Just had water cut off as bill not paid FUMING

steveandjane · by **steveandjane** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:33 pm

we had our water cut off 2 days ago... went to pay the bill and they said we owed 800 euros from 2003... we didnt buy the house until 2006... we had to pay this to get the water turned on... we are fuming as there are children at the house... the solicitor we used has done a runner... the bank couldnt help... just said they cant do this... but they did... what can we do about this its very very annoying

Jan · by **Jan** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 2:38 pm

steveandjane wrote:we had our water cut off 2 days ago... went to pay the bill and they said we owed 800 euros from 2003... we didnt buy the house until 2006... we had to pay this to get the water turned on... we are fuming as there are children at the house... the solicitor we used has done a runner... the bank couldnt help... just said they cant do this... but they did... what can we do about this its very very annoying

That all seems very strange. Have you been paying the water bills from 2006 and were they up to date since then? If so why would they cut off the supply now and not before as it's 9 years since you moved in?

Obviously you had to pay to get it re-connected but I think you have a case for a refund if you can get all the paperwork together proving when you moved in and started paying bills. You may also have all your solicitors paperwork from the house-buy, as they are supposed to check for debts on property as part of the conveyance process, even if you can't contact them.

Jan

steveandjane · by **steveandjane** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 3:41 pm

Jan the solicitor we used has done a runner but i will go through the mountain of paperwork... i wouldnt care the bills are still in his name yet the direct debit comes from our account... only in spain this happens grrr

marcliff · by **marcliff** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 3:56 pm

Unfortunately, debts on houses in Spain (and cars) stay with the property, not the owner.
Of course, this is what we pay solicitors for, to check there are no outstanding debts.
Shame you can't get your solicitor if he's legged it.
It does, sorry to say, gives buying in Spain a bad name which is quite often justified.

steveandjane · by **steveandjane** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:41 pm

Its a shame when you cant trust a solicitor and even they are doing runners... TRUST NO ONE ....

Just had water cut off as bill not paid FUMING