Faulty water meter
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jen43
Posts: 7 Forumite
in Water bills
I live in a flat where I have no access to any of my meters. We have a concierge and if we need a meter reading we ask them for it. We are billed supposedly every quarter for our water but have had problems from day one getting these.
To cut a long story short my first three years of water heating and gas were written off after I did a complaint for residents to do with the resale of gas and water. We had not been billed for the first three years of living here. The bills are sold onto my housing association and then sold onto tenants and part buyers. Since then I have been getting bills in that are always wrong and come at 6-9 months a time. I have not paid and would be happy for them to take me to court but they still wont.
Forward 6 years from the first bill arriving I was told after a new management agent took over that my meter and 4 others in the block where not working and was I using the same amount of water as usual. I said yes to that and thought no more until a bill came through with water costs of £200 for a water. My bills where usually £20 max on water.
Today we had a residents meeting and the management agents, property developers, housing association and others where there. I asked about my billing and meter not working and if I wanted my previous bills how far could they go back so I can find out when an actual reading was last taken if ever. I was told 6 years worth they have. When I said about the broken meter the CEO of the property developers was nodding his head so I knew he was aware of the problem as the management replied.
If I get readings and they have no proof of what water I have used other then gas for the heating and hot water as they have 2 separate meters can I refuse to pay the bill. I have been billed for a management agent to check the meters and do the readings that they never did.
To cut a long story short my first three years of water heating and gas were written off after I did a complaint for residents to do with the resale of gas and water. We had not been billed for the first three years of living here. The bills are sold onto my housing association and then sold onto tenants and part buyers. Since then I have been getting bills in that are always wrong and come at 6-9 months a time. I have not paid and would be happy for them to take me to court but they still wont.
Forward 6 years from the first bill arriving I was told after a new management agent took over that my meter and 4 others in the block where not working and was I using the same amount of water as usual. I said yes to that and thought no more until a bill came through with water costs of £200 for a water. My bills where usually £20 max on water.
Today we had a residents meeting and the management agents, property developers, housing association and others where there. I asked about my billing and meter not working and if I wanted my previous bills how far could they go back so I can find out when an actual reading was last taken if ever. I was told 6 years worth they have. When I said about the broken meter the CEO of the property developers was nodding his head so I knew he was aware of the problem as the management replied.
If I get readings and they have no proof of what water I have used other then gas for the heating and hot water as they have 2 separate meters can I refuse to pay the bill. I have been billed for a management agent to check the meters and do the readings that they never did.
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Comments
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I live in a flat where I have no access to any of my meters. We have a concierge and if we need a meter reading we ask them for it. We are billed supposedly every quarter for our water but have had problems from day one getting these.
To cut a long story short my first three years of water heating and gas were written off after I did a complaint for residents to do with the resale of gas and water. We had not been billed for the first three years of living here. The bills are sold onto my housing association and then sold onto tenants and part buyers. Since then I have been getting bills in that are always wrong and come at 6-9 months a time. I have not paid and would be happy for them to take me to court but they still wont.
Forward 6 years from the first bill arriving I was told after a new management agent took over that my meter and 4 others in the block where not working and was I using the same amount of water as usual. I said yes to that and thought no more until a bill came through with water costs of £200 for a water. My bills where usually £20 max on water.
Today we had a residents meeting and the management agents, property developers, housing association and others where there. I asked about my billing and meter not working and if I wanted my previous bills how far could they go back so I can find out when an actual reading was last taken if ever. I was told 6 years worth they have. When I said about the broken meter the CEO of the property developers was nodding his head so I knew he was aware of the problem as the management replied.
If I get readings and they have no proof of what water I have used other then gas for the heating and hot water as they have 2 separate meters can I refuse to pay the bill. I have been billed for a management agent to check the meters and do the readings that they never did.
Yes you can refuse to pay your bills.
Courts are full of those who refuse (or sometimes are unable) to pay their bills.
It can also help keep these guys (and others) in gainful employment.
Although, if the terms of your lease say you have to pay the landlord/agent the cost of utilities used, then they will probably just end up evicting you if you fail to comply with the terms of that lease.
The above guys can assist the landlord/agent with that too
I suggest you arrange another residents meeting with the management agents, property developers, housing association and others, and demand you each have access to your meters.
Hopefully you will then be ablr to sleep better - this matter was obviously keeping you awake at night :cool:0 -
Biscuit_Tin wrote: »
Hopefully you will then be ablr to sleep better - this matter was obviously keeping you awake at night :cool:
Assume you are being sarcastic here. But I would find a bill increase from £20 to £200 may well keep ME awake at night. And as the OP is a newbie they do not deserve your sarcasm.0 -
Assume you are being sarcastic here. But I would find a bill increase from £20 to £200 may well keep ME awake at night. And as the OP is a newbie they do not deserve your sarcasm.
