Complex Business Water Dispute – Advice Needed on Wrongful Late Fees & "Attempted" Readings

lizhar1511 · 10 September at 10:50AM

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some strategic advice on a billing dispute for a commercial/business account. The situation as a whole is incredibly complex—with a massive web of cancellation loops, rebilling, and a large accidental overpayment credit—so I don’t expect anyone here to completely unravel the entire issue. However, I would really appreciate some targeted advice on two specific elements where the supplier is completely abandoning human logic and blindly relying on their "computer systems" and a "deemed contract":

1. The Wrongful Late Payment Fees
Because of the total administrative chaos (the supplier constantly issuing credits to zero out the account, only to immediately reinstate the exact same charges via new invoices without explanation), we stopped paying the ongoing invoices. It became impossible to know what a true balance looked like.Their automated system piled on interest and consecutive-day late fees of ~£100, which directly contradicted the flat £55 limit stated in their own paperwork. The late fees only finally stopped after the account was heavily credited.

Does the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998 protect a business here to get these historical fees reversed, given that the underlying invoices were factually incorrect, under active dispute, and they held our overpaid capital the entire time?

2. The Fictional "Attempted" Meter Readings
The site has two meters, and this specific one is now fairly redundant. We have photographic evidence proving that the actual usage on this meter was only 3m³ over a 15-month period.The supplier is aggressively disputing our evidence and relying on their system's automated, sky-high estimates. To justify this, they keep claiming their system shows "attempted" meter readings, or adding arbitrary "meter-access charges," despite our physical evidence proving no such volume of water has passed through the pipe.We manually built and provided a complete transaction ledger for them to try and fix this, but they refuse to look at it, hiding behind their system logic.

Main Questions

How do we challenge a supplier who hides behind "attempted readings" logs in their system to override physical, photographic proof of a redundant meter's actual dial?
What is the best way to force them to formally reverse the historical late fees that only stopped accumulating once their system recognized the heavy credit balance?
Given the complexity, should we push immediately for a Deadlock Letter to take this to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) or WATRS?

Thank you in advance for any insights or ideas you can share!