Is it my responsibility?

Colesy077

Hi I have a problem as my local water company have said that I am responsible for a water leak. It turns out that my stop valve is in a different road and 5 houses away and they have been incorrectly billing the house it’s outside for its consumption. The home owner queried it and they have now uncovered it’s not their stop valve but mine! There is they say a significant leak and that their responsibility stops at the valve and mine starts as the pipe takes water to my property all that way away!

my neighbours all have stop valves outside their houses but mine is all that way away. The leak is causing damage to the property it’s near.

my insurance said they won’t cover me for a pipe that is not on my boundary.

a few points to note:
- no I’m not on a meter
- my house is 1930s and the landscape has changed since it was built 
- I have asked my solicitor for my deeds to see where my utilities run

Any experience of similar gratefully received. I’ve asked the water company to put in a new stop valve outside my house and new route to supply but they said it would be at my expense.

many thanks 
A 

cajef

Before I did anything else I would first of all make sure it actually is the stop tap for your property, turn the tap off and see if the supply stops in your premises.

Hasbeen

Colesy077 said:

Hi I have a problem as my local water company have said that I am responsible for a water leak. It turns out that my stop valve is in a different road and 5 houses away and they have been incorrectly billing the house it’s outside for its consumption. The home owner queried it and they have now uncovered it’s not their stop valve but mine! There is they say a significant leak and that their responsibility stops at the valve and mine starts as the pipe takes water to my property all that way away!

my neighbours all have stop valves outside their houses but mine is all that way away. The leak is causing damage to the property it’s near.

my insurance said they won’t cover me for a pipe that is not on my boundary.

a few points to note:
- no I’m not on a meter
- my house is 1930s and the landscape has changed since it was built 
- I have asked my solicitor for my deeds to see where my utilities run

Any experience of similar gratefully received. I’ve asked the water company to put in a new stop valve outside my house and new route to supply but they said it would be at my expense.

many thanks 
A 

Unusual to have a property's outside stop valve 5 houses away in a different street.

As cajef states, turn the valve off and see if your cold water stops.

Also in my opinion regardless of where the outside stop valve is, you are only responsible for pipes etc within your own property boundary.

What have you been billed for consumption' if they have been billing wrong property?

Edit: Also see  LINKY

Cardew

Hasbeen said:
Also in my opinion regardless of where the outside stop valve is, you are only responsible for pipes etc within your own property boundary.

Agree with the above. Link below is from the Severn Trent Water website.  As water companies responsibilities are a matter of law, IMO it would apply to all Water companies.

https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/tap-water/my-water-pipes/water-pipe-responsibility/

'There a two main groups who are responsible for water pipes. The water company, and the homeowner.

We're responsible for water pipes and infrastructure on public land, up to the external stop tap. This is where your home connects to the network. We look after water meters too, whether they’re inside or outside your home.

Home-owner and water user responsibility

As the home-owner, you are responsible for repairing and maintaining any pipes connecting your home to our network.

This includes pipes running inside and outside the home, within the property boundary. The external stop tap usually marks the edge of the boundary.'

reefer37

It is the water undertakers responsibility to the highway boundary which contains a water main. So if the water main runs in your street it will be to the boundary. If no main runs in your street but in the neighbouring street then this is the nearest highway boundary. Which could be why your stop tap is some way away.
what people are telling you is correct but like everything there are plenty of exceptions

KathysBoy

I agree with reefer37. I had this problem earlier this year, in a rented property. Our stop tap was about 50 metres from the property boundary in the pavement bordering the nearest road. In the end the landlords insurance covered it, even though it was a long way from the property boundary.

However, the problem I wanted to point out is that you really need to find out the amount that is leaking., I checked the amount that was leaking, and it was about 2 litres a minute. Once they had determined it was our responsibility to fix they served us with a Section 75 notice requiring it to be fixed within 20 days. They are required by the law to serve this, as part of fixing leaks. 

Once it had been fixed, the bill for the water recorded as going through the meter was about £1,500, whereas we use about 9 cubic metres a month (about £15]. Note, this excludes sewage, which is generally about 90% of the water use on top. Because it was clear we couldn’t argue about responsibility, and kept them informed about what was happening, following receipt of the section 75, we were able to claim a leak allowance, and they credited our account with the surplus over the normal usuage.

So, the point I am making, is that if the leak is high, it may be cheaper to just get it fixed, otherwise the actual cost of the water, may be significantly more that the cost of the repair.