Thames Water/tm Legal - old water bill old address

[Guest]

I've not heard of tm Legal but had a letter from them regarding an old water bill from 2018, for a few months at an old address.

 

Are they a debt collection agency? or solicitors? we did look them up but are a bit confused.

 

The amount is £310 and am not even sure it is owed.

It was a very stressful period in my life and I almost had a meltdown.

  I ended up moving again not long after. 

They don't state the full period this amount covers, only a start date. 

[dx100uk]

no as they say they are solicitors.

whom are their client?

 

dx

 

[Guest]

the client is thames water

 

Right so if they are solicitors then I need to contact them obviously.

I'll get my head around how to handle it.

I need them to give me a date end as they haven't.

 

There is no address for writing to them it seems all is done online or by phone.

Phone calls are a no no for me in general so i'll get someone to help me with their website.

[dx100uk]

I would send TW an SAR with a ctax copy, get all the info. Then they'll have your correct address and can't issue a backdoor ccj .

 

It's not a letter of claim is it? Just a phishing letter?

 

Dx

 

 

[Guest]

It just says they have been instructed by thames water in relation to an outstanding balance of £310 arising from an upaid water supply which began 20/08/2018.

 

Then goes on to say that if my current financial situation does not allow me to pay this debit in full they are authorised by the client to set up affordable instalment repayment plan.

 

The letter directs me to call them or go on the website and set it up..

I haven't done anything yet.

This is why I thought they were debt collectors..but they are solicitors?

 

yes i'll get a sar put together for thames water and see what happens..

 

just baffled why it has no details on it ie the old address..or the end date of the period they are chasing for.

 

They have written to my current address so assume they had that. 

 

All that is on there is this amount and a start date and thames water... no address or end date...is this not odd?

[dx100uk]

Not sure we've seen TW pair with TM to date . It could well be they signed a deal to chase old debts to see how they get on with people panicking and just paying up 

 

Typically water companies don't mess around and go zstraight in for a ccj if they are confident and not wait years and do nothing 

 

Dx

[Guest]

I can't upload the letter but it reads like a dca letter. A log in to online account option to either pay in full/part pay/make an offer. I'd have thought a solicitor would include the full address of the previous billed property and start and end date of water account. 

 

Apparently they are authorised by TW to set up affordable instalment repayment plan. There is a QR code thing on it which i've no clue about using but also a website address to set up payment.

 

They understand that everyone's circumstances are different and say that there could be extra assistance available to support me with my payments and may help reduce current outstanding balance. Then the phone number to ring them to discuss.

 

At the moment i'm trying to survive and keep fairly warm. Still on UC LCWRA until Jan when state pension begins.

The letter only came this morning, i'll have to think about this and decide something tomorrow I think. 

Nobody has signed the letter it just ends Yours Sincerely TM Legal.

 

 

[dx100uk]

don't need to see it

quite std for them to act as if they are a dca, if they get payment they get a cut.

 

quite safe to ignore TM unless you get a letter of claim.

 

get that SAR running

then comeback here with the info.

if TW had wanted their money and thought they had a cast iron case they would have done court years ago.

 

nothing to worry about at all.

dx

 

 

[Guest]

I'm wondering if tw have other arrears and if this could trigger off digging them out.

 

I say this as I was ill years back, when I first came here for help. I had years of mental health and physical issues and other things going on that made it all worse. Water bills were kind of off and on paid as food/gas/electric drained me.

 

It all came to a head in 2018 and early 2019 I moved miles away and started again.

 

Due to the reasons i'd moved I changed names. But obv name changes are on system which is how they found me now.

 

I don't want to make anything worse for me if an SAR could do that?

 

At the end of the day whatever amount they were to even go to court for I could still only pay very little a month.

 

I'll look up on here for SAR template.

 

Thank you dx

Edited November 21, 2022 by dx100uk

[dx100uk]

wish you'd space your posts!! thats 3 ive done for you

this is not ruddy facebook!!

 

dx

 

[Guest]

Sorry. I'll remember that.

 

I don't use Faceache but I get your point.

[dx100uk]

stop worrying about this.

 

its a tall order to prove you were/were not there for the whole of their bills they must be disclose.

 

i suspect this is a phishing exercise to see if you respond, if you dont they'd then try a getting a backdoor ccj using that old address.

 

dx

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

The latest letter arrived now saying if no payment plan etc offered by 24/12/2022 they will consider it for legal action.

 

I'll wait until they do and see what happens. The will know where I have lived previously as councils can and do give out addresses to utility companies and I will be on the voting info for those addresses.

 

I'll see what happens when they have considered the legal action, am sure (memory) there would be a letter pre the action being taken.

[dx100uk]

Did you send that sar and thus legally informing them of your correct and current address, preventing a backdoor ccj 

 

Dx

[Guest]

yes we did ask for details of info held in that name at this address. 

