I need a replacement water meter

Ballard

Several (my guess is around 8) years ago I had a water meter installed and everything has been great. My bills were around £140-£150 per year. It has since been announced that every local household is compelled to have a meter fitted and the work has been going on in recent months to fit them.

My last 6 monthly bill was £127 which came a rather a shock so I called Thames Water and a month or so later an engineer visited. It didn't take him long to diagnose the problem as 'my' water meter is actually on a neighbour's supply. Until very recently he's been paying based on his rateable value and I've been paying for his usage. We are both single men living alone and I'd expect our usage to be very similar.

During the installation of his meter, his tank was drained and re-filled and I suspect that additional water flowed through his system to test it resulting in the large bill. That's the only explanation that I can come up with for the doubling of the bill.

I should explain that due to a new zebra crossing directly outside the flat the council denied permission for his meter to be installed outside so he has one inside his property. He now has two meters (his new and my old) on his supply.

I'm waiting to hear from Thames Water but it seems very likely that my old meter will be decommissioned and I'll have to have a new one installed in my kitchen (where the supply enters the building). This does have the advantage of me not being charged for water use should a pipe burst in my garden but I have little cupboard room in my kitchen so I will have to lose some valuable space.

The engineer gave me some reassurance about my last bill as the situation is clearly their fault but it's a real pain that I'm very likely to lose at least part of a cupboard through their error.

Presuming that this is confirmed, is it worth me kicking up a fuss over this to get compensation or would this be a waste of time?

matelodave

What's all this demanding compensation about.

It seems to be the automatic reaction nowadays, what can I get for nothing.

Ballard

matelodave wrote: »

What's all this demanding compensation about.

It seems to be the automatic reaction nowadays, what can I get for nothing.

I often agree with you but in this case it's because if they hadn't messed up I wouldn't have lost a cupboard. My kitchen isn't exactly huge and I could do without losing the space.

undaunted

So why can't you have the meter installed externally if it's that big an issue?




As to compensation the only grounds I cvould see for that is if subsequent evidence suggests you use less water than you have been paying for as a result of their incorrectly placing the meter last time (apparently - are we sure it's the first & not this engineer who got it wrong?)

Ballard

undaunted wrote: »

So why can't you have the meter installed externally if it's that big an issue?




As to compensation the only grounds I cvould see for that is if subsequent evidence suggests you use less water than you have been paying for as a result of their incorrectly placing the meter last time (apparently - are we sure it's the first & not this engineer who got it wrong?)

It can no longer be installed in the road as a zebra crossing has since been added. Thames Water were denied permission to install a meter outside for my neighbour for this reason. The engineer who visited told me that the new one would need to be in my kitchen. If they are able to put it outside anywhere I will go for this option as I really don't want to lose cupboard space.

The engineer turned off the supply at the meter but my taps were not affected in the slightest so presuming that he turned the water off completely as he'd said it seems that there's no other explanation.

cajef

What losses have you incurred to warrant compensation?

A water meter in a cupboard is hardly going take up a lot of space.

Ballard

cajef wrote: »

What losses have you incurred to warrant compensation?

A water meter in a cupboard is hardly going take up a lot of space.

Fair enough. It seems that I'm wrong and no one else would be bothered if due to a mistake by a utility supplier they lost cupboard space.

macman

So how much compensation do you believe you are entitled to for your loss of space, and how do you calculate that figure?
A typical water meter is about the size of a can of beans.

Ballard

I had assumed that the meter would be larger. If it turns out to be that size then it wouldn't be a problem. I've never seen a water meter and had assumed that it would be somewhat bulkier.

My biggest issue was that the cupboard that it'll need to go in is the only one that is large enough to take my wok. If the wok can no longer go in that cupboard I would probably have to put it in my wardrobe. That would be a big pain in the 'arris.

As to quantifying any compensation, I don't know but I would have asked for something like £50. It's difficult to calculate.

Ballard

I was told that they'd arrange a site visit within a few weeks. A month went by so I rang them and it appears that my case had dropped off their system so I arranged the next available appointment which is 10 June.

I'm not even sure whether they'll fit the meter that day as I will need to cut away some of the back of the cupboard (but I don't know which part yet).

I'm not impressed with Thames Water at this stage.

t0rt0ise

I asked Thames water a question by email just before moving here. They didn't answer. I asked again saying that I was disappointed that they hadn't replied to me. They did so. A while later I got a letter saying that as they hadn't answered in the required time they were giving me £30. So you may well be due some compensation for them taking so long to sort out the problem.


Also the meter is not like a gas meter, it's round and small and I would think that they would cut the back of the cupboard and not expect you to do it.