Odd water bill situation

sotonjoe

Hi All,

I wondered if you might be able to give me some advice about my situation.

I received a backdated water bill yesterday for approx £500. This bill relates to a property I previously owned but left some time ago. The bill essentially covers the whole of 2007.

I was receiving bills from the water company during 2007 but by the summer of that year I was in dispute with them about the size of the bills. The situation was civil at all times and by the end of 2007 I informed them that I would be moving from the property, gave them a final meter reading and a forwarding address.

The situation at that time with regards to our dispute was that they agreed that there looked to be something odd about the account and that they were happy to leave it on hold whilst they attempted to get to the bottom of the situation. They said that they would send somebody to the property to investigate the meter as well to try to ensure that this was functioning correctly. As I understood things, the ball was left in their court to come back to me with their opinion of what hat happened and raise a bill which they were confident was accurate.

Since then I have had no further communication from the water company until receiving a 'red' bill yesterday which demanded full payment on the account within 10 days. Bearing in mind that 17months have passed since, I was a little shocked to see it turn up with no additional explanation!

I have telephoned them this morning to discuss. Their records show that we were disputing the bills at the time and that they agreed something was not right on the account. They also said that they can see they agreed to send somebody to inspect the meter but that they failed to actually do this as promised. Having delved a little deeper they have said that whilst the consumption for the second half of the year looks normal (about 0.3 cubic metres per day), something has gone wrong in the first six months of the year during which the meter readings say that we have used 150 cubic metres of water. They also discovered some readings on the account which make no sense; at one point the readings suggest that the meter has gone backwards!

As things stand, they have now put the account back on hold to prevent any further bills being sent and are referring the case to their 'back room' team to try and make sense of the account and find a solution to the situation.

I'd like to know where I stand to be honest and, specifically, I'm interested to know the answers to the following...

• Are bills enforceable after this time? I read somewhere that water companies can enforce bills for an unlimited amount of time but don't know if this is the case. My frustration here is that they can apparently do nothing for 17months but then just plop another bill on the door step! This makes it very hard to budget financially!
• What sort of solution can I expect / should I be pushing for? Morally, I accept that I should be paying fair water charges for that period and I have no problem in doing this. I'd like to know what represents a sensible compromise though, seeing as the company recognise there are problems on the account, recognise that they haven't bothered to investigate the meter equipment as asked and are struggling to conclude the matter in a sensible amount of time.

Any thoughts?

Ignite

If they are really in a pickle about the charges, it might be worth finding out what the companies "Assessed Charges" are and finding out how they compare to the 105 units a year that the 0.3 units you've mentioned that look correct. If they are fairly similar and this is ok cost wise, I would go the route of suggesting that you pay the assessed rate. Hopefully they might look on the fact that you've been messed about and give you a discount. At least then it is well and truly over.

Make sure that you get it in writing that it is a final settlement.

sotonjoe

Thanks. Is there any way of finding out assessed charges online or is more likely a case of asking them this on the phone?

I was thinking that asking them to generate a bill for the whole period based on 0.3 unites per day would be 'fair' so perhaps this will be the way to go if I'm not happy with their suggestion when they come back to me.

davetrousers

Have you searched the OFWAT website?

Ignite

Take a look on their website for assessed charges. For example in Bournemouth, the price is the same per cubic meter as the metered rate, and they say that 1 person uses 60 cubic meters per year, 2 people 110 cubic meters per year and so on. This is listed on page 18 of http://www.bwhwater.co.uk/net-control/userfiles/file/Water%20Charges%202009_10%281%29.pdf
Going on this basis, if there are 2 of you, the assessed rate of 110 cubic meters per year is almost bang on the 0.3 per day figure.

Ignite

Sotonjoe, if the Soton in your name refers to Southampton, then look here https://www.southernwater.co.uk/pdf/domesticCustomers/WaterSewerageChrgs0910.pdf on page 19, where in this area the assessment is based on the number of bedrooms in your property.

sotonjoe

Thanks all, particularly for the southern water pdf. The 09/10 assessed charges would come to £297.54, although I guess I would have to add on the surface water and highway drainage charges which were also being added to my bills at that property. Still, a bill of about £320 seems much more reasonable than £500 if they are willing to do that sort of deal.

Gothicfairy

Water companies can go back six years and also chase a debt for that amount of time..IE if you owed 4 years ago they still have a couple of years to catch up.
However depending on the size of the debt and the amount of communication they can chase for longer through the court.

But that is not the point here really..One thing that I would ask if I were you was why they had not been able to check the meter > Is it that they can't get access ? Is it internal ?

You dispute with them > Was it over actual water meter readings or est readings ? Because that makes a massive difference. If the reads were actual and the leak (if there was one ) was on your pipes then it is still down to you to pay .
If the reads were all est reads why would the average daily consumption rise ?

Without knowing the whole thing it would be hard to know what should and could be done

sotonjoe

They didn't bother to visit the property to look at the meter. There are no problems with regardst to accessing the meter; I've checked it many a time in the past.

I've no idea whether the readings were estimated or actual, or indeed who / when they were taken, but then, to be fair, these factors aren't a sticking point at the moment. The water company spotted the fact that the readings were odd and that it is these odd readings that have probably caused an erroneous bill, I didn't have to push them on that point.

I don't believe a leak can be the issue as the usage was average during the second six months of the year. Also, there was nothing suspect prior to 2007 that I know of, and they haven't mentioned any more recent disputes with regards to supposed consumption.

I think the error lies in erroneous readings only, now it's just a case of seeing what they think they should do about it.

Gothicfairy

Problem is it depends on what was odd..If the reads were actual and your usage had increased than that could be odd but nothing to do with them unless there was a leak on the their pipe work.

If the meter is working fine and the reads are actual then I am not sure what would be done. If it was a misread then that could be altered but it would seem you are saying the reads are not the problem.

I am not sure what the erroneous reading problem is as it does not really explain the situation..What was wrong with the read?

sotonjoe

Just had a rebill from Southern Water in which the first six months' usage has been reduced to reflect the second six months'.