 

This morning we have now also emailed it.

 

There had been a name change so they may be wanting proof of that but will see when a reply comes. 

 

 

[Guest]

Right. There had been no reply to the letter sent re SAR. The person who posted it for me paid postage, now can't find the receipt, am wondering if it was indeed sent recorded.

 

However as said yesterday, we then emailed TW to ask for the info of SAR at my current address.

There has also been name change.

 

They have already replied. 

 

They have replied asking for 2 forms of ID, one must have a photo

 

They also want proof of name change, expected, I have deed poll.

 

I have nothing with photo on for ID. I do not drive and have no passport. 

 

They request the name change proof as they have no record of my current name on the account.

[dx100uk]

Photo is a no-no 

How the beep can they prove or disprove it's you??

 

Dx

[Guest]

My thoughts exactly. I haven't replied to the email as yet. 

 

They now obviously know the account and that the address they now have is for me,

 

whether they believe I am the person named on that account or not. Data protection is what they are concerned with which I obviously understand but photo id.. ridiculous. 

 

I can only think that as I knew of, councils give forwarding addresses etc to utility companies, and councils take photo of new tenants now, they said it was so the tenant can be id'd.

 

I've been led to believe some tenants sub let and don't live in the property they were allocated. 

 

I'll send another copy of council tax bill, with deed poll copy ?  That can be done via scan and email.

 

I must emphasise that we are more than happy to process this SAR for you, however before we can do that we would require the following:

 

What to do next

 

Please send a copy of two separate forms of ID to subject.access@thameswater.co.uk

 

At least one of your IDs needs to feature a photograph of you. We can accept:

• A current photo driving licence
• A passport or identity card
• Your birth certificate
• A UK Armed Forces ID car

 

Also in this instance are you able to provide any official documentation which states that your name has been changed to ***. as there is no evidence of this change on our system.

 

Also just to make things clear the ID will only be obtained for the purposes of verifying the data subject in relation to the SAR, therefore after the ID will be deleted.

 This is what they emailed to me. I replied that I do not have any photo id. Which is the case as I don't drive or travel and have no id card. They have not yet replied. If photo id is essential then I cannot get the SAR.

 

They  have replied again and will update with deed poll proof only...

 

now I just have to wait, just received this

 

I can confirm that we’ve received your Data Protection questions. 

 

In line with the Data Protection Act 2018, we will provide you with a copy of your personal data within one calendar month. We’ll send you your data by no later than 23^rd January 2023.

 

If your request is particularly complex, then we may extend the time to respond by up to a further two months. We will of course let you know if this is the case.

 

Your pack will be sent via secure file transfer email.

 

For further details on your information rights, please refer to our privacy notice www.thameswater.co.uk/legal/privacy.

 

while I am waiting for the above SAR... the tm legal are to consider on 24th december if legal action will be taken. 

 

That is all I have to date.

[dx100uk]

Only their client can ever start legal action, not TM 

 

TM can't do it without being instructed and hired by TW 

 

Dx

[Guest]

Thank you, we have re read through the letters, they say TW don't want to go the legal route just want a payment or payment plan. As I haven't replied to TM was the 24th comment.

 

However TW are sorting the SAR within the times given in email reply. So I will wait until I receive it. Then I will return here as requested to see the best way forward.

 

I hope you are having some time to yourselves over the holiday period.

 

[FruitSalad1010]

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provide some guidance on whether an organisation can request a form of ID in response to a Data Subject Access Request.

ICO - Can we ask for ID?

Whether it is reasonable for them to do so is another question.

 

If you do not believe your request has been actioned as you expect you could raise a complaint with the ICO.

Edited December 26, 2022 by FruitSalad1010

[Ethel Street]

I have never understood why photo ID is a reasonable request if the SAR supplier is never going to meet you in person.

 

I can see why photo ID is required for say right to work checks or buying age restricted products. You want to know that the person standing in front of you is the person the documents relate to.

 

But how does that work for an SAR? If someone submits fake documents with an SAR request how does having a photo on it that isn't you either help validate your details?

[Guest]

I emailed TW advising them I had no photo Id, they then replied and have accepted other info instead. The SAR will get to me within the month. 

[Rachel from Isleworth]

I had letters and a email from TM Legal with regards to Thames Water. I phoned them up to check if anything else was owed on the account before paying it in full.

 

They confirmed that the account was now closed and passed back to Thames Water. It’s been 10 days and still not showing on my Thames Water online account.

 

I’ve now contacted Thames Water asking them to investigate.

[honeybee13]

Hi Rachel, welcome to CAG.

 

If you would like our advice on your problem, please start a new thread of your own. This one is for advising Ruby_Tuesday.

 

Best, HB