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Unfair billing system by St Water
The water company's billing system is confusing to say the least. First when I moved into property I was sent an annual bill for the water account. This specified exactly what the charges would be every year for fresh water and waste water and highway drainage. This would be fixed since the property is 'unmetered' therefore bill would be about the same each year ( 365 days) from date of moving into property. Since bill was in advance as it covered a period of 12 months in the future ( I had just moved into property) in May so I had at least a few months to pay half of it and then another few months to clear to it. The bill specified the dates as well to pay by however it wasn't long before I got a letter stating ' bill was overdue' and if not settled then escalation procedures would be initiated. This seemed strange since bill was in advance and so technically the company would be making demands for payment for goods / services that they had not yet provided. So naturally I was reluctant to settle bill in full because my thinking at the time was " what if my circumstances change and I have to move then I would have paid for services/ goods not received. What would be my chances of getting a refund" I phoned the water company and explained this. I paid half the bill and was going to wait at least 5 months to clear the rest. However problems started because although my bill was from April to March 2019 in January 2020 another bill was generated which had a new charges for the year April 2020 to March 2021. This was added to outstanding balance but then a new charge appeared marked as adjustment and this was for £300 thus doubling what my bill was actually meant to be. At the time none of the customer services advisors could tell me what the adjustment was for. They simply stated ' the system doesn't specify'.
I queried this and didn't get any answers so I raised a dispute regarding the bill and these charges and how demand for payment was being made for services/ goods not yet provided. I was informed my complaint was being looked into and these charges would be investigated. I didn't hear back from them for months but I thought it takes a bit of time to fully investigate.
in April 2020 another bill was generated ( only saw this when I logged into online account) which included the yearly charge previously applied in January's bill plus the adjustment as well as yet another charge of the same amount as yearly charge but marked as latest spend total. At this point my bill which should have been for £290 ( £100 outstanding + £190 new charge) , was now £750 and it didn't even account for the £90 I paid. I phoned about this but was told that's what you owe.
A different advisor the next time I called to try and resolve this then mentioned that the adjustment is pertaining an account from an old address but I am sure everything was resolved by the time I moved out of that property and because it was for a period so far back I asked them to give me more details about that bill specifically which dates it covered. The advisor would get back to me after Christmas but still hasn't.
It seems I am being charged twice for the period from April 2020 to March 2021.
I am sure the adjustment is for a period after I had left previous property and therefore is NOT my bill. I again did not use the water or services that that bill is for and so why should I pay someone else's bill.
Please help with any advice and basically what I should do and how I go about fighting this. I am more than happy to pay MY dues but I don't want and I cannot afford to pay other people's bills.
I queried this and didn't get any answers so I raised a dispute regarding the bill and these charges and how demand for payment was being made for services/ goods not yet provided. I was informed my complaint was being looked into and these charges would be investigated. I didn't hear back from them for months but I thought it takes a bit of time to fully investigate.
in April 2020 another bill was generated ( only saw this when I logged into online account) which included the yearly charge previously applied in January's bill plus the adjustment as well as yet another charge of the same amount as yearly charge but marked as latest spend total. At this point my bill which should have been for £290 ( £100 outstanding + £190 new charge) , was now £750 and it didn't even account for the £90 I paid. I phoned about this but was told that's what you owe.
A different advisor the next time I called to try and resolve this then mentioned that the adjustment is pertaining an account from an old address but I am sure everything was resolved by the time I moved out of that property and because it was for a period so far back I asked them to give me more details about that bill specifically which dates it covered. The advisor would get back to me after Christmas but still hasn't.
It seems I am being charged twice for the period from April 2020 to March 2021.
I am sure the adjustment is for a period after I had left previous property and therefore is NOT my bill. I again did not use the water or services that that bill is for and so why should I pay someone else's bill.
Please help with any advice and basically what I should do and how I go about fighting this. I am more than happy to pay MY dues but I don't want and I cannot afford to pay other people's bills.
