£13,000 water bill - help me

harrased-gf

Hello forum

Can someone offer me some help. I may get some of the details wrong but the gist of it is correct.

My Dad was a self employed sole trader in a rented shop.
Last Autumn he received a Water bill for £13,000. His previous quarters water bill was for about £40.

He only has one toilet and one tap and no staff, so only him in the shop the majority of the time.

He phoned them up and they suspended the bill until it was investigated. They sent a man out who checked the meter and said that it was going round and round even though there was no water running. He said that there must have been something wrong with the meter so he replaced it with a temporary one and said he would come back. In the meantime Dad turned the water off whenever he was left the shop.
When the man returned the meter had gone through the roof. The investigator couldn't explain where the water had gone and what was causing the meter to race round. The investigator even went up to the flat above the shop which was rented to someone else and had them turn their water off to see if there was some problem and his water was coming through dads meter but no. No water was being used and yet the meter kept moving.

He promised to tell United utilities that there was a problem and left. Dad was due to retire but was reluctant to do so until the water bill was sorted. All along he has been keeping his landlord up to date.

During the next 4 months he phoned them constantly, got passed from pillar to post with noone trying to help him, from one call centre to another. They said they would send an assessor out but when he came he was from the same department as the first man that came out and could not do any more.

Dad decided to retire, informed the landlord, and informed united utilities. He hadn't heard anything for a couple of months then last week he got a phone call from them asking when he was likely to settle the bill.

Well Dad couldnt believe it - he doesn't know where to turn or who can help him. And I don't know how to help him either. He has offered to pay an average of his previous bills. He is not trying to get out of paying any bill that is due to him but he will not and cannot pay a bill for £13,000. He has discussed it with his solicitor but cannot really afford a large solicitors bill.

So is there anyone out there who can offer some advice. The stress over the last 7 months or so has made him so ill. He can't sleep and he can't eat with the worry of it all.

Please help where do we turn?

TangledMemories_2

Hi

Have you tried citizens advice?
Has your dad tried writing to United Utilities? I've found in the past you can't trust anything agreed over the phone and now put everything in writing!

I hope this helps you in some way.

harrased-gf

Thanks tangled memories
Yes he has written to them and they acknowledge the letter and said they were investigating. It has gone on that long that I can't remember whether he has tried citizen advice or not.

I will tell him to try them

Thanks again

shellsuit

£13K!!!!! :eek:

Try Ofwat http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/aptrix/ofwat/publish.nsf/Content/navigation-publications-aboutofwat-customersandcomplaints

There is more information on there which may help. Good luck to your Dad

littlemissjojo

Did they eliminate the possibility of a leak on the supply? If the meter was still turning when no water was being used, that sounds possible. If they said there is no leak, then the meter must have been faulty. Definitely write in, send recorded, keep copies, and complain to ofwat!

mech_2

A faulty meter doesn't seem that likely to me. Especially if it has been swapped once already. It gets its motive force from the water flow, so surely even a faulty one can't be going around when there's no flow.

On the other hand, if it's a leak, it's a monstrous one. I would have thought you'd be able to hear it! And it does beggar the question of where all that water has gone. Maybe it's leaking straight into the sewer system? Surely that can be verified somehow?

It's a worrying one. I hope you get it sorted. My only suggestion is to keep trying to hassle the water company into making a proper investigation. One with a proper outcome, not some guy coming round and saying "beats me".

epsilondraconis

mech wrote: »

A faulty meter doesn't seem that likely to me. Especially if it has been swapped once already. It gets its motive force from the water flow, so surely even a faulty one can't be going around when there's no flow.

On the other hand, if it's a leak, it's a monstrous one. I would have thought you'd be able to hear it! And it does beggar the question of where all that water has gone. Maybe it's leaking straight into the sewer system? Surely that can be verified somehow?

It's a worrying one. I hope you get it sorted. My only suggestion is to keep trying to hassle the water company into making a proper investigation. One with a proper outcome, not some guy coming round and saying "beats me".

I agree with Mech - domestic water meters don't just rotate for no reason. They are known as rotary piston meters because they displace a fixed amount of water on each rotation. The water is displaced using a fixed size 'bucket' with each rotation being linked to the meter register via a series of gears. I imagine this will be a 15mm, 20mm or 25mm meter.

It is possible for these meters to rotate with only air going through; however this is extremely unlikely, plus the meter will be extremely noisy (eminating a loud rattling sound).

Hmmm, I can only think that something must be drawing water at a point after the meter, which in this case points to a leak (or someone tapping off the supply somewhere).

Has the extracted meter been tested by UU on a calibrated test rig - just to ensure there is nothing wrong with it, although with the second meter exhibiting the same phenomena, it points to something else. (Up to about 18months ago, UU had their own calibrated water test rig, however now I understand that they use external test rigs.)

The only thing I can suggest is your Dad talks to Citizens Advice and also to Ofwat as a priority. Hopefully they will be able to provide him with information regarding how to proceed - they may be able to provide him with some letter templates or some wording that he should include (such as insisting on having a resolution to the problem within 2weeks). This has already gone on for too long and if pushed, UU will be able to identify the reason for the huge bill, I guess they just need a little encouraging in this case.

Good luck...

Ken68

Hi Harassed...each area has it's own Water Council.
You have to exhaust the complaints procedure with the local water board first, which it looks you have.

National link here.....http://www.ccwater.org.uk/

harrased-gf

thanks for all your help on this one.
especially to epsil and mech for the technical advice.
Dad phoned the Ofwat help line and they have given him some hope
Aparently there is someone at united utilities who is dealing with it now
I will keep you posted though
Thank you all again. Its a weight off my shoulders to be able to share

Elle00

Join the club! My bill is £7k and some. It's been 2yrs since the problem started and there's still no resolve. I can't help (obviously) but I can say that when the meter was spinning at my flat it DID indicate a leak in the pipework which was subsequently fixed. A water leakage allowance is supposed to be applied to my account but I'm still waiting...