Anglian water...confused?!

[deethebee]

Ok so I got a bill from Anglian Water from an old address to my new address - the agents gave them our forwarding address, how kind of them. Anyway, we didn't receive the first bill and then we went away for a few weeks and then when we got back there was a letter from Frontier Debt Collections. I was about to start the 3 letter process with them, but then a couple of days later I got a letter from Orbit Debt Collections ALSO chasing the debt for Anglian Water. So I wrote to Orbit, 10 days ago. Today I'm ready to send them the 2nd letter to them when I receive another bill in the post from Anglian water for the same debt they passed on to 2 debt collection agencies!

Now I'm confused - if they've sold the debt on, then why is it that they are still sending us bills for the amount? I'm just going to A4V it but I was just wondering if anyone could share some insight.

[joshincommerce]

I always AFV any bit of paper with a money demand figure on it. This keeps you in honour and you can then deal with any other criminal demands via the three step processes afterwards, or you could do a proof of claim followed by a Self Authenticating Contract leading to lien.

You could also send them a Prom Note.

[hermajestythequeen]

Over the past 12 months or so ive had over 10 different dca's contacting me and all correspondence has either been binned or sent back return to sender.
None of them have persisted for more than a couple of months and eventually have gone away.

Comparing this to when i previously have responded with 3 letter processeses this seems alot easier and less time consuming.

[deethebee]

I think what I was confused most about was why it had seemingly gone to debt collectors but was now back to Anglian Water sending me the bill again. As it's been explained, they supposedly sell the debt on to a debt collector - assumingly at a lower amount - and then the debt collector goes on to retrieve the full amount from the client so that they make a profit. However, if that was the case and the debt collection agencies had bought the debt, surely they haven't sent ONE letter and decided to sell it on to yet another debt collection agency? And then that debt collection agency send ONE letter and sell it back to Anglian Water?? To me it seems most likely that Anglian Water contact a couple of agencies and tell them whoever gets me to pay the money back then gets a commission from it but when they get no response after 1 letter, they decide whatever commission they're going to get from £80 is not worth the time and energy of doing anything more and they pass it back to AW who then go about trying to get the money from me themselves again.

But this is the thing - I don't know what's right anymore. If one piece of information is being given out and doesn't seem to add up then it makes me ask where the information is coming from in the first place? I mean, I heard of Veronica Chapman sending a letter to a debt collection agency saying, "Thanks for paying my debt, now it no longer exists" or something like. But that can't be true. Or maybe it's just in some cases...I don't know. And the problem is I can't find this information out by just searching the internet - you kind of have to have insider information to find out first hand you know?

I'm sorry to sound doubtful, but I don't want to be one of those people who just believes whatever someone tells them without doing any research myself or asking questions. Look where the world is because of people doing just that! So yeah, I'm just trying to equip myself with all the knowledge on the subject that I can. Knowledge is power as they say . And if you're going to put yourself in the line of fire, you better have something to back you up and know what you're talking about, right?

[polo126]

Its more than likely that Anglian water got the DCA to attempt to
put fear into you to pay for a fee thats why you were still billed again by Anglian water, other lenders will indeed sell the debt on to a DCA you should than get a letter of assignment still a pile of crap, in this situation the rights of the third party come into play. there is more information on other posts in the forums and success in beating them off.

[ceylon]

they dont always sell it on sometimes they pay commission if they get paid once its sold then it gets resold plus the fact they know once you are on here your not going to pay anyway

and always do your own research, never belive anything.

i always try things then say what happened

if your unsure wither dont do anything or try it and see and let us know what happened

[charterman]

Anglia Water have been billing me for nearly a year now over bills for various amounts from £90 to £54, all for the same address and same period. I am on a water meter and when I moved in the leaving tenant gave me the meter reading. Since then I have used 4 units.

When their engineer came to read it he admitted that they had been overcharging this address for years. I haven't paid their demands and have no intention of doing so because they do not reflect my usage. They got my details from my landlord which surely must constitute a breach of data protection. They always write in capital letters which is another reason they ain't getting paid.

Like you I have had letters from various debt collectors. Frontier are Anglia Water. They are not an external debt collector and I know they have others all based within AW.

To deal with them I sent the first of the 3 letters calling Frontier an ' interloper '. They didn't like that. They claim the bill is estimated because I didn't tell them I had moved in. The previous tenant told them she had moved out and gave them the meter reading and as it was a mutual exchange, the moving in/out days were the same. I note how the estimated bills are always in their favour by huge amounts.

Having a water meter seems pointless to me because AW simply ignore it and send you an over inflated bill anyway. If you don't pay it immediately, they then start harassing you with debt collectors, which is what they are doing to you now. At my previous address I had a meter fitted. They simply ignored my readings and were unable/unwilling to explain how a usage of 21 units gave a bill of £52 and a usage of 4 units gave a bill of £74. ( The previous bill had been paid - silly me! )