Would I be liable for bills paid prior to discovering leak?

DaveMania

Hi - not sure if this needs to go here or in debts forum, but we've discovered a water leak between our meter and our flat. If it's decided that the leak is external, then I believe we are not liable for the extra water used, BUT our bills initially went up about 6 months ago, which we assumed was down to our normal water use (the water company person said it was a little high, but in keeping with 3 people being in the flat).
Now, though, our bills have rocketed and that prompted us to investigate, discovering that the meter was running even with the stopcock off.
They'd refund us the bills if it's discovered we have an external leak, but would we be entitled to ask for a refund on the higher bills we've paid in the months before the leak was identified? After all, we're paying for something we've not actually been using.

molerat

Leakage after the meter is your responsibility but you may be able to claim a leakage allowance, look at your individual supplier's website.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Post above is correct. To elaborate:

Any external leakage after the meter is your responsibility. Until recently most water companies would carry out a one-off 'goodwill' repair; subject to certain conditions - mainly if the leak was under a building. They would also give the customer a one-off 'goodwill' leakage allowance for water that had leaked.

However there have been several posts recently to state that their water company have stopped any 'goodwill' repairs and the customer pays for everything after the meter; in some cases the water company's website is out of date and does not reflect their change in policy. So you need to check with your water company.

ciderboy2009

OP - I'm not sure where in the country you are but I can confirm that Bristol Water are one company who still offer the single free repair (as long as the leak isn't within the walls of your property) and a leakage allowance (normally for a maximum of the last two bills but, in my case (last month), they went back to when the meter was fitted as there was a strong possibility that this was what caused the leak to start).