Retrospective billing by Thames Water

victor31

Hi

I have been told by Thames Water recently that I have been billed on on incorrect meter. This is after 7 years of me having been paying on my previous (now) wrong meter. They are about to hit me with a bill and I think that could amount to at least £1000 if backdated. Anybody knows if they are allowed to do this or if there is a limit on the amount of years they are allowed to backdate, etc - anything to help to reduce a hige bill to come?

Thanks,

Victor

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Is this a commercial account?

Water companies do not have the same restrictions as Gas/Electricity companies regarding backbilling, so they can go back 6 years(5 in Scotland) for valid bills.

However in cases like this there is normally some room for negotiation - depending on the circumstances.

Gothicfairy

They are allowed to back date but that doesn't mean they will hit you with a massive bill, there is every chance they will try and work something out as they know they will not get thousands out of domestic customers anyway so there would be little point producing such a bill.
Chances are they will pick a date and start bill correctly from then. This is a back office process and once you get the letter from them you will be able to contact them and discuss it in better detail anyway.