Water Meter Housing exposed - caused it to freeze - who is resopnsible?

JohnD2410115

Hello,

Not necessarily about water bills but I'm hoping this is the right place to post...

I moved into my new home in September, yesterday, my water supply completely stopped at all points of the property. I worked out that at some point around my water meter to the property, the pipes had frozen. I couldn't open the water meter 'door' as it was damaged so I called United Utilities, who told me that basically they weren't responsible for anything and I needed to get to the mains tap, but couldn't inform me how I would replace the damaged door. Anyway, a claw hammer was required...the stop-tap was frozen solid so I couldn't turn off the water supply, there is no stop-!!!!!! in my property.

I also noticed that the water meter housing isn't fitted the way it's supposed to be. It's placed in a single brick wall with the outer cover extruding from the rear of the housing and leaving this part fully exposed to the elements.

United Utilities supply my water, on their website it states, "The external control box, and wall-mounted and in-wall meter boxes are the property of the occupier but maintained by us."

After a couple of hours of hairdryers, multiple kettle boils and hot towels I managed to thaw the area. I'm going to better insulate the pipes but there isn't much I can do about the meter housing as it won't move due to how it's fitted. Are United Utilities responsible for ensuring that the housing of the meter is sufficient to stop it freezing again?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you