Water leak compensation

arsenalboy

I discovered my metered usage was higher than neigbours in casual conversation. We have had a meter for 4 years and I hadn't really monitored it:o.
Upon checking it appeared we had an underground leak as there was still usage when nothing was being used. As the underground meter housing was filling up with water the water board came and investigated. They decided to dig it up and discovered that the joint from the meter to my pipe was defective, they fixed it.
My consumption has gone down by a 1/3rd and because I live in SWWA that is a lot of money!!
I calculate over the 4 years I have "lost" over a £1000 through the leak.
Their website states that a leak on "their" side of the meter is down to them, but a leak on "my" side of the meter is down to me. It states that they will contribute towards the leak but only covering the last 2 meter readings. If they stick to this it would appear they will only contribute to 6 months of the 4 year leak which was caused by their faulty workmanship?
Any thoughts

Cardew

It is only a 'Goodwill' gesture that they make any allowance for a leak 'your side of the meter'.

There is also no way to prove when the leak occured, or at what rate it was leaking in earlier days.

I doubt you will get them to budge on their policy, but if you get no joy with SWW, you could get a second opinion from the Consumer Council for Water.

arsenalboy

But this is not a "normal" leak, it has been caused by shoddy workmanship. Surely they owe me a duty of care?

deanos

As Cardew says how can you prove when the leak occurred ?

You should have a kept an eye on the meter and check for leaks every few months

Gothicfairy

arsenalboy wrote: »

But this is not a "normal" leak, it has been caused by shoddy workmanship.

But can you prove that ?

arsenalboy

Yes, there is proof. The water board uses an external contractor, I was there when they excavated. The contractor was quite shocked and he took photos which he attached to his work sheet. He told me that the push fit connection to my water pipe was not on far enough. He told me that the connection could be undone by hand and should have been tightened with stilsons. He put all this in his report for the water board.
As regards how long had it been going on for. The meter has been there for 4 years, consumption has been relatively consistent over that period of time at .6m3 per day.
Imediately the repair has been done that is down to an average of .4m3 per day.

mart.vader

arsenalboy wrote: »

But this is not a "normal" leak, it has been caused by shoddy workmanship. Surely they owe me a duty of care?

The leak allowance normally applies for a leak on your pipework

For convenience's sake, it is usually said that every (leak) on your side of the meter is your responsibility, and in 99% of cases that works out fine, but not in your case.

However, is the meter in the public foot-way or in your front garden?
If they found the leak on the pipe, after the meter, but in the foot-way, i.e. as you describe it, "on the joint from the meter", This is actually, still their pipework, it doesn't legally become your pipe until it crosses your property boundary.

Even if the meter is in your garden, you could argue that it was their faulty work that has caused you expense.

In my opinion, they should refund you ALL of the cost of your increased bills. Their rule about "only the last two meter reads" should not apply, otherwise you are paying for their error, which cannot be fair.

They could estimate the difference between your previous bills and your current bills and refund you four years worth.

They will probably argue like mad, but morally, you are in the right.

Good Luck.

crrussell

the reason they dont back date more than 2 readings is because they send out a chart every year showing number off occupants there is and what the adu (average daily usage) should be and it is impossible to say when a leak started but they do give you the chart to check if your usage is more than should be

In there opinion if you checked the chart against the readings you would have seen that the adu was too high and could have resolved any problems earlier

unfortunatly water company dont use comom sence because they dont have too as you cant change provider like gas and electric

deanos

Wed dont get charts around here

Gothicfairy

no chart here either

mart.vader

crrussell wrote: »

the reason they dont back date more than 2 readings is because they send out a chart every year showing number off occupants there is and what the adu (average daily usage) should be and it is impossible to say when a leak started but they do give you the chart to check if your usage is more than should be.

I've never seen such a chart. In this case it seems fairly conclusive that the leak started when the meter was fitted, - according to the OP, about four years ago, so any increased "usage" (whether in the last two reads or not) is due to W.Co.s bad workmanship.