Severn Trent water and court

A question about : Severn Trent water and court

Hi i hope somebody can help with this, we moved in to our council flat last april, got water bill mid july with a final demand, as my wife is on DLA and i am her carer i asked for a payment agreement, the said i had to pay Ј30 per month to pay bill before next bill was due to which i agreed, i made first 3 payments and due to my wife having to have heart surgery i forgot to pay the 4th but started to pay again in the fifth month. Next thing i get a letter from Northhampton court saying Severn Trent had applied for a court order for the money and i had to pay immedietley, the balance plus Ј80 court costs which almost wipes out what i had already paid.
How can the take you to court without notice and for a service that will not be complete till March 2012(water supply) Any suggestions would be welcome. I am still paying Ј30 per month but the new balance is now Ј230 instead of Ј150.

Thanks

Best answers:

• Hi Gazzanoo - have you tried calling Severn Trent Water? This doesn't sound right and they may have made a mistake, in which case you shouldn't have to pay the court charges. Hope you get this sorted!
• I've just checked with a friend who works at Severn Trent Water. Hope the following helps:
  If a payment is missed, you should receive a reminder from Severn Trent Water. If three installments are missed on the due date then the payment plan could be cancelled (not one!). A notice should be sent to you informing you that the payment plan has been cancelled and that the balance is now due. Before Severn Trent Water take you to court, you should have received a solicitors letter warning of court action and only then would court proceedings go ahead.
  So it really does sound as if there has been a mistake made. All the best, I'll be interested in how you get on.
• Been in touch with them and was told coz i missed a payment the agreement is null and void and said they notified me they would apply to court for enforcement if i did miss. Will just carry on paying and stop when origional amount is paid and see what happens then.
  Thanks
• No previous debt the wording was "total amount due immediatley".
  The Ј30 per month was to pay it off in the time they normally allow which was fair.
  It is a court letter and it does say something about non notification.
  I am given the oppertunity to question the debt, but its the court costs that have p*ed me off not the origional which i am paying.
• What i meant by how can they take me to court for only a part service, only 8 months of a 12 months contract and 6 months of it paid for,,,, seems a little harsh. But In the words of Doris Day Que sera sera.
• The full amount becomes due the moment the payment plan is broken and they are now taking accounts to court on mass..just the way they work now.
• Thanks for the response Cardew.
  Generally, don't water companies have an obligation to supply water services to occupied domestic premises? My water company has not threatened to stop supplying me with water, and they never do - I don't think they are allowed to stop supplying you, are they?
  Yes, OFWAT may have approved the charges scheme, but unlike council tax there is no penalty for non-compliance. The only comeback is for your water company to take court action. If my water company took me to court for non-payment of advance charges, where would they point to and say 'that gives us the legal right to recover advance charges' Not OFWAT's approval, that's for sure - it carries no legal weight at all as far as the consumer is concerned - ie the water companies are allowed to ask 6 months in advance, but there is no obligation on the consumer to pay anything in advance. OFWAT have no jurisdiction whatsoever over me and my unwillingness to pay advance charges. They are the water regulator and they tell water companies what to do - not me.
  Yes, I have started from the position that water and sewerage removal are required by law, but even if not required by law the reality is this: Looking at my position as a domestic consumer, I am currently being supplied by South Staffs. I never asked them to supply me, they just do. I do not believe I can force them not to supply me whilst I still live at the property, therefore I must continue to receive water from them. In any event they do supply me and I have to pay for it, but once again I ask - has anyone ever been forced by a court to pay advance charges? After putting in a decent defence, that is?
  Cardew, I am not a legal expert but I know what I have read - and I have read nothing that says I have to pay advance charges. I don't want to annoy you or waste your time but I really want to know where we stand on this. Can you - if you wouldn't mind and have the time - please show me the letter of the law which requires I pay advance charges to my water company? If proven wrong I will have to alter my position - I would hate to put someone in trouble due to my ignorance.
  Many thanks for listening - I do go on a bit, but I feel strongly about this subject.
• Council ask for money a year in advance...in April...they offer as a method of payment the opportunity to pay monthly. If a payment is missed they send a letter reminding the customer to pay. If that letter is ignored or a payment is made and another payment is missed then they go to court to get the remaining amount due for the 12 months. They don't just ask for the one missed payment. They go for the lot and get a liability order declaring the amount is owed by the customer to the council with which the council can take further action.
  Almost everything which isn't metered is paid for in advance. If the due date for that payment is missed then the creditor could go to court to enforce payment.
  The same with South Staffs...they send you a bill and give you some time to pay it... if unpaid they send a reminder asking again for payment then they if still not paid they send another reminder as a final demand then they give up sending letters and ask the court for a CCJ against the customer. The Water Industry Act 1999 gives them the power to bill and collect payment. Of course if they don't know who you are as you have not entered into a contract with South Staffs and told them who you are then they can't take court action, they can't disconnect you and they also have very little power to find out who you are so you basically get free water with little risk of court action.
• Thanks for the input again Cardew - much appreciated.
  The points you make all sound sensible and correct to a degree, but looking at my situation I am a tenant who is unlikely to get his landlord to agree to my water supply being stopped, so in reality I do not have the choice.
  Point 3. is interesting - am I really bound by their terms and conditions, as I agreed nothing with them? And point 5. - as I say above, there is no debt until I have used the services. I would love to be sued for non-payment of advance charges, but that's unlikely.
  On your summary I have to comment thus: I do personally have to receive a water supply, and even if I agree that I have to accept the government sanctioned conditions, I do not accept that a condition of receiving a water supply is that you pay 6 months in advance. I accept that the law says that OFWAT can allow water companies to ask for charges in advance, but do not accept that consumers are in any way obliged to pay in advance. Perhaps if you could change your supplier you would then be in a position to contract with them, and would be obligated to them according to your agreement with them. I have no agreement with my water company - i just started getting bills when they all got privatised.
• If you don't want to pay 6 months in advance why don't you get a meter and pay 3 months in arrears?
• So given that I cannot stop South Staffs supplying me, and given that they cannot unilaterally stop my supply, I am forced to have their services - like it or not. If they are not prepared to follow through on their threats of court action to recover advance charges then they should just desist. What can they say in court? 'OFWAT says we can ask for 6 months in advance'? So what? Where is the onus on the consumer? There is none on this one, and plenty of others, I contend.
  I feel we may not make much progress, as it's all hypothetical unless a court has made an order dealing with this issue.
  I will, however, just say that the law can be interpreted in different ways - even solidly based 'facts' of law can be seen in different light if studied closely, such as the right of parents to home educate their children. I believe there is such a right, the government says there is such a right, but looking at the strict letter of the law i fear I may be wrong. Anyway, just wanted to point out that it's not always perfectly clear just what the position is.