VULNERABLE residents are being threatened with bailiffs and court action by Thames Water after they were forced to change the way they pay their water bills.

William Clapton, 75, who suffers from chronic back pain and cannot walk long distances, was told he owed the company £817.08 in February. Mr Clapton lives in sheltered housing owned by housing association giant Clarion in Archway and previously paid his water bill within his rent.

He said: “It used to be around 10 pounds a week. You didn’t really notice it. After this letter threatening me with bailiffs I’ve been so stressed – I guess I’m going to die soon anyway.”

Mr Clapton said he was forced to start paying Thames Water directly around a year-and-a-half ago.

Water provision was privatised by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1989 and Thames Water reported “underlying operating profits” of just over half-a-billion pounds last year. It has faced criticism in Islington following a spate of burst mains pipes, including one in Angel which caused millions of pounds worth of damage three years ago.

Mr Clapton said the new payment system was “confusing” and he did not understand how he had racked up such a huge debt unless the cost of water had “hugely” increased.

“It’s making me hate being old. Enjoy your youth because it’s horrible when you’re old, things like this happen,” he said.

He received a “final demand” notice in the post last week saying if he does not pay £34.82 by Tuesday he would have to pay the outstanding bill totalling more than £700 and be “pursued by a debt collection agency” or face “court action”.

Mr Clapton said: “I don’t have that money. All I have is my pension. All I have is my dog. It feels like Thames Water don’t care. I’ve spoken to them on the phone and all they say is ‘pay the full amount and then we’ll sort it out’.”

He said his neighbours in the block were also struggling with the new payment system.

All Islington residents in council housing will be switched over to paying Thames Water directly from April 2021, according to a Thames Water representative.

A spokesman for Thames Water said an “extra care team” would be in contact with Mr Clapton to help him with his payments.

They added: “We’ve had a longstanding agreement with local authority housing associations where they’ve collected water charges on our behalf. However, we’ve since decided to bill the residents directly. This allows us to offer better, more personalised support to our vulnerable customers so we can help with affordability and build direct positive relationships.

“Customers are at the heart of everything we do at Thames Water, and, as part of our record £10.9billion business plan for 2020-25, we’ve pledged to increase our priority services register to 400,000 people and offer more than 200,000 customers who find it hard to pay discounts of up to 75 per cent.”

A spokeswoman for Clarion said: “We are sorry to hear the resident in this particular case is experiencing difficulty and we understand Thames Water is working proactively with them towards a resolution.”

• William Clapton’s real name was changed at his request.