Im getting free water!?

CFC11

Hello,

What do I do if my water meter readings are obviously wrong, and Im essentially getting free water?

Our 2 most recent water meter readings for December 2023 to May 2024 says that our family of 4, are only using 5 litres of water per day, and May 2024 to November 2024 only using 6 litres per day, compared to our neighbours using around 250/300 litres per day?
Our last 2 meter readings say that we've only used 1 cubic metre of water since the last reading.

Our latest water usage bill for over 6 months from May 2024 to November 2024 was only £2.25, so now our monthly Direct Debit for water has been reduced to £1 per month, as we're £250 in credit!

Do we tell the water company about the obvious issue with the meter?  (Its the water company that do the readings).
Are we likely to get a back-dated bill for a few £1000 if they suss that our water readings, usage and bills have been wrong since December 2023?

Rodders53

Have you taken any check readings of the meter serving your property?
(When you moved in, and today for example)
Do those number match the numbers on your bill?

Have you checked the meter serial number matches the Billing meter?

Errors happen.

CFC11

Yes, checked both.
Meter reading on meter matches what is quoted on the bill, and the meter serial number matches the bill too.
Meter reading only gone up 1 cubic metre of usage since the last reading 6 months ago.

Rodders53

Tell the water company the meter must be faulty.  The longer you leave it the worse any corrected / estimated bills could become.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2524817/anglian-water-broken-meter-and-backdated-estimated-bill

Your water supplier may be more forgiving?  My leccy supplier never charged me for the energy I used when my meter was not recording for around 4-5 months (before they could change it).

CFC11

Great, thanks.

KittenChops

Who is your supplier?

I had a similar thing at our house a few years back, the meter was faulty.
We'd only had the meter for a year or two, and the bills were all being paid with the credit that had accumulated from going from non-metered to metered, so I hadn't noticed.  The water company (South East Water) sent me a letter asking if the house was unoccupied as the water usage was virtually zero.  I responded promptly saying the house wasn't unoccupied, they got the meter fixed very quickly and they didn't bill me for the time when the meter was faulty.