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Thames Water: Hidden Leak, Massive Bill
benitoto
Posts: 5 Forumite
in Water bills
Hi, we had a water meter fitted at the back end of 2010 which i hadn't checked until December last year (2011). I was shocked to see the meter whizzing round at a rate of knots.
Thames Water have since come out and told us that we have a leak and that it is somewhere on our property - although it's certainly not a visible leak!
As a result of the leak, our usage has gone from being 0.29 m3 per day to an equivalent 11.65!
That is going to make for some terrifying bill reading!
So - does anyone know where we stand in disputing any bill that will be shortly coming our way? My argument would be that we had no knowledge of the leak. I know that we should have been, in theory, checking the meter every quarter (say) but, well, we didn't :eek:
Can we claim ignorance?!
Has anyone experienced this before?!
Dreading the bill when it arrives as it's going to be in the thousands, not the tens, of pounds.
Oh - and to top it all off, my wife is about to give birth to our first child so the last thing we need is a battle with Thames Water or a huge bill!!!
All advice gratefully received!
Thanks, B.
Thames Water have since come out and told us that we have a leak and that it is somewhere on our property - although it's certainly not a visible leak!
As a result of the leak, our usage has gone from being 0.29 m3 per day to an equivalent 11.65!
That is going to make for some terrifying bill reading!
So - does anyone know where we stand in disputing any bill that will be shortly coming our way? My argument would be that we had no knowledge of the leak. I know that we should have been, in theory, checking the meter every quarter (say) but, well, we didn't :eek:
Can we claim ignorance?!
Has anyone experienced this before?!
Dreading the bill when it arrives as it's going to be in the thousands, not the tens, of pounds.
Oh - and to top it all off, my wife is about to give birth to our first child so the last thing we need is a battle with Thames Water or a huge bill!!!
All advice gratefully received!
Thanks, B.
Mortgage Debt Jan 09: £162,024
Overpayment to Date (started Jan 09): £1,000
Original/New End Date: April 2038/October 2037
Money Saved: £4,667
:beer:
Overpayment to Date (started Jan 09): £1,000
Original/New End Date: April 2038/October 2037
Money Saved: £4,667
:beer:
0
Comments
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OK first off leave the wife / baby out of it because that just sounds to much like trying it on ( I am not saying you are I mean when you write to them)
Right : No you can't plead ignorance but you can apply for a leakage allowance and if the leak is underground it should be a straight forward case of fix leak, get some readings for adc and new bill arrives based on that.
BUT it depends on A , where the leak is B, when you fix it C, what caused it...So if it was underground and something you did caused it then you might have a fight.
First things first though, you need to find and repair the problem..then you need to take meter readings and communicate with your water company.
Ask for a leak form and fill that it.
It might be that there will be no problem at all so follow the right steps and see where that gets you, if you have problems after it is fixed then and only then do you need to move on to other options.There is a race of men that don't fit in; A race that can't stand still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin, and roam the world at will.
Robert Service0 -
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