My water meter is giving false readings

Melissa68

I had a water meter installed last year and my bill has increased hugely! I live alone in a tiny two up two down house and do not use huge amounts of water- very quick showers instead of baths, 1-2 washing machine loads a week ( and machine doesn't fill up with water itself as it is faulty and I have to fill it up with a jug through the soap tray) and then the usual morning coffee and cooking one pan of food a night, and flushing the toilet etc.
I have no car to wash and am not hosing the garden down.
My bill has increased by almost £300 since I had it installed!
I'm on JSA and cannot pay this! Am seeing the CAB about it as UU going to send my account to debt collectors.

But everytime I speak to UU they say that I am using huge amounts of water and will not listen to me.
It took me 9 months to get an engineer to come and look at my home and meters and he said there are no leaks etc ( which UU was always accusing me of when I told them I'm not using huge amounts of water). The engineer said the meter recording and my usage don't add up so there is something not right.

Everyone else I know who has a water meter- single low usage like myself said there bill went down a fair bit- so what is going on?

I swear I'm not using huge amounts of water.

Anyone else had this experience or can shed some light on it?

My bill is now £500.

samsmoot

This recent post by mart.vader pretty much sums up what help is available.

I'd start off by writing to UU and asking for the forms needed to apply to their Charitable Trust for help in paying the charges. Ask them to put collection on hold whilst the application is pending.

mart.vader wrote: »

Is any of the following applicable to you ? I'm "surprised" that UU did not bring this to your attention.

http://www.unitedutilities.com/documents/Code_of_practice_debt_recovery.pdf

Dedicated support

Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for one of our special support schemes, which could help you clear your debt more quickly. You can find out more about each of these schemes at our website, unitedutilities.com, or by calling our assistance team (see contact details on right). Here’s a quick summary of what we offer: Arrears Allowance Scheme: If you’ve already built up a lot of debt, this scheme could help you get back in the black. For every £1 you pay, we’ll put in £1 too, helping you to clear your debt twice as quickly. To benefit from this scheme, you must meet certain criteria, and be ready and willing to take on your debt by sticking to the payment plan we agree with you.

United Utilities Trust Fund:
If you are in real financial difficulty and have nowhere else to turn, you may qualify for a grant from this charity trust fund to pay off all or part of your bill or debt – giving you the fresh start you need.

Water Direct:
If you are claiming income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance or Pension Credit, you can ask the Department for Work and Pensions to pay your water bill directly to us, out of your benefit – saving you the hassle of having to remember. Call us to find out more."

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4781771

Andy_WSM

Surely you have a right to ask UU to check the meter as you believe it to be faulty. If they say you are using huge amounts of water and you know you are not then raise a formal complaint with them until it is resolved.

matelodave

You can ask them to check the meter, if it's OK then you'll be charged for the visit, if it's faulty they'll change it for free.

Have you tried reading the meter yourself and recording your consumption - it's not hard. Either do it daily or weekly and write down your readings - you can then see what you are using and when. You can even do a rough check by filling a bucket and checking that the meter records the amount that you've used - most meter will read to an accuracy of about 1 litre, so a 10 litre bucket full should be fairly easy to check

Try turning everything off overnight and making sure that the meter doesn't record - if it does, then shut off the internal stopcock and make sure that nothing gets recorded. If it does then you've got a leak somewhere between the meter and the stopcock which needs to be repaired. These are all easy things to check yourself.

We average about 1.5cu m a week (75 a year) that's for two of us, both at home all day. We only have showers and both of our toilets are lo-flush. The washing machine is used on average 2-3 times a week (45 litres a load). The dishwasher 3-4 times a week (25 litres a load). We've got flow restrictors on all the taps and the shower which reduces the amount of water that comes out to about 6 litres a minute (free from the water company). We also have an automatic garden watering system with timers which is used in the summer. We don't stint on water but we don't waste it either

Our 75cu. m. cost us £26 month (£312 a year) for water and sewerage (Anglian Water) although that's irrelevant - its the amount you use that's important as costs will vary all over the country.

I know how much we use because we had a leak between the meter and the house which used about 1 cu.m a day and so I've been making careful checks since it was repaired - I only noticed the leak by an odd check of the meter so we only lost about £110 worth of water which Anglian Water gave me a credit on my bill. I now check it regularly to make sure that there aren't any problems

Melissa68

Thanks for the replies- as I said the engineer came and did all the readings- he said that the meter shows I am using vast amounts of water but that it cannot be possible I am using them, then it goes back to normal for a time. He cannot fathom it. I am trying to apply for the trust fund thing but they won't wait- and it takes time to go through the CAB system.
The engineer said the problem will be with UU at source but I could end being sent another bill for them checking it- so in effect they are charging me for water I'm not using and getting away with it!!!! I hate them, they are vile.

zaax

You do have a fault somewhere. Do you have a leak, Is another property connected to your supply after the meter.

A normal bill is £80 / quarter, you will need to push this until its fixed.

Norman_Castle

Your supply may be feeding another property. Check the meter before and after going out for the day or turn your water off and see if the neighbors loose their supply