Possible overcharging by Southern Water?

foxyruby

Hi moneysavers

I wonder if you can help me? I've been in my current flat for 3 years. I live on my own, and a water meter was already fitted before I moved in. It's under a very heavy rectangular manhole cover under the pavement outside my block of flats in the street . In year one I was working from home all day. The bill for the first quarter was huge (an apparent 'actual reading'). It was £383.59 for 13 Sep 2007 to 26 Feb 2008. I queried it and after several months of a lot of wrangling a Southern Water inspector visited, read the meter, apologised that the previous reading was wrong and arranged for the bill to be reduced. During this period they advised that they had a standard guide they used to decide what was reasonable/typical usage for one-person in a small flat. I asked customer services to tell me where my meter was but they said they didn't know. My subsequent bills that year were quite reasonable and I paid them all without quibble.

In year two I went into full-time work for a firm 9 miles away. I did long hours and was hardly at home during the week, not getting home untiil around 8pm in the evening. Sometimes I'd be around at weekends and sometimes I wouldn't. I have two small bedrooms and two bathrooms, but I live here on my own so I can use only one bathroom at a time. I have no garden, not even a balcony or even a windowpot. No swimming pool. No pets. Nothing. One or two loads of washing per week. My bills have been at least double what they were in year one. The unit price is the same, but the 'usage' has gone sky high. After a lot of phone calls and wrangling a water inspector came out and said there were no leaks, the readings were correct and that I had to pay the bills. The woman in the flat next to me was having the same problem - our bills are at least double what everyone thinks is reasonable for a single person living alone.

Year three: the bills are even higher. My water bill over the winter was actually higher than my gas central heating bill for the same period. For the period 12 Sep 2009 to 2 Mar 2010 it was £241.64. I got another Southern Water official to come out. He said the readings were right (I have now enlisted a friend to help me lift the manhole cover so I can take readings for myself - the meter is obscured and not that easy to read though!). He said there are no leaks. However, he did spot a tiny trickle in the toilet pan in my ensuite (it was so tiny I hadn't noticed it). He said that was what was causing the high bills and that the faulty toilet was my responsibility. I got a plumber in to fix the toilet. The plumber said the trickle was so slight it wouldn't have filled even a 1-pint jug in a day, and no way could have been the cause of such high bills. The water inspector was adamant though, so I paid the bill.

The toilet now has no trickle. However, the latest bill for 3 March 2010 to 9 September 2010 has now arrived, and it's still very high. It's £252.03. Surely this can't be right? I haven't even been home much in all that time. I was working full-time until 2 August, and now work from home again.

I find dealing with Southern Water is quite intimidating. They have things printed on their bills to say that any water that passes through their meter has to be paid for by me, even if there are leaks. They also ignore all communications unless I type out letters and send them by recorded delivery. Is there anything else I can do to fight this? Surely bills of around £500 a year can't be right? Can I get them to take the meter away and go on to a fixed tariff? If any of you have had this problem with Southern Water and won I would welcome your advice.

Many thanks!

:huh:

Cardew

It would be easier if you stated your consumption in cubic metres rather than £cost. A unit on your meter is a cubic metre(1000 litres)

A single person should use on average around 60 cubic metres per year; which would cost a lot less than £500 per year.

The two things that come to mind are that 'your' meter is not supplying your flat.

The second is that your meter is supplying another flat(s)as well as yours i.e. the water main after the meter branches off to another property.

You need to check exactly a meter reading (including the fractions) when you are away for a while and as soon as you come back and see if the reading has changed.

macman

Of course all water passing through the water is your responsibility. The water utility co. is responsible for the supply up to the meter, you are responsible for the supply beyond that into your home and around it.
You cannot have a meter removed if it was already installed when you moved in.
I you say what your actual average consumption is, more meaningful advice can be given, as unit water costs vary enormously from region to region.

galvanizersbaby

I am in a similar position with Southern Water at the moment - I had a water meter fitted when I moved in to my flat (3 years ago - regret it now) and at first the bills were around the 200 quid mark for 6 months which was manageable - the latest is 421 pounds for 6 months worth of water!

I have asked Southern Water to send somebody out to check the meter so am hoping they find something wrong with it.

I have a 2 bed flat but only one bathroom and my 2 young children are with me 4 nights a week but we are rarely there at the weekend.
I do approx 2 loads of washing a week and am not aware of any excessive water use!

Will dig out my bill and post my consumption in cubic metres

EDIT - FoxyRuby - have just noticed you are in East Sussex - I live in West Sussex - let me know how you get on!

macman

Does the reading on the meter match the reading on your bill?
Doe the serial nos. match?
Not really possible to give any advice without your actual consumption figs.

galvanizersbaby

macman wrote: »

Does the reading on the meter match the reading on your bill?
Doe the serial nos. match?
Not really possible to give any advice without your actual consumption figs.

I read the meter the day after I recieved my bill and the reading tied up

Will have to find the bill and post my consumption figs (I'm at work at present)

Just can't believe my water consumption is costing over 70 quid a month - in the property I previously rented which had a meter fitted (4 years ago) I was paying more like 17 pounds a month!

galvanizersbaby

Found the bill for Mar 2010 - Oct 2010

It says that since my last reading (Mar 2010) I have used 148.00m3 of water

My waste water drainage for the period has cost £236.61 (134.13 x 176.40p) so this makes up the majority of the £421.11 charge for the 6 month period :eek:

I will check serial numbers on the meter tomorrow

t0rt0ise

I just checked my bill for the same period.. I used 38 m3 and we have a lot of baths, there's two of us and one of us has two baths almost every day. So yours is certainly far too high.

When I complained that I couldn't read the meter as it was in a large pit with a heavy lid, they gave me a hand held reader thing that I had to put on a small plate that they attached to the lid and could read it that way. That was useful until they changed the meter when of course it stopped working. Actually when they changed the meter the reading was input wrongly and my next bill was for over £5,000 with the wastewater bill over £7,000. Even with silly amounts like that it took months and months to sort out and when I thought it was all done the wastewater one then sent me another reminder for the same amount... and that was Southern Water. So good luck with trying to get anywhere with them but just don't give up.

galvanizersbaby

t0rt0ise wrote: »

I just checked my bill for the same period.. I used 38 m3 and we have a lot of baths, there's two of us and one of us has two baths almost every day. So yours is certainly far too high.

When I complained that I couldn't read the meter as it was in a large pit with a heavy lid, they gave me a hand held reader thing that I had to put on a small plate that they attached to the lid and could read it that way. That was useful until they changed the meter when of course it stopped working. Actually when they changed the meter the reading was input wrongly and my next bill was for over £5,000 with the wastewater bill over £7,000. Even with silly amounts like that it took months and months to sort out and when I thought it was all done the wastewater one then sent me another reminder for the same amount... and that was Southern Water. So good luck with trying to get anywhere with them but just don't give up.

:eek:and I thought my bill was high!

Thanks for the advice - I will perserve with trying to get to the bottom of it!