What will happen if you refuse to pay a bill that you cant afford to pay.?

Question

my daughter owes £2000 for water rates. she cant possibly pay it.

Answer 1

first of all they will turn the water of then do a county court on you then if you do not pay the ballifs will take your possesions to pay the bill.now what i do not understand is how come you have a water bill for this much my bill is only 200 pounds a year so if you went by that then you are talking about a 10 year bill something does not add up right. i just cannot se any water co having a bill out standing for 10 years. in fact i would go as far to say you are not telling the truth here

Answer 2

She cannot 'refuse' to pay it,if she refuses then she will b ein more trouble,they will not turn off the water (they can't do that),however they will get debt collecters involved and if she doesn't make an agreement with them to pay then they can get the baliffs to take her belongings,its a lengthy process but it is not worth the hassle,if she calls them and tells them her situation they will make an agreement for her to pay so much each week/month,ignoring it will not make it go away-they WILL get their money,she needs to get on the phone to them straight away.

Answer 3

They will turn off her water.  that seems like a lot of money for a water bill.  Why can she not pay her bills?  That is the real question.  Needs to work with utility and set up payment plan.

Answer 4

the letter usually has a phone number you can ring if you have problems paying the bill, where hey try to sort out paying in installments and maybe writing of some of the debt  

If you dont contact them they will cut off the water supply and go legal.

She should go to or ring citizen advise and they will be able to advise her of her options.  I know there is a scheme where up to 60% off the debt can be written off if she follows a payment plan.

hope this helps

Answer 5

Well surely your daughter must be able to pay in installments?

Tell her to ring up with an offer  of what she wants to pay each week, and see what they say

Answer 6

they will probley turn off you water so you cant have it, that means no shower or tape water. they also might send her a notices telling her to. wait and see ;)

Answer 7

She will have to offer some sort of payment as her water will be turned off, she will end up in court, debt collectors, bailiffs will get involved its not worth it. Has she just left the bill to mount up or is this a recent will? if its a recent bill they need to come and check the water my neighbour got a huge bill it ended up water was leaking out the front of her house which meant her water was continuously registering on her water metre the council had to pay the bill in the end.

Answer 8

I had a 2000 euro electricity bill, had a word with a manager and  I now pay off 10 a week and there are no problems. Its a matter of negotiation - i strongly doubt your daughter can be denied her right to water.

Answer 9

They will send her to collections which would ruin the credit score, and they would cancel her water. How did she possibly build up this much debt from water use? She may have a leaking pipe or something, because that is a ridiculous amount to have to pay.

Answer 10

They will turn off the water eventually.

Answer 11

It will either be turned over to a collection agency, where they will continue to collect on the debt. Or it will be turned over to a legal department where the company will try to sue your daughter for the balance in full + court fees.

Either way, your daughter won't be able to get a water bill in her name until the debt is cleared and utilities can affect your credit.

Answer 12

telephone the company and explain the situation, and offer to pay it off at a certain amount each month, often they will accept any amount

they may suggest putting an water meter in as well

Answer 13

She can offer to pay by instalements.

It would be easier to pay a little bit extra each month.  That seems a bit steep for water rates!  Has she been missing payments?

They should have noticed before it arrived at £2000, and tried to help her.

The money advice bureau at the Citizens advice will be of use to her.  In future, remind her that it is better to face debt head on rather than deny it.  We're all feeling the strain at the moment, so she is not alone.

Good luck :)

Answer 14

it depends where you are, i mean location wise

i think you can negotiate with the water company and pay bit by bits. Lets say 10 a week or so.

if you don't pay you may end having your name put under ccj at the end will bad credits.

try this site as well may help

www.GovernmentDebtAdvice.co.uk

good luck

Answer 15

I assume since you have said £ then you are in britain.  if so then her water will not be cut off - there is legislation to prevent it.

However she will end up in court with court fees to pay.

She needs to call the water company and make arrangements to pay over time.  If she can't afford the current bill and something towards the arrears then she really need to get down to the citizens Advice Bureau and get her finances sorted - make sure she is claiming all the benefits she is entitled to.