Unable To Get A Water Meter Fitted

alaninmanchester

Hi,
Very interested in your info on water meters, I have been trying to get a water meter fitted for over 2 years, as I am single and live alone in a council flat. The water company say the cannot fit a meter due to the pipe work/location, and the council (Manchester City Council) who own the property will not help in any way, I am left with no option but to pay excessive water rates, (as my property is empty for at least 6 months of the year, or to have my water cut off, which the water company say the do not do to domestic properties. Any suggestions please??
Can they be forced to fit a meter for me?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

No they cannot be forced to fit a water meter where it is impractical to do so.

However they can be forced to give you an assessed charge.

This is based on the average cost for a metered property.

For some water companies this is the average for the number of bedrooms, other companies base it on the number of occupants.

mel_s_2

I moved into my house 6 months ago and recently asked Thames to fit a meter as it's a 2 bedroom and I live alone. I was also told that wasn't possible due to access but that I would be offered a reduced rate. I spoke to Thames this morning, apparently I am already on a reduced rate whcih si still c £60 per annum mor ethan I would be on a meter but they refuse to budge - very annoying

alaninmanchester

Hi, thanks for the replies, glad I am not alone!! yes I got a reduced rate, but was only about £20 a year reduction!! I have no problem paying for what I use, but it is so unfair!! does anyone know then if it is possible to get one fitted privately? and if the water company would recognise it and read it? if so any one know who you could get one fitted by?
My next move was to try my MP see if he can help!!

mute_posting

alaninmanchester wrote: »

does anyone know then if it is possible to get one fitted privately?

I'm not sure but is something I may be looking at myself if UU refuse to fit...

Basically where water enters my flat (after coming up through cupboard in flat below) it branches off immediately going one way to bathoom and other to kitchen. So there is no room internally and obviously they cant fit it in flat below.

Outside, the stop-cocks for the 4 flats in my section of the building (1 below, myself and 2 above) are all down a 10 inch clay pipe (about 2feet down) and I would think that they will be too close together to fit a meter there.

However.... I heard from the management company that they need to budget some money to "replace all the broken stoptaps" so I think I may speak to them about having a proper manhole installed with room for meters.

So would also be interested, like Alan, to know if there are "approved meters" that can be fitted privately.

Cardew

mute_posting wrote: »

So would also be interested, like Alan, to know if there are "approved meters" that can be fitted privately.

Before water meters were fitted for free by the Water Companies, they were all fitted privately(at the customer's cost) and the water company came and inspected the meter and installation.

That is what happened at my property.

loveangel

I think you'll find that if you were a family of 20 greedily having 40 baths a day they woudl find a way to fit meter.
water rates are even more scringing than council tax - at least you get a discount of 25% on council tax.
My problem is Thames water are refusing to even send me the form to apply for a water meter - that landlord takes the water out of my rent and thames water says they will only deal with the landlord even though i am paying the water rates not the landlord who is simply acting as my agent and paying all the tenants bills in one lump conveniently to thames water - which thames water obviously very much like.
In the meantime the landlord can charge me what he likes for the water and thames water happily act out the three wise monkies. can ofwat act to force thames water to allow a meter?

loveangel

The rateable value is a red herring - the water companies are free to charge what they like where they deem that a water meter cannot be fitted - clearly using the rateable value is rather convenient as customers woudl obviously not be asking for a meter if their property was not under-occopied, so to charge at the rateable value woudl be unlikely to change the cost of the bill.
What shoudl happen is that the water companies accept the customers evidence that they are the only person living there by means of their single occupant council tax bill and work out the avergae consumption for a single person - which woudl be around £100.
clearly the majority of utility companies are now owned by foreign companies who appear to have no interest other than profit; indeed it was recently revealed that comsumers of EDF in France paid much less for their electricity than their counterparts in the UK where we have enjoyed inflation busting increases and appear to be subsidising the french company's home population.
I dare say water is conveniantly charged at the block rateable value regardless of teh actual likely useage by individuals purely for profit - one wonders what do the quangos at Ofwat actually do afor a living?
Surely they shoudl be ensuring that we do not have water shortages and hosepipe bans and encourage careful use of water.

If single occupants of 2/3 bedroomed properties are stung the same as water guzzling washaholic families then i woudl not be surprised if single occupants decided to launch a national campaign for all single occupants to leave all their cold water taps running constantly as a protest, until the apparently impotent sods at ofwat take note and act forcing water companies to charge for the averge single person use.
I fact i am starting the campaign right here right now - tonight i will turn on all my cold water taps, becacuse i have insomnia and it helps me to sleep at night, in stead of laying awake at night with nighmares of being charged for water that i am not using, indeed the noise of running water is free and i'm sure will be very therapeutic in easing my medical condition and then write to ofwat asking them what they are going to do help me with my medical condition perhaps by aksing them to force the water company to only charge me for what a normal single person uses.
I will start my therapy tonight and shall turn on all my cold water taps - if anyone else is interested in this free therapy for tax-payers without water meters please feel free to start the therapy immediatly and post your progress as the therapy goes on - don;t forget to write to your water company and Ofwat to let them know how delighted you are with their free insomnia therapy service.

Horace

I see a catch - if you turn on all your cold taps and let the water run all night won't that be a form of torture? My bet is you will be flushing the toilet all night as you will feel the constant need to urinate:rotfl: No restful sleep for you.

Fluffi

loveangel wrote: »

What should happen is that the water companies accept the customers evidence that they are the only person living there by means of their single occupant council tax bill and work out the average consumption for a single person - which would be around £100.

So true! I resent having to pay over £250 in water bills because I can't have a meter fitted in my flat. I eat at work so I don't have any washing up except at weekends and shower at the gym most days of the week!

I accept that the water company can't take my entire non-water using lifestyle into account but I think there should be a single person discount at least!

I often want to run cold water just because I'm paying for it! If only I could run a long pipe from my flat to a metered property that wanted to water their lawn or fill their pool!

Horace

I am unable to have a water meter fitted in my flat, my stopcock is behind a panel in the bathroom and the water board cannot fit one in there. What they did do was an assessment of my water usage, I am quite economical with my water even to the point where if I boil the kettle any remaining water is poured into a flask to be used later.

After my assessment my bill dropped from over £300 for the year to £100 - last year because they were late in sending my bill I ended up paying an additional £120 - they sent me a bill later for £3.95 which is what I should have paid, so what they did was put the overpayment towards this year's bill and so I have only had to pay an additional £11:j