Water bill/leak problem

Archie_G

Please can I ask for urgent advice. My family own a holiday property. It is one of a group of converted cottages. We are all on a water meter and all the water meters are situated together in a field about half a mile from the properties. Our neighbour received a high bill, contacted the water company and it has come to light that there is a leak. However, he also found out that the meter that was registering the leak and for which he has been paying the bills for the past six years is not the one which serves his house. We have established that It is the meter that serves our house. So, unbeknown to either of us, we have being paying each other's bills for six years.
My anxiety is now the leak. The water company did a preliminary check and said they couldn't find where it was and said it was down to the property owner (it had not been established who's meter it was at that point) to find and fix.
My understanding was that the property owner was responible for leaking pipes on their land. The supply pipes runs under a farmer's field and are nowhere near our boundary. We have switched the stopcock off in the property to check that the leak is not inside the house and it isn't.
My questions are are we still liable to pay a bill for the lost water, even though we didn't know about the leak as we've been paying bills for a different meter? And surely we can't be expected to find the leak ourselves and then pay to have it fixed when the meter is so far from our boundary?
I'd be grateful for any advice. Thank you.

matelodave

I would guess that you are responsible for the pipe between the meter and your property even though it's on someone else's land. Ideally you need the water company stopcock and meter inside your own boundary.

It's always advisable to check that the meter that serve your property are actually the ones that you are paying the bill for. That will obviously complicate matters but it should be possible to estimate how much you've lost if there's been a sudden jump in consumption.

I always check my meter regularly(monthly) and a sudden increase in consumption a couple of years ago indicated that we had a leak so we were fortunate that it had only run for around 4 weeks, even so that was around 40 cu.m of water lost.

Some water companies will give you an allowance for leaks provided they are fixed as soon as they are notified - check with your water co to see what their policy is.

Your property insurance might include the cost of finding, repair and lost water - check your policy

Archie_G

Thanks very much for your advice, it was really useful. I'll see what stance the water company take.