Water Meter - Single Person, but high bills

macman

No, because that's fraudulent.
No one can guess the costs for you, it depends on access and the length of the pipe to be replaced. Your 'property boundary' starts at the front gate/path, not at your front door. The meter is usually on the pavement adjacent to the boundary.
If it's not possible to easily locate the leak, then they will simply isolate the old supply and replace with new. The old one doesn't have to be removed.

mart.vader

vultura wrote: »

Either a leak or the meter isn't mine.

Or there is an additional feed to something else, a neighbour, a communal garden tap ?

I had thought I might be cross connected, that's what someone at the supplier called it and so I am paying someone else's bill in effect. Its possible

Whilst it may well be a leak I have a suspicion that I am cross connected. Why do I think that? Simply put when I read the meter last, I turned off the valve that was next to the meter and water still came out of my cold tap. If you turned off the valve and water still came out of your cold tap, you haven't turned your water off. Maybe someone else's ?

Could be a faulty valve though......Unusual, but possible, meter valve should be reasonably 'new', so should work.

I did try to get the supplier to investigate, but I was told I would be charged if they found no fault with the meter and that any leaks I would be liable for, even though there must be metres of pipe before it crosses my property boundary.

If the leak is found in the 'metres of pipe' before it goes onto your property, they will have to repair at their cost. Edit: and refund you for the cost of the leaked water

You need to investigate further.

vultura

macman wrote: »

No, because that's fraudulent.
No one can guess the costs for you, it depends on access and the length of the pipe to be replaced. Your 'property boundary' starts at the front gate/path, not at your front door. The meter is usually on the pavement adjacent to the boundary.
If it's not possible to easily locate the leak, then they will simply isolate the old supply and replace with new. The old one doesn't have to be removed.

They specifically exclude the first two weeks, to avoid claims on existing issues, so you actually get eleven and half months cover.

mart.vader wrote: »

You need to investigate further.

Quick update. Have been out just now to check meter reading, it was 227. So quite a bit of water used since it was read on the 4th Oct. I noticed even before I got the lid off that one of the meters was whirring away, as I lifted up the polystyrene foam on my meter the central indicator was spinning around then suddenly stopped. Weird I thought, as nothing was using water in my house. Then it started up again.

So I lifted up the cover for my neighbours meter, it wasn't moving at all. I turned off the valve for it and went back to my cold tap, turned it on and after a few moments the water flow slowed right down. Turned off tap and back to neighbours meter, turned the valve back on and back to cold tap, turned on and left running while I checked the meter. My neighbours meter was spinning, but not mine!

So I conclude it really is a cross-connection and that I am paying my neighbours bill. Just for clarity my neighbours meter, is currently reading 38, less than a fifth of mine. Given that my neighbour has four kids, would the readings seem more plausible if switched around? Am I correct in thinking if a meter is fitted it will be working, even if the property isn't metered (supplier fitted them whether you wanted one or not)?

Big question is, how do I get my supplier to act without having to call over and over again?

Edit: Do I get my money back?

mart.vader

vultura wrote: »

So I conclude it really is a cross-connection and that I am paying my neighbours bill. Just for clarity my neighbours meter, is currently reading 38, less than a fifth of mine. Given that my neighbour has four kids, would the readings seem more plausible if switched around? Am I correct in thinking if a meter is fitted it will be working, even if the property isn't metered Yes, If it goes round when water is used, then it is working

Big question is, how do I get my supplier to act without having to call over and over again? Tell them you are "cross connected" and they are billing you for your neighbour's water. And you want it to stop !

Edit: Do I get my money back?

Yes, of course, but you have to demand it

vultura

Rang the supplier Monday afternoon. Got them to run through the standard questions they ask to give an idea of how much you might pay if moving onto a meter and then compared with the readings that I have been paying for.

As you'd expect they suggested it was a leak, until I explained what I had done as described above. Someone is supposed to be calling me back to arrange a visit to run some tests to see what the problem is, but not heard anything over 48 hours later.

vultura

Having heard nothing for a two weeks I was getting a wee bit annoyed and was planning to call them again, but was busy at work. Arrived home one night to find a letter from them stating that they had taken readings from my "new" meter and calculated my average usage. They stated that my meter was cross-connected.

The upshot was that they were refunding a little over £400 to my bank account.

Thanks for the help and support all. :beer:

To anyone reading this later it goes to show that they can make mistakes when installing meters.

matelodave

It does however prove that you should also check the meter regularly yourself and not just wait for the water co to read it - that way you can identify any faults or anomalies.