Landlord Issue Please Help

[J2012]

Hi there

 

Me and my partner have rented a property for just over 3 years,When we moved in we noticed a leak running down the back of the toilet and made the landlord aware of the issue but he never rectified the issue.

 

Just before vacating the premises this month we recieved a large water bill of over £900 for 2 people living in a apartment.

We can only assume that the leak over the 3 years has played a part in this as our estimated annual bill based on our usuage is only around £400

 

I have emailed the water company who have replied with this email

 

 

 

Thank you for your recent email received by this office on 25 January 2013 concerning Water and Sewerage Service Charges for the above mentioned property.

 

 

 

You have advised that you vacated the property on 19 January 2013. Did you obtain a meter reading at that time? I am unable to close your account until a meter reading is provided. I have been in contact with the owner today and he has provided an up to date meter reading. If you failed to obtain a meter reading at the time you vacated, your account will be billed up to 30 January 2013 based on the current meter reading provided by the owner. The meter reading provided today is 855 cubic metres. He has assured me that the fault on the toilet cistern has been rectified.

 

 

 

All usage recorded on the meter is charged for either as a result of leakage or actual use of the supply. As the occupier of the property at the time and the bill payer, you are liable for the charges on the account. Your current outstanding balance is £960.20 for Water and Sewerage Service Charges due up to 5 January 2013. If you have a leak on the pipe work in your property and the water does not return to one of our sewers, you may be able to claim a leak allowance to reduce your charges. However, we can only compensate you for the period covering the last two meter readings, even if you have had a leak for longer than that.

 

 

 

If you can provide a meter reading at the time you vacated the property, we can close your account and may then consider an allowance against the excess charges raised as a result of the leak on the toilet cistern. Please provide us with your current correspondence address and we can arrange for the relevant claim form to be issued to you.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I am unable to set up a Direct Debit payment plan on your account as you no longer reside at the property. If you are unable to clear the outstanding balance in full and wish to pay by monthly instalment, I can arrange for payment slips to be issued to you, however without a current correspondence address on our records, I am unable to set this up on your account for you to receive the payment slips as required. Taking into consideration the current outstanding balance and the fact that no payment has been received to the account since 2 July 2012 Our lines are open Monday to Friday between the hours 8am to 8pm and Saturday 8am to 5pm.

 

 

 

I appreciate that this is not the response you had hoped for but trust I have explained our position. Should you have any further queries regarding this matter or your account in general please contact our Helpline number as above.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Now admittedly I hadnt paid my water since August which would total £360 at the very most.

 

Do you have any advice on how I proceed as the water company obviously feel the debt is mine and I should pay it,However I feel it unfair that the leak that we brought to the attention of our landlord was never ever fixed and that is in the most part to blame for the majorty of the bill.

[J2012]

Anyone?

[mariner51]

"Now admittedly I hadnt paid my water since August which would total £360 at the very most"

 

If you mean Aug 12 to Jan 13, that is a high anticipated usage, well in excess of your earlier estimate of £400 per year"

Metered input supply is less than hald water bill. In most cases the input volume is used to calc sewerage treatment charge plus annual charge for treating surface run-off.

1 cu M of water supplied = 1000 litres, cost about £1. I think you would have noticed if this volume was leaking from cracked cistern, t bowl or faulty ball valve/overflow.

Qs

1 Did LL or T take water meter reading at start of T?

2 Where is water meter located? inside property, within ext property boundary, in publid footpath close to property boundary

3 Does meter only service onr property?

4 Did Water Co visit and obtain meter readings during T?

5 Tis prob resp for any leak between meter and downstreamprivate property

[J2012]

The bill is £960.20 is from 14th September to 5th January for 2 people in a 2 bedroom apartment.

The water meter is located just outside the property and I believe they have been to make a couple of readings during our time at the property.

I believe we took and gave the water a company a reading when we moved into the property

 

Balance from last bill £341.64

 

Water

Usage charge 117 cubic meters £229.13

standing charge 11.69

total water charge 240.82

 

Sewage

Usage charge 117 cubic meters £367.62

standing charge £10.12

total sewage charges £377.74

 

Total Bill £618.56

 

The last payment I made on the water was in July and I had been paying £45 per month up until that point.

[raydetinu]

IMO you are responsable for the bill, ( the contract is with you ) however if you feel the leak is down to the LL then you will have to sue him for that part.

With that amount of water leakage, would of caused a huge amount of damage! where did it go?

Are you sure there was not a leak in a pipe somewhere.

How often did you check the meter readings.

water companies do right off costs due to leaks once fixed, but up to consumer to claim it.