Water Bill dispute - United Utilities

jone09

Hi
I have a dispute with United Utilities (I have a water meter).
My water bill is £657 for 1 years water. However I have a water meter, live on my own in a 2 bed flat, am not there at weekends and work full time so apart from a shower each day, occasional tap usage and washing machine use, have a very low water usage.
United utilities claim there was a surge in water usage for several months early last year where it was equal to the water usage of 7 people.
Well you cant sleep 7 people in my flat for a start! Nothing has changed with my situation in that time, my landlord (very helpfully) even sent out a plumber to check for leaks, I have done numerous leak tests for united utilites who now agree that my usage is currently below average and my bill should be approx £200 for a year.
However, there is no explanation for the increased water charges. The say they have exhausted every possible check (meter testing, leak testing, work being carried out in the area etc) and cannot understand the surge. However, they are also refusing to do anything else about it as according to them the water has clocked through the meter and therefore been billed to me.
They agree with me that it is a "strange situation" and a mystery but are now saying they need to unfreeze the bill now their investigations are complete and I am accountable for it.

I don't know what else to do. I am happy to pay what I actually owe - circa £200 - but the remaining £457 I am disputing as the bill is treble what it should be.

Should I get legal advice now? I have set up a standing order for £25 a month to pay off what I owe but will only pay £200 of the bill then stop the direct debit.

If anyone has any suggestions or has been in the same situation, I would be grateful to hear about it.
Thank you in advance

From a very unhappy united utilities customer :-(

Cardew

Take the matter up with the Consumer Council for Water http://www.ccwater.org.uk/

Give them a call first.

jone09

Thank you so much for that.
Will get straight onto them.

:-)

Cardew

Let us know what happens please, it will be useful if others have a similar problem.

Gothicfairy

Not really sure what can be said.
If the readings are correct and the water has gone through the meter then it is not the water companies problem or fault.
Your usage might well have returned to normal now and there might have been a problem that now has been fixed (toilet overflowing etc)

Are the meter readings correct ? Is the meter the correct meter for your property ?
If the answer to the above is yes then it would appear the debt is yours and down to you to deal with.


The problem is going to be if UU can prove that the readings are right then they will win any court case and can issue a CCJ against you for the outstanding balance.

So far nothing you have said would suggest that UU are wrong unless the readings are wrong or the meter serial number is wrong etc

Gothicfairy

Also if they have done flow tests etc what more do you expect them to do ? If they are saying the meter has recorded that flow then check the readings and if they are right then that amount of water has gone somewhere..and as such should be paid for as it is then not a leak caused by or due to the water company..

deanos

Have you actually flow tested to conform the meter actually supplies you flat ?

Do you have an outside tap at all ?

Gothicfairy

One more thing I thought of was that if you have not followed UU's complaints process then the CCW will just pass you back to them to begin with.
You have to write your complaint out and send it to the UU as they then go through the DG7 process and it becomes logged as a complaint..only after that can the CCW actually do anything.

jone09

Hi, Thanks for your responses guys.
Yes flow tests have been done to ensure the meter is only supplying my flat. I did a meter reading when I moved in (Nov 2009) and was told by UU that they do one in April 2010 then issue a bill, it was then that I noticed something wrong when I first got a bill in about May 2010.
I dont have an outside tap and everything appears to be working ok. I just feel like I am paying massively (treble what i should be) for something that i didnt use! Theres no way i could have used that much water. I checked there were no leaks inside the property aswell as outside with the help of my landlords plumber.
I have spoen to the complaints department at UU over the last few weeks and all they have done is ask me to provide a meter reading each week which I have done, to check that the problem hasnt returned. It seems that my water use now is below average (correctly) This isnt resolving the issue of the huge bill though.
The thing I am most worried about is that I get to next year and the same thing has happened again! I cant pay £650 a year for water continuously while every other similar flat in my building has a normal rate! I have checked with neightbours in the same size property as mine and their water bills seem accurate. Its a relatively new building and I believd a water meter would be cheaper!
I'm just very frustrated, and feel i am being conned by someone - whether its UU's fault or not. I know the water has gone somewhere and has clocked through the meter but if the water company are not in the wrong and i am not in the worng, inevitably its me who ends up paying for it. Why cant they at least meet me halfway or something?

The complaints department havent sent anythign in writing so maybe I should ask them to document the issue and send me a copy before approaching the consumer council for water.

I am paying £25 a month by direct debit so they can see that i am making payments and not avoiding paying, but this is all i can afford and I dont want it to end up with legal action.
If I am making regular payments, can they force me to increase the payments or cut off my supply??

Gothicfairy

The can ask that you increase your payments or even take out a CCJ against you for the oustanding debt but they can not cut you off.

The problem is though that I can not see how this is down to the water company, I can understand that you are upset but if they have done all they can to make sure the meter is correct and working then that is all they can do.
If the water has recorded through the meter then it has to have gone somewhere unless you got the start reading wrong ??

They don't have to meet you half way to be honest as it is not their fault and how are they to know you did not leave a tap running or had a leak ( I know you say not but they can not say for 100% sure you are being honest and if they gave you a break for water used can you just see where it would end> Ops I left my tap running and ran up a bill but that is ok the water company will right it off)

I am not really sure what you want them to do but have you asked them to help ? you couldn't apply for a leak allowance as you said there was not leak.

Have you written to the complaints dept ? and if so what are you asking them to do ? If you have not written then they don't have to reply in writting, the DG7 applies to written complaints. Phone ones are not logged the same.

bluewire

Can you just confirm something.
You moved in Nov 2009 and gave a meter reading
Did you take this or was it given to you?

ALL OF BELOW IS IF YOU DID NOT TAKE THE READ BUT IT WAS GIVEN TO YOU.

If it was given to you by the land lord etc do you know how long the flat was empty for when you moved in?

This is all pointing towards the first meter read from you being wrong.

If you didn't take the read, give UU a call and ask them to compare the out read from the previous occupier and you.

If these are the same but the flat was empty for some time then it could be that someone (your land lord or letting agents etc had the water running for some reason)

If this turns out to be true UU MAY be able to back charge you account to a "corrected" in read and bill your land lord for the difference.