grounds of data protection - which was bizzare. I had also paid them prior to this several bills they demanded payment for, however the never sent the bill copy  despite repeated requests. So I informed them I could not keep track of biils, payments and meter readings and could only make payments when bills were received. It now appears I have overpaid by £700 and still awaiting a response from them on where that money has gone.

Surely they can't demand payment without presenting a bill. The customer has a right to get an invoice or bill before they start demanding payment.