Landlord installing water meter with no notice?

sirmosh

It's quite possible the water company have decided to put one in rather than the landlord. I don't know if I missed the letter but I just came home one day and they'd put on in at a home we own.

JustAnotherSaver

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Who is paying the water bills?

She is i presume. Although my brother claims he doesn't pay all her bills, i highly doubt he's telling the truth, but that's another story.

Is this an estimate?

Not from what he said. He said it's gone up £40 a month. I'm guessing he means the last month was £40 more than the previous payment which wasn't on a meter.

Yes, the landlord can have a water meter installed. IMO it is a sensible thing to do as I am guessing this is a small flat.

Thanks & yes.

bap98189 wrote: »

£40 seems excessive. There are only two of us in our house, and our bill is usually about £12/month. They must be using a lot of water if their bill has gone up by £40. Most people with only 2 in the household would find the water bill going down after installing a meter.

Wonder why they are finding it dearer then. I know he always was a sod for spending a half hour in the shower, but i've no idea how they use their water.

You say that it is a money earner for the landlord

No i didn't.

Gwhiz wrote: »

Not sure why you think the meter will be a money earner for the LL.

I wouldn't worry about it. It seems to be a sticking point so maybe i should edit it out.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Water meters usually give a much lower bill, not a higher one. Somebody's confused somewhere.

Well according to him the previous bill was £40 cheaper.

But ATEOTD the cost is irrelevant & not the actual question.

The question was can it be done, that is it.

HappyMJ wrote: »

The water supplier can install a meter on change of occupancy which includes a tenant moving in. The landlord probably didn't have a choice.

£40 (dearer) per month is A LOT of water. Which region is this?

Thanks. I'll tell them.

NW.

sydenhambased wrote: »

Is this a building where there are several properties (flats) sharing a water supply?

Yes it's 1 building with numerous tennants. Looking at it i would guess perhaps 20 or so different tennants.

duchy wrote: »

Either he's using a lot of water (an awful lot of water) or it's an estimated bill........or the bill is wrong.

I'll let him know. Thanks.
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CharlieRabbit01

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Thanks & yes. Wonder why they are finding it dearer then. I know he always was a sod for spending a half hour in the shower, but i've no idea how they use their water.

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I live in the south where i believe water rates are higher (but don't quote me on that) I too have a habit of spending 30 minutes in the shower, but I don't take baths.

For a price comparison:

There are 2 of us in our flat, I wash my hair everyday and the shower is used everyday by one of us, plus a bath once a week/fortnight and weekly clothes wash.

My bill went from £17pm to £12pm when i had the meter installed.

I requested that the meter be put in (i'm a tenant) but I know my local water board are running a scheme to get everyone on a meter.

I wonder if the block has only 1 water meter so the bill is for the whole block and not just them, this would explain the rise.

Although when I had our meter installed there was a chance that upstairs were sharing my supply so the water board check this before putting the meter in.

EmmyLou30

Either they've put the meter on the joint supply or they have a leak.....that or they're the most wasteful water users ever. We use £22 for water and sewage combined a month for 2 of us on a meter. We are quite careful but there's no way we'd run up a £60 bill a month no matter how wasteful we were I don't think (the £40 you say it has risen plus the original rateable value they were paying has me guessing they now pay about £60 a month).

smifffy1989

We currently pay £31 for two of us. We have been using alot lately as we had a hosepipe leak incident and a new puppy were the washing machine was on at least every other day. We are in credit now as a result.

There is something wrong with the meter, the usage or the way that it is being split out as it sounds complicated with 20 odd tenants!

Mallotum_X

a £40 increase sounds huge. It would be worth her ringing the water company to work out how they got to this figure. The first bills will be estimates anyway. How is she currently paying for water, is it a DD to the water company?

Does she know where the meter is. Make sure everything is turned off and look at the meter itself. The dials should not be moving if everything in her flat is off.

I live in a house with partner in South East, we use a lot of water for two people long showers etc, a lot goes on the garden and we have a large koi pond that has roughly 400 gallons of fresh water a week.

Our bill is £37 a month.

patman99

What normally happens when switching to a meter is that it can take a year or two before the bills become accurate as the water company has no idea of your actual use, so will set the monthly amount high.

They review every 12 months, so in a years time, the monthly amount will drop and you can request a refund of your over-payment.

When I moved in to my flat back in 1991, my water supplier charged me £30 p/m. This fluctuated up/down until after 5 years they settled on £21 p/m.
It is now £26 p/m but at least it is accurate.