Not paid my water bill for three years, now what?

wharty

Moved in to a new apartment 3 years ago and had no water meter. I rang once in that time (yea should have rang more i know). The meter was fitted two months ago but still no bill. We origionally put aside the money but as time has gone by we spent it.
Now i know what you are thinking that i should have tried harder to pay it and carried on saving the money.
Where do i stand with regards to paying the bill for the last 3 years, will i have to pay it all or is their some sort of consumer rights so that i dont have to pay it all back.
At the end of the day i have the money to pay it back if needed but as this is a money saving site i fancy saving a bit of cash, and if the water people couldnt be bothered to take the money why should i pay it back.
Thanks in advance.

whatatwit

I am on a meter and I only receive a bill every 6 months, so maybe if you identify your region/supplier, someone can advise the cubic metre cost to enable you to roughly work out what you need to start putting aside.

No idea about the previous water usage....maybe wait and see if they contact you.

wharty

I am in the northwest near crewe cheshire, and have no idea who the supplier is, a neighbour told me the meter had been fitted so didnt see who the supplier was.

mute_posting

You can't choose water suppliers like you can gas or electricity.

I'm just south of Manchester and we're united utilities (Old North West Water). I'm not 100%, but I think crewe is maybe the same - look on their website, they will probably show map / let you check.

HTH

MP

deanos

EDIT: didnt read post properly !

Cardew

The bottom line is that you are liable to pay them for the last 3 years if they discover you haven't had a bill.

There is no let out clause like gas/electricity where they can only go back 12 months.

It is simply a civil debt and they can, and almost certainly will, pursue that debt - if they find out. You may be able to 'negotiate' a reduction.

Andy_Hamilton

Start taking meter readings now and every month then wait for a bill.
If you don't get a bill ever then don't worry.
If you get a bill in the next few months you will be able to negotiate with the water company for the previous years using the meter readings as a guide.

H2O

Cardew wrote: »

The bottom line is that you are liable to pay them for the last 3 years if they discover you haven't had a bill.

There is no let out clause like gas/electricity where they can only go back 12 months.

It is simply a civil debt and they can, and almost certainly will, pursue that debt - if they find out. You may be able to 'negotiate' a reduction.

That is incorrect, I've just been on to Water Consumer Council and they informed me that they can legally back charge you up to 6 years max. In this case it obviously doesn't help as the original issue is for 3 years.

mute_posting

H2O wrote: »

That is incorrect, I've just been on to Water Consumer Council and they informed me that they can legally back charge you up to 6 years max. In this case it obviously doesn't help as the original issue is for 3 years.

I'm pretty sure if you re-read the OP and cardew's last reply, cardew was responding in the context of the OP's 3 year problem - they never stated in their reply that the 3 years was the maximum (just that it wasn't 12 months like gas/electricity have moved to)

Cardew

H2O wrote: »

That is incorrect, I've just been on to Water Consumer Council and they informed me that they can legally back charge you up to 6 years max. In this case it obviously doesn't help as the original issue is for 3 years.

I suggest you read what I wrote, before attempting to correct me.!!

you are liable to pay them for the last 3 years
It is simply a civil debt and they can, and almost certainly will, pursue that debt

A civil debt can be pursued for 6 years, and I specifically referred to 'that' debt!

Welcome to the forum!

H2O

Cardew wrote: »

I suggest you read what I wrote, before attempting to correct me.!!



A civil debt can be pursued for 6 years, and I specifically referred to 'that' debt!

Welcome to the forum!

Hey hey steady on.

I did read your thread and was merely pointing out that, in fact, there is a let out clause, it's just that its 6 years, so in the case in question it doesn't matter, as this was for the past 3 years.

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