Yorkshire Water and Water Meter

[kb36]

I need some advice for my sister - she owns an apartment, moved in just under two years ago. Brand new property and water meters were installed. She lives on her own and very conservative with water consumption.

Despite her pleas for a bill/statement - Yorkshire Water did not want anything from her until March this year!!! They read the meter and her bill came in at £500!! Compared to her neighbours, who have much higher usage her bill was significantly higher.

She requested Yorkshire Water to come and re-read the meter and check it was working correctly - on doing this the bill had gone up another £50 in 10 days!! After checking the meter and turning off the supply it was evident that the water meter was still moving - the rep from Yorkshire found a MAJOR leak in the pipe work that connects the main supply to the block of apartments, but specifically on her pipework (this was not within her property) Yorkshire have denied liability and advised her to contact the Developers, but in the meantime she is responsible for the bill and told if she did not pay within 7 days they would take legal action.

She can't afford a £500+ bill, the developers have not offered to pay anything, and how would she work out what the correct amount she owes? - she has sent letter and email to the developers. They have sent a plumber, who found TWO MAJOR LEAKS, and admitted that she would never have known about these due to their location. The developers plumber has repaired the problem as Yorkshire would not, Who is liable for the bill and where does she start?

[spamheed]

since it is a new build the fabric of the building should be covered by the ten year guarantee, this should include the pipework.

The builders/developer should be responsible for the pipework, you should start by contacting them. the inflated water bill is down to their negligence/incompetence and should be substantiated by the plumber who fixed the pipes