Advice needed - unmetered charges

Saint1007 · 10 January 2017 at 12:57PM

I purchased a house about 18 months ago. The first 3 months, the house was unoccupied whilst it was being refurbished. I then moved in and I am a single person living alone with my daughter staying over every second weekend. With so much on, I failed to realise that I was paying over £120 month for water! Whenever I saw the charge, I assumed that it was a quarterly charge. It dawned on me late last year that this was the case and I contacted the water company (Affinity Water) who offered to install a meter. They visited back in November and said that they would need to dig there to install the meter and it would be done within 20 days. They didn't show up. I called again in January and just this morning they came over again. But unfortunately they messed it up again and send an assessor rather than a "digging team". They said they will need to send a digging team but again, this could take longer than 20 days because of the holiday season and the backing up of their appointments. This has now cost me 2 half days of work sitting around waiting for them.

What can I do about this? I understand that I will just have to wait for the meter to be installed, but can I get a rebate for the 18 months of water charges from them? Short of that, can I get a reduction at least since I first contacted them? The council ca confirm that I live alone as well so this should be proof enough. What is your advice in terms of how I approach this?

Cardew · 10 January 2017 at 1:39PM

Welcome to the forum.

£120 a month on Rateable Value charges suggests a big house??

Normally they would fit a meter inside the house rather than go to the trouble of a lot of digging. They will normally back-date metering charges to the date you applied - estimating your usage over that period.

As they are having difficulty in fitting a meter, I suggest you ask to be placed on an Assessed Charge- for a single occupant - backdated to the date you first applied, or longer if you can persuade them!

You should also be able to claim for missed appointments.

Saint1007 · 10 January 2017 at 5:11PM

It was! It was originally a 4 bedroom house but I converted one room and extended the bathroom so it is only 3 bed now. Do you think a latter detailing this would help with getting a rebate for longer than the date applied?

Cardew · 10 January 2017 at 5:50PM

No! The Rateable Value(RV) cannot be changed, regardless of you making it into a 1 bed house or 8 bed house.

Any substantial alterations to the house after April 1990 should be declared to the water company and a meter fitted. However no house owner bothers, and neither do the water companies.

Advice needed - unmetered charges

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