Massive water Bills paid…compensation?

Crowmo

Have a leasehold flat where water bills are directed to the flat owner(me) not tenant- management company refused to do this.
previous tenants bills not too much.
new tenant and bills started to skyrocket, there was issues with tenant in other ways and I reluctantly paid the bills. Tenant would not allow access to property for plumber etc so was not sure what going on.
after long - over year eviction court process, property back and full refurb new kitchen as bathroom to ensure no leaks. But still massive bill.
2x plumber- first useless
second discovered the meter for the property was mislabelled.
i have been paying the flat above water and vice versa.
management company are going to rectify the bills.
based on the reading on the meter which i should have been paying I think I am owed in the 5-8 thousand range as a rebate.
stretching over maybe 4 years.
could I claim hardship for money deprived(as it certainly was) and interest for outstanding monies deprived?
thanks 

Bookworm105

claim from who?
are you suing the owner of the flat above or the management company?
you can claim whatever you want, it is for the court to decide what you'll get 

BarelySentientAI

You own a flat, never checked whether the water meter was labelled properly, and want someone to pay you compensation?

MattMattMattUK

Crowmo said:

Have a leasehold flat where water bills are directed to the flat owner(me) not tenant- management company refused to do this.
previous tenants bills not too much.
new tenant and bills started to skyrocket, there was issues with tenant in other ways and I reluctantly paid the bills. Tenant would not allow access to property for plumber etc so was not sure what going on.
after long - over year eviction court process, property back and full refurb new kitchen as bathroom to ensure no leaks. But still massive bill.
2x plumber- first useless
second discovered the meter for the property was mislabelled.
i have been paying the flat above water and vice versa.
management company are going to rectify the bills.
based on the reading on the meter which i should have been paying I think I am owed in the 5-8 thousand range as a rebate.
stretching over maybe 4 years.
could I claim hardship for money deprived(as it certainly was) and interest for outstanding monies deprived?
thanks 

No compensation, you did not check the meter which is your responsibility. 

£5,000-8,000 also sounds excessive, that would have meant you were paying £104-166 per month over your usage?

Grumpy_chap

If I read correctly, the OP owns a leasehold flat.
The OP lets the flat to a tenant - presume this is under AST.
The OP thought the management company should direct the water bills to be in the name of the tenant and not the OP.  Ordinarily, it would be for the tenant to notify Council and utility suppliers of occupation dates - water is no different to the gas or electricity.
It has now been found that the water meter for the OP's flat (with the tenant) is crossed over with another flat in the block.
It therefore does not make any sense that the water use changed when the tenant in the OP's flat changed as the impact would be shown on the other meter.
Does the OP have a letting agent to give advice?
£5 - £8k for water over 4 years seems a very high number.

propertyrental

Very unusual for a landlord (you/leaseholder) to pay for their tensnt's water usage. Is that what your tenancy agreement says? Please quote.

Irrespective, it is nothing to do with the building's management company/freehold - it either a matter between you/landlord) and water company or your tenant and water company.

But whichever, it is certainly your responsibility as landlord to ensure your (or your tenant's) water meter is correctly installed/labelled.

If, as you say, for some bizarre reason you are responsible for and have been paying your tenant's water bill, then yes, the water company should reimburse you for wrongly charging you. You can certainly make an additional claim for 'compensation' which they might or might not agree to - but I doubt they have to.

It also seems strange that this came to light with the 2nd tenancy but was apparently not an issue with the previous tenancy......

Crowmo

Did repeatedly challenge the management company about meter,
Told external companies have verified it’s all in order. Also had people round several times to check for leaks and nil found.
Due to tennant being awkward could not get it CJ checked again until eviction where the issue was found.
its a very awkward management company, would not let water bill be changed from me to tenant.
not dealing with water company, water company bills management who they separately bill is leaseholders. Could be all made up we wouldn’t know 

Grumpy_chap

Crowmo said:

Did repeatedly challenge the management company about meter,
Told external companies have verified it’s all in order. Also had people round several times to check for leaks and nil found.
Due to tennant being awkward could not get it CJ checked again until eviction where the issue was found.
its a very awkward management company, would not let water bill be changed from me to tenant.
not dealing with water company, water company bills management who they separately bill is leaseholders. Could be all made up we wouldn’t know 

I am a bit surprised why you challenged the management company about the meter.
Who are the external companies that, apparently, verified it is all in order?
How do the management company get involved in who the water bill is made out to?

Ordinarily, the water meter would belong to the local statutory water undertaker - Thames Water / Severn Trent  Southern Water etc - an the billing is direct from them to the occupier and it matters not whether the occupier is owner or tenant.
Just the same as with other utilities.

Why is there a different arrangement here where the statutory water undertaker supplies water to the building management company who then bills individual flats?
In this type of arrangement, the management company is not allowed to make a profit from the resell of utilities.

Is the management company still saying that the meter labelled as yours actually feeds your flat?
Is your flat currently vacant between tenants?  If so, you could simply confirm with the management company about which meter is yours and then turn off the water feeding your flat.  It will very soon be proven if that is not the correct meter and you will have taken reasonable due diligence to ensure you were not turning off the incorrect supply.

propertyrental

Please clarify why the 'management company' is involved. What do your lease(s) say?

Highly unusual.