Legal Threat addressed to the occupier

30-12-2008, 09:29 PM

I have a water bill threatening to take further action, the bill is addressed to the occupier. I understand that in order to be in contract under commercial law there has to be a name (person). Is there anything they can do without a name?

stinker · 30-12-2008, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alternative_answer

I have a water bill threatening to take further action, the bill is addressed to the occupier. I understand that in order to be in contract under commercial law there has to be a name (person). Is there anything they can do without a name?

Do you own your house or rent - the way the company will take it forward is different depending on your answer.

stinker · 31-12-2008, 10:29 AM

Water companies are an unusual type of creditor, so your residential status matters. A few years ago it was decided that cutting off water supplies was an uncivilised way to treat people, even if they didn't pay their water bills. Essentially, public health outweighed other considerations.

Therefore, it is now illegal for a water company to cut off your supply. Assuming that you are responsible for paying the bill (for example, it's your household and you are using the service) there are a number of ways the company will get you to pay them.

The name issue is a bit of a red herring. There are plenty of ways that the company can and will find out your name if they need to issue a summons.

If you are a homeowner, they will look at the Land Registry's records, issue a summons against the owner of the property and if the bill remains unsatisfied, you will get a CCJ. The company will then apply for a charging order against your property, meaning you will be unable to sell your house before the debt is satisfied.

If you are a tenant, the landlord when contacted, will pass on your details. You will then get a summons and then a CCJ. There are a number of debt enforcement orders that can then be taken, including an attachment of earnings order.

31-12-2008, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stinker

Do you own your house or rent - the way the company will take it forward is different depending on your answer.

Rent!

tracker · 31-12-2008, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alternative_answer

I have a water bill threatening to take further action, the bill is addressed to the occupier. I understand that in order to be in contract under commercial law there has to be a name (person). Is there anything they can do without a name?

there are a few poeple on my thread here that can help you .

if you apraoch them in pm style please say that you saw their post on the thread before asking for help . its only manners mind .

anyway read the thread , its not big and people will help you .

here is the link .

http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39433

stinker · 31-12-2008, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alternative_answer

Rent!

Well, at least you don't have to worry about a charging order then.

It's up to you do decide what you want to do of course and I don't want to pry. Is it a case of you are unable to pay the bill, or that you don't want to pay the bill?

If its the case that you are unable to pay, I've usually found water companies to be quite reasonable (they have to be because they can't cut you off!). You can usually pay overdue bills monthly by DD, rather than having to find the whole amount before entering into a payment arrangement.

If it's a case of you don't want to pay, then as I've said before - you won't lose your water supply, but you will get a ccj which can affect your credit rating for 6 years and generally make your life difficult. Also, if they were to get an attachment of earnings order - the money will be taken from your wages before they get to you.

It's worth mentioning also that there is a little known section of the DPA that allows access to certain records from the council if it is with a view to litigation. It may be that the water company gets your details from the landlord. Or they could use this section of the DPA to find out from the council who is paying the council tax at your address and get your name that way.

That's assuming you pay council tax, of course, worth noting that council tax non-payment issues start getting dodgy as you move from the civil to the criminal.

30-12-2008, 09:29 PM	#1
alternative_answer Guest Posts: n/a	Legal Threat addressed to the occupier I have a water bill threatening to take further action, the bill is addressed to the occupier. I understand that in order to be in contract under commercial law there has to be a name (person). Is there anything they can do without a name?

31-12-2008, 10:29 AM	#3
stinker Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 143	Water companies are an unusual type of creditor, so your residential status matters. A few years ago it was decided that cutting off water supplies was an uncivilised way to treat people, even if they didn't pay their water bills. Essentially, public health outweighed other considerations. Therefore, it is now illegal for a water company to cut off your supply. Assuming that you are responsible for paying the bill (for example, it's your household and you are using the service) there are a number of ways the company will get you to pay them. The name issue is a bit of a red herring. There are plenty of ways that the company can and will find out your name if they need to issue a summons. If you are a homeowner, they will look at the Land Registry's records, issue a summons against the owner of the property and if the bill remains unsatisfied, you will get a CCJ. The company will then apply for a charging order against your property, meaning you will be unable to sell your house before the debt is satisfied. If you are a tenant, the landlord when contacted, will pass on your details. You will then get a summons and then a CCJ. There are a number of debt enforcement orders that can then be taken, including an attachment of earnings order.