Water company logging old debt as a default every month.

inklove · 4 May 2018 at 9:52AM

Between 1013 and 2014 I had an account with this water company in a shared house.
When I moved out but forgot to chance it.

The water company have a debt of nearly £500 on the account, the account was closed in December of 2015, I believe this was because a new tenant opened an account at the address.

I’ve just checked my credit report and the water company have been logging the default every month, so my credit is horrendous.

I didn’t think the debt on an inactive account could be logged repeatedly like that?

I tried to contact them but gave up as the woman I spoke to was not very pleasant.

I couldn’t pay the money even if I wanted to.
I have no income and nothing in my name so have to means to pay it.

If I leave the debt for another 3 years will it become statute barred?
And will they stop logging it as a default after that?

[Deleted User] · 4 May 2018 at 9:54AM

It will drop off your files 6 years from default.

It will be status barred 6 years from when last acknowledged.

The monthly defaults are a status update.

fermi · 4 May 2018 at 10:02AM

To just be 100% clear, the account will drop off your credit files as if it had never existed 6 years after the initial recorded default date. The status updates as a D or 8 every month won't stop that happening, and the history of them will vanish at the same time.

inklove · 4 May 2018 at 10:50AM

According to the person I spoke with this morning the debt was last acknowledged in june 2014 when someone spoke to them and tried to arrange a payment plan for two overdue payments.
She said until I spoke to them this morning that was the last time any contact was made.

I did say this morning that I do not accept that I owe the debt as I moved out of the property in early 2014 (which I can prove).

Have I inadvertently reset the clock this morning?

I didn’t offer to pay or say I would pay anything, I made it clear I didn’t think I owed the money and the debt shouldn’t be mine.

[Deleted User] · 4 May 2018 at 11:11AM

It could turn to a CCJ and then you would need to contest it.

You run that risk whilst waiting for it to drop off

fermi · 4 May 2018 at 1:07PM

inklove wrote: »

According to the person I spoke with this morning the debt was last acknowledged in june 2014 when someone spoke to them and tried to arrange a payment plan for two overdue payments.
She said until I spoke to them this morning that was the last time any contact was made.

'Speaking' to someone does not count legally as acknowledgement. Only acknowledgement in writing, signed by the person who owes the debt does.

inklove · 5 May 2018 at 11:24AM

When i spoke to them it was on the live chat, so was technically in writing, does that count?

I definitely did not accept that I owe the money though.

fermi · 5 May 2018 at 11:27AM

If you did not acknowledge owing it, then it does not matter one jot what medium it was via.

inklove · 8 May 2018 at 1:04AM

Thank you.

I’m tempted to just leave it for another 3 years then and let it fall off my credit history.

There’s no way I could feesably pay it in that amount of time and I can’t see the water company coming after me since they don’t seem to have done anything in the last three years to settle this debt that is in my name.

The only other thing I can do is try to contact the other people that I know were living in the houeshare when I moved out and hope one of them will take responsibility for it.... but that seems very unlikely.

Thank you to everyone that gave me advice.

Water company logging old debt as a default every month.

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