wrong reading

welshlil

A friend of mine has just moved from a metered flat to a metered bungalow. He gave the reading to the water board from his old premises, to square up. He asked for the reading of new property as read by last council tenant [old lady who died] He was told 369. Obviously, he checked this, and found it to be 170. He also had two neighbours to check as well, bearing in mind the meter is 18" approx below ground {two bottoms sticking in air] and both agreed with my friends reading. He rang welsh water to inform them of the discrepancy. Apparently the last official reading was in January, the next being in July. Something is wrong here - they are not willing to send out a water board official. Can he insist that they do as he doesn't want to foot someone else's bill.

deanos

Looks like they have misread the first digit should have been 169 by the looks of it as its 170 now.

Tell them you are disputing the figure and for someone to come out and check the reading , or for them to amend the reading to the one you have provided, also i would send them a letter as they have to reply within 10 working days or you can claim £20-£30 compensation.

welshlil

thanks will do

Cardew

Hmmm
As the reading for the old lady who died was 369, and that was accepted, presumably her estate paid that bill? - or it was written off?

If the reading is 170 now the estate of the previous occupant is due a refund of 199 cubic metres(around £400?)

Or if it was written off, your friend has taken careful aim and shot himself in the foot.

Now if the readin had been LESS than 170 then he should make a fuss.

deanos

Why has he shot himself in the foot ?

When it comes round to reading time again the meter reader will put in the correct reading so it will catch up eventually, best to do it now rather than leave it a few months.

Cardew

deanos wrote: »

Why has he shot himself in the foot ?

When it comes round to reading time again the meter reader will put in the correct reading so it will catch up eventually, best to do it now rather than leave it a few months.

Because the bill has been paid by the previous occupant( her estate) or written off with a meter reading of 369, when the true reading is 199 cubic metres less at 170. So someone has paid for those 199 cubic metres.

When they next read the bill, if the meter reading is, say, 250 what will happen?

deanos

The previous bill is no concern of the new occupant , you cant use imaginary readings, the correct reading needs to be on the account or it causes all sort of problems down the line when its next read by the meter reader, the correct reading needs to be on the account now.

I'm not sure on the procedure but hopefully someone will contact the previous tenant and give back any money owed, it better to do this now rather than a few months down the line when the mistake is noticed and it may be harder to trace the person as they may have moved again

Cardew

deanos,
My impression from previous posts was that people had got things back to front and thought the OP would be paying for previous tenants water.

The point I was making is that the incorrect reading, and the fact that they won't come and visit, is not a problem for the OP!!!!!

deanos

A friend of mine has just moved from a metered flat to a metered bungalow. He gave the reading to the water board from his old premises, to square up. He asked for the reading of new property as read by last council tenant [old lady who died] He was told 369

He is saying the reading at the new property was 369 on the system but is actually reading 170, thats why they either need to send someone to look or accept the reading of 170, so everything is correct on the account.

welshlil

thanks for the comments. Basically all my friend wanted is a true meter reading, confirmed by the water board, so as there is no confusion in either direction, who owes who or what doesn't come into it, he just wants to start on the right footing. He contacted the water board today, who will, after a lot of "we don't..........., we can't, are you reading the right meter etc" and a lot of, " you will............, you can, yes I am reading the right meter" from my friend have agreed to send a waterboard official [ I use the term lightly ] within 5 working days. We will see!

Cardew

deanos wrote: »

He is saying the reading at the new property was 369 on the system but is actually reading 170, thats why they either need to send someone to look or accept the reading of 170, so everything is correct on the account.

Deanos,
That is not in dispute!

However the OP stated:

he doesn't want to foot someone else's bill.

and was worried that they wouldn't send someone to read the meter.

i.e. worried that the discrepancy in the readings would be to his disadvantage.

My point was simply that the discrepancy is not to his disadvantage, and refusing to send an official would not cause him to foot someones else's bill.