Water bill....leak

inspirespirit

I moved into this house 2 years ago and was paying 27 pounds per month water bill. After the first 6 months they put monthly payments down to 16 pounds per month once they worked out my usage. I have continued to pay this. About 3 weeks ago I got my water bill and I owe 350 pounds and my monthly bill has gone up to 60 pounds per month !!!!
I rang them up and they said my consumption suddenly went up over 6 months ago. They told me to do a flow test which I did. Switched all the water off. Took a reading. Left it 2 hours and took another reading and it had gone up from 123 to 175 without any water being used. So they told me I obviously had a leak somewhere.
I called my Housing Association and they sent out this obnoxious little man who knocked at my door and said 'so you think you have a leak'. I replied yes. He said 'well you haven't'. So I explained about the flow test and bill etc. and he told me I had probably read the meter wrong !!! He was a real condescending little twit. He then said if I had had a leak for over 6 months either my ceiling would have fallen in or I would be flooded. He said it must be the meter.
So I rang Severn Trent and they sent someone out to sort the meter. I had to wait almost 3 weeks for them to send out an engineer. The engineer came yesterday. He was extremely helpful. He changed the meter, did a flow test and guess what.... I have a leak. Meter was fine. He turned the water off by the handle and when turned back on it was pulling water through when it shouldn't have been. It took him all of 2 minutes to locate the leak which was the upstairs toilet. It was not visible to the eye. He couldn't fix it as he was not allowed to touch it so I will be ringing the Housing Association today to ask for a plumber.
Severn Trent won't reimburse me because as far as they are concerned I have used the water. The Housing Association won't want to know but I am really angry because if the person they sent out before Christmas had even bothered his !!!! too look he should have been able to find that leak. That is over 3 weeks worth of extra leakage I am having to pay for.
Should I ask the HA to reimburse me and if so, when from? Am I responsible myself for not knowing I had a leak. Also I think Severn Trent are a bit lax by not informing me my water consumption had quadrupled and letting it go on for six months.
Or should I just put up and shut up?

deanos

do severn trent not do a leakage allowance ? , anglian let you claim for internal leaks

As for ST letting you know im sure they have a system in place if its a very high bill yours was probably under the threshold but ultimately its your responsibility

inspirespirit

thanks for your reply deanos. I spoke to Severn Trent and they said that as far as they are concerned, it is water that I have used and therefore they cannot refund.

NeverEnough

There is an article here http://www.ccwater.org.uk/server.php?show=conWebDoc.267 indicating Severn Trents nasty attitude to internal leaks, it may be worth your appealing it. Other companies offer a goodwill allowance for internal leaks or leaks close to the water meter, if you have one, seems ST is not one of them. Probably still worth filing a complaint as the one in the article was upheld due to their tardy response in sending someone out weeks after you contacted them.

inspirespirit

That's interesting NeverEnough. To be fair to Severn Trent they were really helpful. It was their engineer who found the leak. The Housing Association came out and virtually told me I was being stupid. I am definitely going to try to get reimbursed from the day the HA chap told me I haven't got a leak up until next Thursday when ST come to fix it as that is an extra month of leakage I will have paid for that their man should have detected and fixed.

keystone

inspirespirit wrote: »

They told me to do a flow test which I did. Switched all the water off. Took a reading. Left it 2 hours and took another reading and it had gone up from 123 to 175 without any water being used. So they told me I obviously had a leak somewhere.

Clearly. I doubt you are reading the black numbers though as that wouldn't be a leak it would be Niagra Falls. Even so reading the two red numbers says you used just over 4 litres per minute over that two hours. Thats like having a bath tap running but only open half way. How could you possibly not have noticed that amount of water either going down the internal overflow of your loo or exiting from an external overflow pipe? And its been going on for six months?? Something isn't right here.

I called my Housing Association and they sent out this obnoxious little man who knocked at my door and said 'so you think you have a leak'. I replied yes. He said 'well you haven't'. So I explained about the flow test and bill etc. and he told me I had probably read the meter wrong !!! He was a real condescending little twit. He then said if I had had a leak for over 6 months either my ceiling would have fallen in or I would be flooded. He said it must be the meter.

Did you not invite him to check the operation of the meter?

It took him all of 2 minutes to locate the leak which was the upstairs toilet. It was not visible to the eye.

Unless you have misread the meter or I have misinterpreted the readings you have given or I have misunderstood the operation of your loo it can't possibly have been invisible to the eye at 4l/m

Severn Trent won't reimburse me because as far as they are concerned I have used the water.

I think they are correct TBH.

The Housing Association won't want to know but I am really angry because if the person they sent out before Christmas had even bothered his !!!! too look he should have been able to find that leak.

Did it not occur to you to bother your !!!! to look for it?

That is over 3 weeks worth of extra leakage I am having to pay for. Should I ask the HA to reimburse me and if so, when from? Am I responsible myself for not knowing I had a leak.

Why does it always have to be somebody else's fault?

Also I think Severn Trent are a bit lax by not informing me my water consumption had quadrupled and letting it go on for six months.
Or should I just put up and shut up?

I think you have been lax by not actually checking what your usage is on a regular basis instead of relying on someone else to do it for you.

Cheers