Severn Trent Water Bill. Too high?

Darrenjey

I have just received a bill from STW for the period 1st April - 22nd July. They have said that we have used £379.62 of water during this time. We were told when setting up the a account we were looking at a average bill of £90 per quarter!!!!

There is only myself and my fianc! in the house (3 bedroom detached). We both take a shower everyday, use the washing machine 1-2 times a week and very rairly take a bath instead of a shower.

The house is a new build. The house was connected to the mains a week before we moved in (1st April). We called STW to register and find out the rates to be told we had to have a meter installed because the property is a new build. We said ok, STW checked there system and had no records of the house on there system. They arranged a date (7th May) for someone to come out to fit the meter, so my fianc! took the day off work. No one came all day, so we left it for a week (can't charge us without a meter lol) and called them to find out if they were going to send someone out to sort the meter. They said that someone had been and the meter had been there the whole time. We asked where the meter was because we wanted to get a Reading and they said they would send someone out, no one came. We called again and they said it would be in plain site on the property. We have both checked every inch of the property, inside and out, and cannot find anything.

Last week, there was a knock on the door and a man from STW said he had come to take a reading but could not find the meter and wanted to know where it was lol. I explained the situation and he said he had been sent out before to try and find it but couldn't. He mentioned that the meter had been in for 12 months ( that can't be right. The main was connected the end of March and the house was only completed in February lol)

Our house is on a private drive with only 3 other houses and there is no sign of a meter on any of the properties. Our garden backs onto another street with the same street name (ours is Drive, theirs is Gardens). I have taken a walk around and I have noticed a small black box near the rear of our garden fence but this is on 4 ******** Gardens property, not ours.

I have spoke to STW and as far as they are concerned, the meter is on our property (even though their employees cannot find it) and our bill is correct. I can't understand how they can give us a bill without being able to find the meter.

IF it is our meter on the other property, STW must be charging us the that household's usage because there is no way we could be using that much water. The other property is big (I'd guess 5 + bedrooms)

Any advice?

Breakdown of Bill

Water Supply
Latest Reading 154 (E)
Previous Reading 0 (E)
Charge. £210.22

Water Standing Charge £10.90

Used Water. £128.86

Used Water Standing Charge £5.25

Measured Draining - Band 03. £24.39

Gothicfairy

E = estimate, so there is no actual meter reading and thus the bill might well be incorrect

STW do not install meters in new builds, they supply them to the builder and then take the info the builder provides about the location.
They can charge you without a meter as they are legally allowed to estimate your bill so really it is in your interest to locate the meter.
Have you asked the builder or checked your deeds ?
Your solicitor should have the details and if you have a homeowners pack it will be in there.

The meter will more then likely be in a boundary box and that is a CD case size cover in the pavement or drive and the meter will be under that, I don't think you are going to be looking for a box or anything of that nature.

You really need to go back to the builders and ask where they put the meter and also if they took a meter reading when they installed it as it is not beyond possiblity that the builders used some water in the property before you moved in.

Darrenjey

Thanks for the info

I have spoken to the landlord and he said he did not install a meter himself and thought STW did it when they connected the house upto the main.

I still can't understand why STW are saying we don't have a meter on day then say we have the next day.

How can they justify an estimate that high too. They know there are only 2 people in the house and that would be roughly the yearly amount as far as I am aware.

I don't know what to do now. The Landlord/Builder says he has not installed a meter and STW are saying we have one but no one can find it. I refuse to pay an estimate that high but don't think I have much of a choice.

deanos

Im surprised STW let the builder install the meters the property has to be inspected for water regs before someone moves in, round here all new supplies are on a trickle flow and then inspected and if they pass water regs a meter is then installed

Darrenjey

The builder has not installed a meter, he said we needed to call up STW to arrange for one to be installed. STW say we have one but cannot find it. When we first phoned to set up an account, STW had no record of the property.

I don't know where I stand

Gothicfairy

STW supply the meters on the builders application for a new supply. They do check the pipe work to comply with the regs but they often just give the builders a certain amount of meters as it is cheaper for the builder ( and in truth STW as they then have less staff) to install them.

What normally happens is : Builder applies for new connection and at that stage a visit is arranged and all regulations and rules are checked and agreed. Work starts and during that process STW and integra go and check that everything is being done as agreed.
Main pipe work goes in first and then the branches are put in to the properties, at that point the builder normally applies for x amount of meters and STW supply them.
The builder then fits them and gets back to STW with the msn and the location. HOWEVER this does not always work as above shows.

The practise is far from well done and to be honest if STW had more field staff they would be able to install their own meters but that is just not going to happen when they outsource to Integra.
Integra can install meters on behalf of STW and builders but they do charge and as you can guess most builders try to get around that.

The meter location should have been listed when the house was sold and should have been in the homeowners pack or listed in some way on the documents.
However clearly it has got lost somewhere. The property is new so there should be a meter as it would be against the regs for the builder not to have installed one, so either they never bothered or they have lost it's location.

Darren, the only way forward is to call STW and ask for an appointment to show you the location of the meter, I know they have already tried but you need a proper appointment booking through planning so that there has to be a report writen and based on that they can then move forward.
You will have to have a meter installed and they will backbill you as they will blame the builder so really the quicker it can be sorted the better for you.

deanos

Ahh i see its all done in house here the property;s internal pipework is inspected once its built , this ensures its up to water regs spec, the address is correct (plot to postal) and location noted down to minimise problems


Darren as above you really need STW to come out , insist an inspector comes out not a meter reader as they should be able to trace the supply and if necessary raise a job for one to be fitted if it cant be found

Have you spoke to your neighbours as the meters could be together ?

Gothicfairy

deanos wrote: »

Ahh i see its all done in house here the property;s internal pipework is inspected once its built , this ensures its up to water regs spec, the address is correct (plot to postal) and location noted down to minimise problems

It would save a hell of a lot of problems if STW did that but they are cutting back on jobs as it is so can't see them taking the longer road to getting it right. It is cheaper for them to fix it when it all goes wrong as they can then do that with office staff on low wages rather then have to pay the fieldworkers their shift allowance and petrol, insurance etc.

Glad to see though that some areas do it better.

Darrenjey

We managed to locate the meter today! It's in the pavement in front of a house. A house that is not in our street, but in fact the street behind our house. It takes 5 minutes to walk around to check the meter. When we go there, the meter was open for all to see.

The meter Reading showed we had used 120 units! Which is still much more than we feel we used. As I said in my first post, we don't do anything more than what I would deem as average usage for a couple. The problem we have is that we do not know what the meter reading was when we moved in because we were told by both parties (SRW & the landlord) there was not a meter installed. For all we know, the Reading could have been 80 when we moved in.

STW have said that if we take another reading next week, they will average it out over the period and recalculate the bill as they were at fault aswell as the landlord. Problem is, we both work full time so ate rarely at home but this week we have off together so water usage will be more than a normal week lol.

At least it looks like it may be sorted though. I will keep people updated.

DVardysShadow

How do you know it is yours ???? Make sure it is before you accept it.

How do you know it is not supplying anyone else???? Make sure it isn't before you accept it.

Giving the strange location, I would not be surprised if yours was not the only house on that meter.

deanos

Yes do a flow test on the meter, get the other half to turn the tap on/off and see if its spinning, if its in another street use a mobile phone to communicate