New house has water metre and not unmetered as told by agent

sukh38

Hi all

I purchased a house 2 weeks ago during the sale of the property the agent assured me the house was unmetered I have proof of this via email.

Now when I went to register with seven trent water I am informed the property has a water metre


As we are a large family we were better off with an unmetered metre.

Any advice

Dan-Dan

The answers in the original thread not to your liking?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5464376

natrapx

What was mentioned on the property information form? There is a section that asks about meters etc.

Bubblecat

I'm in a Severn Trent Water area. When I moved into my last house it was unmetered but on change of ownership I had to have a meter installed (had no choice in the matter). So even if your new house was unmetered when you bought it then it's highly likely it would be changed to a meter anyway.

dgtazzman

The agent can only tell you what he was told. He'll pretty much not be liable if any information he has provided you is incorrect.

What's the big issue that you need to dedicate 2 threads to the matter anyway? Nothing wrong with having a water meter, if anything, it will motivate you to stop wasting water and should at the end of the day reduce your water bills.

Penelope_Penguin

sukh38 wrote: »

I purchased a house 2 weeks ago during the sale of the property the agent assured me the house was unmetered I have proof of this via email.

Now when I went to register with seven trent water I am informed the property has a water metre

Just a thought; you're now physically IN the house? Have you taken a look - is there a meter? Not unknown for water companies to make mistakes

Alternatively, do you have contact details for the vendors? They should be able to tell you, as if they were on a meter they should have taken a reading as they left.

andi2

If you have 3 or more children (that you receive child benefit for) & are in receipt of a qualifying benefit (child tax credits counts) then apply for Watersure - this caps a metered bill.

dogshome

There are circumstances where a Seller or Agent can truthfully declare that the water supply is unmetered, even though a meter is fitted.

If a householder 'elects' to have a meter fitted, (As aganst the Water Co insisting ), the meter is fitted with the option that the householder can change back to ' Rateable Value' billing within 12 months of the meter being installed.
However this option only lasts whilst that owner is in occupation, when the house is sold the billing automatically reverts back to to meter based bills

natrapx

Bubblecat wrote: »

I'm in a Severn Trent Water area. When I moved into my last house it was unmetered but on change of ownership I had to have a meter installed (had no choice in the matter). So even if your new house was unmetered when you bought it then it's highly likely it would be changed to a meter anyway.

Really? I'm Severn Trent too, and it was completely my choice to have one, and in fact had to actively ask for it, as it's just the two of us.

Bubblecat

natrapx wrote: »

Really? I'm Severn Trent too, and it was completely my choice to have one, and in fact had to actively ask for it, as it's just the two of us.

The STW catchment area is massive so there may be different policies for different areas. It was 5 years ago so I can't remember the exact reasons STW gave. All I do remember is my husband arguing on the the phone with them for ages about it as we didn't want to move onto a meter but we were basically told 'tough ****'. All the houses nearby that had a change of ownership whilst we lived there were changed to meters (including our new neighbours who also wanted to stay unmetered).

EmmyLou30

The sooner everyone is metered the better. You should pay for what you use just like electric and gas. There'd be outcry if suddenly everyone was paying for all utilities based purely on the size of their house/random value someone arbitrarily gave it in a drive by valuation over 20 years ago!
Water is very cheap, even a house of 2 adults and 2 kids shouldn't use more than £50 worth a month, if that.