Severn Trent Water bill / meter issue

darren221980

Afternoon all,

I brought my first house last June with the partner, upon the day of moving in i called the gas, electric and water companies up to advise i was now the owner of the property and to get the gas, electric and water in my name. I gave the meter readings to them all, and the water company didn't beleive the meter reading i gave them even though i took a pic of this and still have it available. So they then decided to send an engineer out to check the meter readings, although the engineer didnt turn up until mid november! When the engineer arrived all he did was get a reading from the front of the meter (exactly the same as i did) and left.

I then didn't hear anything from them again until 1 week ago when they send me a letter asking for the meter reading again, and claiming they have a query on my account and also stating the serial number for my water meter although the serial number they have is incorrect! So i took the meter readings and called them up, i also asked what the query on my account was and was advised my account is with the leaks department and would need to speak with them between monday to friday.

The following morning (Sunday) i noticed two BT vans on the main road outside my house again as they were the previous sunday. But only this time i also noticed a water tanker which had a pipe down the BT manhole removing water. So i asked the engineers if they had a leak, they suspect there is due to having the water tanker empty the manhole at least twice in the past two sundays just so they can go down there and do there work etc.

So Monday morning i called Severn trent water up again and explained the situation, and also advised them about the manhole that BT have had a water tanker removing water from who also think there is a leak. They then claim there is no leak and that my water meter is faulty and they would have to replace it. They are due out to replace it on Tuesday.

Today i've finally received a bill from them (the first one since moving in) and its only for £44, surely that can't be correct as i would expect more. I'll get this paid, however i'm going to send a complaints letter into them as i have the following points to raise with them as well:-

1. If my meter is faulty how were they billing the previous owner for the last 7 years?

2. If the meter has actually been faulty for the past 6 months how the hell can they actually give me an accurate bill for usage?

3. If they decide i owe them quite a bit of money there going to probably expect it to be paid straight away.

4. I feel that there incompetence has dragged this issue alot longer than needed.

Has anyone else had similar issue with there water supplier or able to offer any advice?

Also, every meter reading i've taken has also been photographed for proof if needed, i'll also be able to send these with a complaints letter for evidence

Thanks,

Darren

HappyMJ

darren221980 wrote: »

1. If my meter is faulty how were they billing the previous owner for the last 7 years?
Previous occupier might not have raised it as an issue. They may not have been paying the bills. Who cares? It's not your concern.

2. If the meter has actually been faulty for the past 6 months how the hell can they actually give me an accurate bill for usage?
They'll guess. You need to dispute it and have water usage calculated on what you would use over the next 6 months doubled to account for the last 6 months. Use much less and your bill will be much lower than it would otherwise be.

3. If they decide i owe them quite a bit of money there going to probably expect it to be paid straight away.
No...You are usually expected to pay the bill over the time the bill accrued and if quarterly within 14 days of the bill date but they do send reminders out when you miss that date so you could pay quite late with no consequences.

4. I feel that there incompetence has dragged this issue alot longer than needed.
Yes...

Has anyone else had similar issue with there water supplier or able to offer any advice?

Also, every meter reading i've taken has also been photographed for proof if needed, i'll also be able to send these with a complaints letter for evidence

Thanks,

Darren

Are you sure you are reading the right meter? Have you done a flow test with someone in your house opening and closing a tap and you watching the meter moving and stopping. Some properties have pipes crossed over with the neghbours so it may appear to be the correct meter when it isn't.

darren221980

HappyMJ wrote: »

Are you sure you are reading the right meter? Have you done a flow test with someone in your house opening and closing a tap and you watching the meter moving and stopping. Some properties have pipes crossed over with the neghbours so it may appear to be the correct meter when it isn't.

Cheers for replying. Only have one meter actually in the house and two outside, the two outside are clearly labelled as Gas and Electric, the remaining meter is connected to water pipes under the sink in my kitchen so must be correct one, same one the water engineer checked in November too.

Myser

I've had issues with Severn Trent Water a long time ago when living in an rented flat.

The meter was faulty and they couldn't send a bill for some time. They even admitted there was a fault with the meter and that it would have to be replaced. When they did send a bill, it was a huge amount. I asked whether they were sure it was for my usage as there are many flats metered within the housing estate? They kept fobbing me off. Being told different things when I called.

