Well it's about 3 years since I paid the water bill. Get the occasional letter inviting me to pay a lot of money.
A guy from the water did also show up wondering who lived here... which was a bit bizarre since they've been writing to me, but I think they presumed I'd moved out so were asking for my details.... which I declined to give for security reasons.
I've also had them out to clear out the blocked drains.... I presumed as soon as I phoned them they'd be mithering for the cash.... but nope.

I started doing this with all utilities as a bit of an experiment, because I was sick of how fucking expensive they all were.
The gas & electric got to a couple of years without paying before they turned up mob handed & forced me to have meters, which are most inconvenient and now I'm having to pay back the large debts I'd run up with them, so that didn't go too well. But it seems the water have nothing up their sleeve on that front. I know that in some parts of the country such as Devon & Cornwall water is about 3x as expensive as it is here, and I know for a fact that this is a massive struggle for some people to pay.

Disclaimer:
This isn't intended as advice or a suggestion that you should do it.... you are responsible for yourselves....
that money has definitely been put to better use than sitting in some fat cat bank account though!

Water should always be the last bill paid. I suspect, but could never nail it, there's some human rights angle to it. CAB can also help you apply to some fund the water company keeps quiet, I forget the name, and if you want to 'go legit' and reset your bill offering them about a 1/4 of it seems to do the trick.

This was a few years back now so I'd check it with CAB as a minimum before following it as advice.

Can someone explain please?

What's a water bill?

May be useful.

grants-search.turn2us.org.uk/

oioioi wrote:
Spot on. If you are in serious debt a quid a month is probably a large offer to settle.
There is a fund/grant that will help you write off any debts - the CAB, as oioi states can help you with that.

You could be a complete curmudgeon and never attempt to pay - and that would make awesome case history and open up a huge can of worms for the gubmint but its not for the faint hearted.

In my previous address I didn't pay any of my water bills for about 10 years, certainly as long as they stopped including it in the rates. I only had a couple of visits I think, but I seldom answered the door so I'm not sure. The water company I am with, Anglian Water, successfully applied for a Charging Order on the property which amounted to a couple of thousand pounds. When the house was sold Anglian Water received the Charging Order amount before I got anything (which was painful). I also owed all the money that accrued since the charging order was made. This only affects you if you mortgage or own the property of course.

The charity debt right-off works very well but bear in mind if you do not keep up with your water bills after they have settled the original amount becomes due again. I am not sure if this is the case with all water companies but it definitely is with Anglian Water. If this happens you can apply again after two years (which I am doing).

I do have a mortgage but I reckon the water company are now unsure as to who lives here, so they might struggle to get a charging order.
Hopefully the house will be sold by the summer & I'll be happily sharking off without giving them anything, like a sneaky sharky curmudgeon.
Doubtless it will come back to bite me on th'ass though...

under environmental health laws they cant cut off a residential address if occupied, worst thing they can do is get you a bad credit rating and send debt collectors round, one way to avoid this is to put the bill into a bogus name, of if your cheeky use someone you don't like much!

I used this approach and never paid a water bill in 10 years before living with my better half.