I wondered who would be the first to criticise; it's always easier to criticise those that offer help than actually offer help to those requesting it, isn't it?:cool:
Or are you simply hoping to collect thanks for your vitriolic post?
9/10. Good effort!0 -
If you have to ask the concierge to read the meters, how do you know that you are being given the correct readings for the meter(s) actually supplying your flat?
How does the concierge know which meter supplies which flat - there's been many posts on the forum complaining about incorrectly allocated meters in blocks of flats.0 -
We have separate meters outside our flats in a cupboard. Each flat is then read by concierge every quarter or supposed to be. We have no access unless we ask for a reading to be done. Same with electric have no access to it.0
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Today I asked the concierge for the readings and when I got nowhere in getting these I argued that I have a right to them and asked for a breakdown on the costs. I was then told I have no right to ask for this information as I am a tenant and not the owner of the property. My housing association manager is a waste of time and they also said previously these bills are nothing to do wit them and I was refused to do a complaint as I had already done a 3 stage complaint before over a different matter related to the water.
The concierge phoned her senior manager who came over from a newer development nearby. He then went through the bill and readings for me to be told we hadnt had a reading done for 18 months and those were reasons it was so high.
I came back indoors and spoke to the billing agents about the bill who went through the water usage and readings only after I threatened them with court action stating I was already in contact with a solicitors that are doing a trial case on water resale. He then somehow managed to give me all the info I needed and the readings were estimates for a number of years. I thought that must be reason at the time but toight I sat down and looked at how much water they said I was supposed to of used in that 18 months since a meter was last read.
Please find below the meter reads that were taken for your flat as requested
20/10/17-31/01/2018 manual reads Heat Meter 38178 kw/h
Hot Water Meter 185 m3
Cold Water Meter 389 m3
31/01/18-01/05/18 manual reads Heat Meter 40047 kw/h
Hot Water Meter 192 m3
Cold Water Meter 471 m3
My meter is currently showing Heating: 41708
Cold water: 588
Hot Water : 200
They are saying I have used 117 units of cold so far at 99.48 for 1 person.
This meter has been in flats for 10 years and no way I can use that amount.0 -
I just checked out how much 80,000 covers and it says
It takes 100,000 litres to produce 10,000 sheets of A4 paper.
Average national water consumption in the UK is 150 litres per person day (for drinking, washing, flushing the toilet, showering, dishwashers and washing machines) so 100,000 litres represents one person!!!8217;s water consumption for nearly two years.
The average American drinks 263 litres of water per year so 100,000 litres represents 380 years!!!8217; worth of drinking water.
An old style single flush toilet uses 13 litres of water per flush, so 100,000 litres represents 769 flushes. The average household flushes 13 times per day so 100,000 litres is 60 days of flushing.
The average 5 minute shower uses 35 litres of water so 100,000 litres represents 2,857 showers !!!8211; assuming one shower per day that!!!8217;s almost 8 years of showers.
A full bath averages 150 litres of water so 100,000 litres represents 666 baths, almost two years!!!8217; worth.
Washing dishes by hand after one meal typically uses 18 litres of water so, assuming three meals per day, 100,000 litres represents 5 years!!!8217; worth of washing up.
One litre is 1.75 pints so 100,000 litres is the equivalent of 175,000 pints of beer.
Running a tap uses around 10 litres of water per minute, so you!!!8217;d have to run the tap continuously for almost a week to use up 100,000 litres.
Running a modern washing machine uses around 70 litres of water so for 100,000 litres you could run your washing machine 1,428 times.
A grande Starbucks coffee is 470ml so 100,000 litres represents 212,766 Starbucks!!!8217; coffees.
The average annual rainfall in the UK is 594 litres of rain falling per square metre of ground, so 100,000 litres represents 168 years!!!8217; worth of rain falling on one square metre.
A typical mug of tea is 350ml so 100,000 litres is the equivalent of 285,714 cups of tea.
It takes 200 litres of water to manufacture one can of cola, so 100,000 litres represents the water needed to produce 500 cans of cola.
100,000 litres of water would fill a typical 100 litre garden water butt 100 times.
A commercial car wash uses about 200 litres of water, so 100,000 litres is the equivalent of 500 car washes.
The average hosepipe can use 1,000 litres of water per hour, so 100,000 litres represents a hosepipe running for four days continuously.
25 URIMAT waterless urinals installed for one year would save the equivalent volumetric content of an Olympic Swimming Pool.
I am going to forward this to the property management team and tell them I must be supplying the whole block.0
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