Paying for Neighbours Water - Refund?

Harry_harrington

Hi just wondering if anyone has experienced similar; (sorry for long post)

We moved into our home (owned) just over 4 years ago and have recently found out we have been paying for our neighbours water for the whole of this time. Wessex Water fitted a meter shortly after we moved in but failed to notice we are on a shared supply with next door. 

Our neighbour has been having noise issues when we use our taps and it was only through talking to him about this we realised the supply was shared.

We've advised the water board and they have confirmed they fitted in error and removed the meter. They have calculated an estimated bill for us moving forward based on the rateable value of the house and us having 4 occupants (which I get and understand).

What seems less logical to me is that they have then retrospectively applied that estimate to the last 4 years to work out our refund. They have calculated the estimation as being £200 less than we actually paid over the 4 year period. This seems mad to me as it implies our neighbours usage has only been £50 per year. One of my issues with this is we have only been a home of 4 people for a month since our son was born and when we first moved in were only 2.

I'm perhaps being naive but to me the logical way of calculating the overpayment from ourselves and our neighbour is to deduct the total cost of water used over that period (which is a known amount as it was metered) from the total amount paid by ourselves and our neighbour (again an exact known amount) and split the refund between the two households.

The other issue that seems really unfair is that our neighbours estimate is much higher than ours (£120 per year). He is a vulnerable single person. They say because he has never requested a meter they cannot take into account the number of people in his home when working out his estimate. 

Anyone had a similar experience? To me it just seems crazy they have come up with an estimate that assumes our neighbours usage is so low. Between us and our neighbour Wessex Water have received around £2200 more than the cost of the actual water and sewage services supplied.

QrizB

Sorry but I'm struggling to make sense of the numbers you've posted.

• You've had a water meter for 4 years.
• For that time, you've been paying the metered charge and your neighnbour has been paying based on their rateable value?
• You have discovered that the meter serves both properties, and it has been removed.
• You have now been given an estimated bill for those 4 years that is £200 less than you paid, £50/year.
• Your neighbour's bill will in future be £120/year. You say this is higher than yours? How much is your future bill going to be?
  
• You mention £2200 but it's not clear what this number represents?

Why does having £50/year taken off your metered bill sound unreasonable? If your neighbour is a single person, he could easily use only £50/year of metered water.

Harry_harrington

Sorry QrizB if some of my numbers weren't very clear;

Our future bill is £440/yr. Our neighbours is £560/yr. I meant his estimate is £120/yr more than ours not £120 in total.

The £2200 I mentioned is the difference between the actual cost of water used by the two households over the 4yrs and what has been paid between us and our neighbour. I'm not suggesting I was expecting this amount as a refund but stated it to illustrate the total overpayment received by Wessex water. The actual total cost for the metered water used and standing charges for both properties for sewage is approx. £2300 for the 4 years whilst the total of payments made by ourselves and our neighbour is £5500. 

Its interesting to see £50/year sounds like a reasonable figure to you - that was partly what I was hoping to get a sense of from people. Based on the estimates for us and our neighbour this seemed very low to me.

theoretica

I don't think you can assume that the bills for supplying one big imaginary property (you and your neighbour) should be the total of adding your and your neighbours bills together. You have paid for a bit more water than you have used - and rightfully will be getting a refund.  I would try to work out how much the refund would change if you argue for them to take into account your changing household numbers over this time.

Your neighbour has throughout been paying for his water and supply and will remain on that charging scheme - but it seems that to lower his bills and get it taken into account he is single he might be able to ask for a water meter to be fitted and they will change the charging scheme for him if they can't.

QrizB

Harry_harrington said:

Its interesting to see £50/year sounds like a reasonable figure to you - that was partly what I was hoping to get a sense of from people. Based on the estimates for us and our neighbour this seemed very low to me.

Thanks for the info. Both households - you and your neighbour - seem to be paying / using more than we do!

We're metered, a family of 4 and use around 120 cubic metres of water a year. Our volume charge is about £2 per cubic metre so £240 per year, or £60 per year each pro-rata.

The standing charge is on top of that, about another 40p/day, so £160/year.

Cardew

QrizB said:

Harry_harrington said:

Its interesting to see £50/year sounds like a reasonable figure to you - that was partly what I was hoping to get a sense of from people. Based on the estimates for us and our neighbour this seemed very low to me.

Thanks for the info. Both households - you and your neighbour - seem to be paying / using more than we do!

We're metered, a family of 4 and use around 120 cubic metres of water a year. Our volume charge is about £2 per cubic metre so £240 per year, or £60 per year each pro-rata.

The standing charge is on top of that, about another 40p/day, so £160/year.

Does your volume charge of £2 per cubic metre include sewerage?

Water/sewerage charges vary a great deal across UK

QrizB

Cardew said:

QrizB said:

Harry_harrington said:

Its interesting to see £50/year sounds like a reasonable figure to you - that was partly what I was hoping to get a sense of from people. Based on the estimates for us and our neighbour this seemed very low to me.

Thanks for the info. Both households - you and your neighbour - seem to be paying / using more than we do!

We're metered, a family of 4 and use around 120 cubic metres of water a year. Our volume charge is about £2 per cubic metre so £240 per year, or £60 per year each pro-rata.

The standing charge is on top of that, about another 40p/day, so £160/year.

Does your volume charge of £2 per cubic metre include sewerage?

Water/sewerage charges vary a great deal across UK

Yes (and five more characters).