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Failed water meter - company say my responsibility to fit new one!
Hoploz
Posts: 3,888 Forumite
in Water bills
My elderly mum lives in a flat bought new 4 years ago.
She was told her water meter had stopped working so they would come and replace it.
Several appointments down the line she has now had 3 men come to do it, all leave saying they have the wrong size meter and can't do it. She has been told by the latest man that her flats all have some differently sized meter which the company do not have. She is unlucky that it is hers which happens to have gone wrong. Said the builder must have got a job lot or something. She has been told she will therefore have to pay to have the water meter fitted herself.
Surely if the water company want her to have a meter they should fit or maintain one? It's not as if we can just buy a new one from B&Q after all!
What should we do? Could she just say she will go without a meter and pay old fashioned rates instead?
She is elderly and very worried by things like this. Can anyone make a suggestion please?
She was told her water meter had stopped working so they would come and replace it.
Several appointments down the line she has now had 3 men come to do it, all leave saying they have the wrong size meter and can't do it. She has been told by the latest man that her flats all have some differently sized meter which the company do not have. She is unlucky that it is hers which happens to have gone wrong. Said the builder must have got a job lot or something. She has been told she will therefore have to pay to have the water meter fitted herself.
Surely if the water company want her to have a meter they should fit or maintain one? It's not as if we can just buy a new one from B&Q after all!
What should we do? Could she just say she will go without a meter and pay old fashioned rates instead?
She is elderly and very worried by things like this. Can anyone make a suggestion please?
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Comments
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Contact the Consumer Council for Water on her behalf. They are very good! A phone call will normally suffice.
http://www.ccwater.org.uk/0 -
Thank you for replying. I've read Affinity Water's website, and now ccwater given above, and both state that it is the water company's property and their responsibility to repair it if it goes wrong.
It's extra awkward as they phone her and write to her about these things and she gets confused and worries so much, but she can do nothing about it!
She ended up giving the last man her flat's management company's telephone number, as she told him she could not cope with any more of this inconvenience and stress. Hopefully they will stick up for what is right. If there's any more comeback I will have to step in as well.0 -
Who would have fitted the meters in the first place in a new build? Would it be the builder, or the water company?0
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My elderly mum lives in a flat bought new 4 years ago.
She was told her water meter had stopped working so they would come and replace it.
Several appointments down the line she has now had 3 men come to do it, all leave saying they have the wrong size meter and can't do it. She has been told by the latest man that her flats all have some differently sized meter which the company do not have. She is unlucky that it is hers which happens to have gone wrong. Said the builder must have got a job lot or something. She has been told she will therefore have to pay to have the water meter fitted herself.
Surely if the water company want her to have a meter they should fit or maintain one? It's not as if we can just buy a new one from B&Q after all!
What should we do? Could she just say she will go without a meter and pay old fashioned rates instead?
She is elderly and very worried by things like this. Can anyone make a suggestion please?
I think you, or your very elderly mother, must have misunderstood something somewhere along the way.
If you're mother is on a metered supply (direct from the water company) and the meter has failed, the water company I am sure will want to replace the meter themselves with one of their own water meters.
Normally there is no charge. (A charge may only be made if, for example, the supplier is suggesting deliberate damage has been caused)
I would suggest whatever is being alleged and demanded is clarified and given in writing.
If it turns out your mother can fit a new meter herself, I am more than glad to oblige (with the appropriate written authority of the water supplier) ... and I'll make sure the meter goes especially slowly for your mother
But if the water meter has failed, and the water company are not replacing it despite being advised, as long as she is still getting water, what's the issue?
Should result in really cheap bills from now on :beer:0 -
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Thank you for your reassurance.0
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Who would have fitted the meters in the first place in a new build? Would it be the builder, or the water company?
In flats, it is the builder's responsibility to fit.
If there is a problem, then it is the owner's responsibility to sort it out.
Been there. Done that. £700 poorer because of it.0
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