Debt collectors are chasing my 84-year-old mother over a water bill

I’m the treasurer of a tiny Methodist church in Cheshire and have been trying to contact Water Plus for several months about our estimated bill. It did not respond and now debt collectors are chasing my 84-year-old mother to pay £500.

I contacted the company in early April because the chapel did not have enough money in its current account to pay a £180 bill. The chapel is only used twice a month from March to October but our usage was skewed by a burst pipe in 2022.

I asked Water Plus to read the meter because neither I, nor other members of the mainly elderly congregation, are able to do so. It is under water on the front lawn. We are happy to pay the bill once the balance owed is adjusted.

I emailed six times but received no response other than automated ones, and also made several callback requests . Instead, the bill was passed to a debt collection agency with the balance in my vulnerable mother’s name. She is extremely stressed and worried about this, as am I.

Our bill needs to be paid and the debt cancelled but while it was £180 before, the debt collectors want £500, which is about three years’ worth of water use. I don’t know what to do.

HS, Nantwich

No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes, and agreeing to help with the chapel’s admin meant your mother had its bills sent to her home. However, when you queried the bill, and so did not pay on time, the account was put into a debt process.

Water Plus has form in this area. It was the worst-performing supplier in the non-household market for customer complaints in the 2021-22 financial year (the most recent figures available), according to the Consumer Council for Water.

The irony is this could all have been avoided as the bill was pretty accurate thanks to the company taking two readings a year.

Water Plus says: “We’re really sorry about any delay in our response, and have apologised to HS and agreed payment for the water supplied. We’ve cancelled additional charges for this account. We encourage all customers and sites to note meter readings regularly during the year, if the meter is safe to access, and provide these online to reduce estimated bills, along with helping to spot any issues like water leaks early.”

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