Water Meter Wrong ? should i have to pay difference

f1widow · 22 March 2010 at 7:42PM

Hi - I have been informed today by water company that Im not being billed enough water useage - this was discovered when I called to rearrange to budget payments and the advisor stated that it didnt look as if we were billed enough based on 2 adults and one child in property - we have been in property for one year and this meter has been read twice by them.

I have to say that I was probably having head in sand for past year as to be honest I would not know how much cubic meter of water consisted of and had just paid bills because they did not seem too out of the way.

Now my problem is house had been renovated by builder and we were first to live in it - we made a note of meter reading when first bill came in it was read by them and started on 1 again - to be fair the builder/owner had said he was sorting his bills out with company and when first bill came it was all set up in our name etc - so being a "new" property i thought perhaps the meter was put to zero when first occupants came.

Ive probably been a bit dim on this one but just wondered:-
a)if the company have been reading meter and they have either read the wrong meter or meter is not working should we now be charged the difference from when we moved in to now - they say they are going to look at our daily consumption and just average it to come some where near my meter readings???????? and said a maintenance man would come to look at this

If Ive been dim and I still should be billed then all well and good but if there is a loophole that they have read the wrong meter etc or meter not working then would like to know - thanks

Gothicfairy · 22 March 2010 at 8:02PM

Really they can back bill for 6 years so yes, they can do what they are saying.
It does sound like they are being fair though and allowing average daily consumption but if the bill started on 1 I can't see how it can get more expensive unless they go from zero but that is only a couple of quid at most.
I am not really sure where they can go unless there is any evidence they have been reading the wrong meter.

Is the meter serial number on the bill the same as your meter serial number ?

f1widow · 22 March 2010 at 8:12PM

to be honest I do not know which meter is ours now as it is in a multi point - 4 other houses in the same hole so to speak - when we moved in the builder went in the hole - we ran the water and he said that one is yours - took the meter reading and that was that - when bill came it stated "1" and so thought that as the meter reader had read it - this was correct - there are three other houses around us and I would not have thought that any of them started on 1 as there are two detached houses - newly built no occupiers but builders when we moved in and our semi - both occupied at roughly same time - so as builders were in and out of all of them i dont think any of them should have been on "1"

f1widow · 22 March 2010 at 8:17PM

what they are saying is that in a year we have only used 7 cubic meters of water and this cannot be right - and this is only the advisor picking this up when she looked at our bills to work out the budget payment - she asked me how many occupiers in the house and worked a different bill out - didnt ask mind you whether we had an olympic swimming pool, dishwasher etc though ha ha just how many people - for all she knew we might not bath or wash our clothes and dishes ................ :rotfl:- now im a complete women and would not even know what 7 cubic meters equated to

Gothicfairy · 22 March 2010 at 8:27PM

1 cubic meter is 1000 litres so 7 is 7000 litres ( very little indeed and does show a problem)

I think you need to call the company back and ask then to come and see what supplies you.

The words you need to use are " which meter supplies my property ?" they can pass that on to the planning team who will make an appointment with you and turn your supply off and check which meter is yours.
You need this doing before paying anything.
Once they have worked that out then being billed based on your ADC ( average daily consumption ) is fair.

JasX · 23 March 2010 at 10:48AM

f1widow wrote: »

to be honest I do not know which meter is ours now as it is in a multi point - 4 other houses in the same hole so to speak

well first step is to confirm which one is actually yours by repeating the test.

Turn everything off (and check toilets aren't filling), go to the meter cupboard and check which ones have stopped moving.

run a tap and see which one starts moving.

Repeat the stop/start thing a couple of times to be certain.

Then assess weather you have been giving the correct readings to the company

f1widow · 24 March 2010 at 9:53AM

Hi - the company are sending someone to pressure test etc as we have a multi-point

But thought would update as I have been in contact with the helpline for consumers on back of bill (independent people not the actual supplier) and they have informed me that if they have billed me incorrect by using the wrong meter or that the meter is faulty it is there belief that i should not pay the back amount and to get in contact with them if they try to bill me.

Water Meter Wrong ? should i have to pay difference

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