Water rates not charged for 4 years

waterpaininthe

I have a business and have been paying my direct debit as billed monthly since December 2021. I have only had 3 actual reads in that time. This January (2025) the meter was read and the meter reader told me that my smart (?) meter reading part of my meter was broken and had not been sending updated readings since December 2021 and had in fact assumed that I had consumed no water since then and that what I had been paying was basically the standing charges. I have received a bill for £6490 and am in discussion with the water company about paying back. 

Am I actually liable for the outstanding debt or does the “not liable if the company hasn’t billed you in the past year” apply in my case. 

Many thanks in advance for any help. 

waterpaininthe

To add to this- the meter itself has been receding the usage , but the “camera” part which sends the information to the water company is the part that was broken 

Peter999_2

Back billing restrictions only apply to consumer supplies, not business to business.   I think that they have 6 years to chase you for the payment.

Did you not realise that suddenly your bill had shot down?

MeteredOut

What size business are you? For energy, back-billing applies to consumers and micro-businesses (not sure about water back-billing but worth checking too).

waterpaininthe

Peter999_2  I hadn’t noticed the bill shooting down at all. I had changed to a different supplier and just assumed the prices were a bit cheaper (they weren’t cheaper by much). 

Thank you for your response though. 

waterpaininthe

MeteredOut 

MeteredOut said:

What size business are you? For energy, back-billing applies to consumers and micro-businesses (not sure about water back-billing but worth checking too).

It’s a small business which only uses water in the toilet and wash hand basin. But it also includes the water rates for 5 residential flats which I pay. They don’t consume a lot of water but I am billed as a business for the whole. 

MeteredOut

waterpaininthe said:

MeteredOut 

MeteredOut said:

What size business are you? For energy, back-billing applies to consumers and micro-businesses (not sure about water back-billing but worth checking too).

It’s a small business which only uses water in the toilet and wash hand basin. But it also includes the water rates for 5 residential flats which I pay. They don’t consume a lot of water but I am billed as a business for the whole. 

There's two things you need to find out

• Are you a micro-business - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-small-businesss-energy-supply/your-small-business-cant-afford-its-energy-bills/check-if-your-business-is-a-microbusiness/
• Are micro-businesses covered by back billing rules for water bills (as is the case with energy bills)

To the second point, Google AI suggests not, but it gets stuff wrong

"While energy back-billing rules exist to protect micro-businesses, water bills are not subject to the same regulations. Water companies can backdate bills, even if they haven't billed you before, for various reasons, including newly occupied properties or mistakes in billing. "