No Water Bill in Six years

dave_davidson · 22 February 2018 at 12:48AM

Hi,

I have been living in rented accomodation for the last six years and was under the impression that the water was paid by the landlord as its a block of flats.

I recently recevied a letter addressed to the occupier asking for the move in date and giving the water bill as £530 for a one bedroom flat when I live alone.

I have found a copy of the original rental agreement and it read it again in full and it does look like i'm liable for the bill.

Even if the bill is back dates for six years thankfully I can afford to pay in full however i'm very concerned as I don't want this to affect my credit score.

I'm very unsure how to deal with this, im obviosly going to have to pay in full which i'm happy to do however I would appreciate some advice on how best to deal with united utilities to prevent my credit score from being affected.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

Cardew · 22 February 2018 at 10:28AM

At the moment UU presumably do not have your name. They also have no reason to raise a black mark against your credit record, as they have not raised a bill.

Just speak to them and ask for a detailed bill. If you indicate that you accept liability and will pay in full, you will probably get a good discount.

ashe · 22 February 2018 at 7:01PM

£530 for 6 years of water bills sounds very low to me. UnderOneRoof lists a single person rateable value of water to be £21.24 PCM, *12 is £254 a month, times 6 years £1529, even taking a percentage off for inflation would seem to be a very low bill.

dave_davidson · 22 February 2018 at 10:35PM

Hi,

Thank you for getting back to me.

I think my previous post was slightly ambigious and for the removal of doubt the bill I have received addressed to the occupier is for £527 for 18/19. I expect the back date bill if taken at todays price to be £3162.

I accept that I owe the money and i'm prepared to pay in full however i'm very worried that when I contact United Utilites they will register a late payment or default and this will affect my credit/future jobs.

I know I will have to contact UU and make payments, i'm just unsure what the outcome will be and how best to deal with this matter.

I think honesty is the best poilicy hence accpepting I will have to pay but I was hopful for some advice on 1. how to approach united utilites e.g letter or phone and 2. what the likely outcome will be.

I have never really had any debt issues before and this unresolved issue is really affecting me.

If you have any expreice/advice I would be very grateful.

Thanks,

Dave

dave_davidson · 22 February 2018 at 10:42PM

Hi,

I really appreciate your response and support.

Yes UU haven't currently got my details as the bill is addressed to the occupier.

I'm prepared to pay in full in one payment however the really worry is if UU register a late payment or default on my creidt file.

I've never really had any debt issues before so i'm very concerned of how UU will deal with the matter and if its possible to register a bill payment as being six years overdue.

If you have any advice on how I should contact UU and what the likely outcome will be I would be very grateful.

Many Thanks,
Dave

ashe · 22 February 2018 at 10:49PM

If they haven!!!8217;t got your name they can!!!8217;t isue a default because you!!!8217;ve not had a bill to not pay - just ring them up and explain and say happy to pay and I am sure they will snap your hands off

dogshome · 23 February 2018 at 6:27PM

It seems that this £527 demand for this years W/rates is based on the historic Rateable Value of the flat - Like all else, water goes up in price annually so earlier years will cost less.

However it seems you live alone, in which case applying for an 'Assessed Charge', which is based on the Water Cos. guess of how much water one person uses, will cost less.
The usual route for this is to apply for a water meter to fitted, which in a block of flats is not likely to be possible - It's at the point the Water Co.say they cannot comply that you ask for 'Assessed Charge' billing

No Water Bill in Six years

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