Help with water bill charge!

kitkatcookie

Hi! I'm looking for some advice with a messy situation that has come up.

I moved into a rental property this academic year and live with my boyfriend and flatmate. It's an old house with a shower, 2 sinks, toilet and washing machine.

 My boyfriend lived at the property last academic year (also 3 people) but the bills were handled by a previous flatmate.

When we moved in we were unsure of where the water meter was or if we even had one and chose to use an estimated reading (I now realize I REALLY should have tried to get a reading myself). I thought it would be accurate enough based on the previous usage and that no water would be used over the summer it was unoccupied. Once it was set up the charges were £52 a month which seemed reasonable.

Received a paper bill for £1008.65 a few days ago saying that we'd used 266m³ from our move in date (15th sep - 6th Feb) which seems a tad excessive. Our estimated reading was 340 and the reading taken by them on the 6th was 606, I do believe their reading was correct although on the 9th March I found it was 656 and the next day it was 658.

We have access to the account for last year's bills, as my boyfriend used it to pay his part. Looking through the bills the first one showed charges of £162.77 from 20th jan- 21st Feb where the previous reading was 0 and then an actual reading of 47. There's a second identical bill and then one for a revised water service bill from July 22nd

I'm kind of confused as to how the amount refunded was chosen and that there is no information about the period from Sep to Jan where it was occupied, but this is what the bill says

Charges for 20 Jan - 22 Jul
Amount brought forward/adjustments & refunds £923.59CR
New charges/previous balance £1179.50
Withdrawn bills £1179.50 CR

Total due £255.91

New bills issued
22/2 £162.77
2/8 £1016.73

I'd really appreciate if anybody knows a way to fix it or what most likely happened. My guess is that the readings from last year are not accurate and threw off the meter reading. I don't know if the meter was brand new but I've told our landlord about it and he's going to check for leaks and hopefully I can ask some more questions. Maybe we're being charged for anything over the last year/summer period it was unoccupied?

It's my first time paying for bills and I understand if it's a mistake on my part. I apologize if I've explained anything poorly or missed out important details!
Will we have to pay it all?
Will Bristol/Wessex water be able to adjust it if we provide some more readings?
Thank you!

brook_heather

What actual readings do you have with dates?  I would expect you to be using much less than 1m3 per day so your usage seems very excessive - you need to check for a leak.  Make sure you aren't using any water and take a reading an hour apart - does your meter show fractions of a m3?  If there is a leak you may be able to get an adjustment to your bill once the leak is fixed.

JKS$(

I've just moved & had a higher than expected water bill. My meter is only accessible to maintenance staff (I'm in a flat) & when I asked for a meter read, he noticed my meter was turning continuously very slowly. If you can access your meter easily, you may see it moving on slowly when you know no water is being used. A sign you've probably got a leak somewhere.

He suggested I test my toilets for a slow leak. (He's seen many similar leaks over the years he's been managing the estate)

Put a dry piece of toilet paper at the back of the toilet, where the water comes from whne it flushes. Wait a few minutes & see it any water wets the paper - if it does you have a slow leak.

I was sceptical of a leak - I have an en-suite & assumed I'd hear a leak... 

I have 3 slowly leaking toilets in my flat.

The fix is to replace a seal somewhere is the cistern. They perish over time, & are around £10 each. Eventually the seal will fail & the leak will increase, maybe to the extent of the toilet flushing continuously. Worth checking!