Renting from Council - Water Leak

steve1500

Not sure if this is the right spot.

my father in law "rents" a flat from the council and has carers visiting 3 times a day.

The has been a water leak in the wall cavity of the property and the water went straight into the ground so was not visibly noticable.

It only came to light through the meter reading and the water bill of £400.

As it is a council property are the council responsible for the "lost" water?

Thanks

cattie

As your FIL has a meter, he would be responsible for the cost of all water used, but depending on what water board he comes under, it may be possible to get the cost of the 'lost' water written off due to hardship.

Make an appeal to the water board and if no joy, see if writing to the local mp will bring a positive result.

squatlover

Unfortunately I think unless you reported the leak, or the landlord failed to maintain the property I think you are liable for any water that is used.

G_M

steve1500 wrote: »

my father in law "rents" a flat from the council and....

The has been a water leak in the wall cavity of the property and the water went straight into the ground so was not visibly noticable.

It only came to light through the meter reading and the water bill of £400.

As it is a council property are the council responsible for the "lost" water?

Thanks

Interesting use of inverted commas. What exactly do you mean?

How long has the water been leaking? Surely the routine monitoring of the meter would have made alarms ring?

If council was informed in writing of the problem, and did nothing, then yes - liable. Otherwise, no.

You may find his insurance covers loss of oil and water.

steve1500

It is a council flat which he gets for free.

He is not able to get about so the the meters only get read once every 3 or 4 months .

Council repaired the leak once it became apparent and have said it is just one of those things!! And they ain't paying even though is is their pipes

squinty

Unless the council have been negligent then they are not liable of any loss.

Similalry, if this leak had damaged his belongings the council would have no liability. As G_M suggests he may be able to claim from his insurance.

Otherwise, the water company may be flexible and write off some, or all, of the debt. Presumably as he has regular carers visits he has extensive support needs - you can try writing to the water complany and explain the what has happened and the impact this has,

jgh

steve1500 wrote: »

It is a council flat which he gets for free.

How does he get it for free? If no consideration is involved he may not have a tenancy, legally he may even be squatting. Do you actually mean that he gets Housing Benefit to the maximum of his rent?