Meter reading not taken on moving - what can we do?

emv

We're in a bit of a strange situation. Moved into a house in July 2014 & we own the property next door which is commercial. After much chasing, the developer who owns the site told us the details of our water meter. At the time that meter was supplying all of the other properties on site so we didn't take over responsibility for it until Feb 2015 when he installed separate meters for his other properties. We're eligible for a WaterSure discount which has been applied to this account.


It now turns out that there is a separate water meter for the building we live in (and always has been) and this is a different meter to the one we've had the WaterSure applied to. That meter is just for the commercial building.


The developer has supplied a meter reading, which is supposedly from Feb 2015 but we have no way of checking that. (He's owned the site since 2010). Because we didn't know that meter was ours, we didn't take a reading.


Where do we stand challenging a reading from over a year ago? Can I ask the water company to monitor useage for a while and see whether that tallies? Or is it my responsibility to have checked, even though I didn't know that I owned the meter?

Cardew

emv wrote: »

It now turns out that there is a separate water meter for the building we live in (and always has been) and this is a different meter to the one we've had the WaterSure applied to. That meter is just for the commercial building.


The developer has supplied a meter reading, which is supposedly from Feb 2015 but we have no way of checking that. (He's owned the site since 2010). Because we didn't know that meter was ours, we didn't take a reading.


Where do we stand challenging a reading from over a year ago? Can I ask the water company to monitor useage for a while and see whether that tallies? Or is it my responsibility to have checked, even though I didn't know that I owned the meter?

It is your responsibility, or that of your lawyer, to have determined if there was another meter, and the reading when you purchased the commercial property.


If the developer did give a false meter reading to the water company(and that might not be the case) what good would it be if they monitored your usage and found that there was a discrepancy? Someone has used the water and it has to be paid for(and as it is commercial, the VAT paid). If it is assumed that the developer did submit a false reading, the water company would need to request the developer paid extra. Without any proof I suspect such a request might fall on stony ground.