They kept chasing me for payments and summons long after I had moved out of the property.

They were unable to confirm the usage and later did not state this was down to the faulty meter.

Make sure you keep an accurate log of events and put it in writing to them.

Severn Trent Water - Beware!

Gothicfairy

What ever happened with the last tenants is none of your concern so leave that out of any complaints letter. It just sounds silly and you have no right to that info so don't cloud the water.

As for a leak, well as has already been asked ( and you didn't reply) have you flow tested the meter ? It sounds like the leak is before your meter so again nothing to do with you as you will not be billed for it anyway.
The meter might need replacing if it is not recording a flow but have you checked this ?

A leak is not a reason for a meter replacement but if the meter is over 10 years old they will change it anyway so that might be why they are replacing it.

Can you supply more info so we can better help you, as right now I am not totally sure what your actual complain is.

darren221980

Gothicfairy wrote: »

What ever happened with the last tenants is none of your concern so leave that out of any complaints letter. It just sounds silly and you have no right to that info so don't cloud the water.

As for a leak, well as has already been asked ( and you didn't reply) have you flow tested the meter ? It sounds like the leak is before your meter so again nothing to do with you as you will not be billed for it anyway.
The meter might need replacing if it is not recording a flow but have you checked this ?

A leak is not a reason for a meter replacement but if the meter is over 10 years old they will change it anyway so that might be why they are replacing it.

Can you supply more info so we can better help you, as right now I am not totally sure what your actual complain is.

Meter has been flow tested and can confirm numbers are slowly turning when running taps in my house and then stopping when taps are turned off.

The house is only 7 years old itself so the meter shouldn't be much older i wouldn't have thought.

My main complaint is the time it has taken them to come to the conclusion that there is a query on the account (leak / faulty meter). Also i dont want to get any information about the previous owners of the property, my thinking was it worked fine for them for 7 yrs while they were here and no billing issues with it (reason i know this is we actually know them anyway) and we haven't actually touched the meter at all - will leave that out the letter anyway. It may well be faulty but surely they need to test it first to make sure? As it's the first time i've actually had to pay these kind of bills i just want to make sure i'm not going to be paying more than i should.

Gothicfairy

Sounds like your meter is working as it should then as they are hard to run slow (normally a fusion meter would over record rather then anything else) the leak is clearly not showing on your meter so I should think they don't know what the problem is, hence the time scale involved.

dontgetcaught

darren221980 wrote: »

Afternoon all,

Today i've finally received a bill from them (the first one since moving in) and its only for £44, surely that can't be correct as i would expect more. I'll get this paid, however i'm going to send a complaints letter into them as i have the following points to raise with them as well:-

1. If my meter is faulty how were they billing the previous owner for the last 7 years? none of your concern

2. If the meter has actually been faulty for the past 6 months how the hell can they actually give me an accurate bill for usage?you have had your bill why be concerned

3. If they decide i owe them quite a bit of money there going to probably expect it to be paid straight away.They have nothing to base any increased charge on, so on what basis do you 2hope2 for a higher bill

4. I feel that there incompetence has dragged this issue alot longer than needed.not really of your concern

Has anyone else had similar issue with there water supplier or able to offer any advice?

Also, every meter reading i've taken has also been photographed for proof if needed, i'll also be able to send these with a complaints letter for evidence

Thanks,

Darren

I dont see a problem, £44 good value if they change the meter you still pay for what the meter says you have consummed.

Mike

Hayleylou

its worth asking if they hold the record of your meter being located internally. If you have a boundary box (normally a small round black disc) around the front of your property in a footpath, normally with in 20 metres, they could have this confused with your meter. i.e thinking because its in front of your house its your meter, when in fact its your neighbours. This could also explain why they are saying you have a leak on your meter.

darren221980

Well severn trent came out and replaced my meter, i asked the engineer why they have a completely different serial number than that which was on the meter he removed. His reply was that the meter was probably replaced sometime as an emergency under a water leak and all subsequent paperwork for it never got to the head office for them to update there records with the correct serial number. However he did state this shouldn't happen anymore as they keep records of everything electronically.

Anyhow my new meter is in and appears to running just like the apparent faulty one was so we'll see whether they now believe the meter readings i give them or if they think this one is faulty too.