Anglian Water Repayments

[lottiesnan]

I have recently moved from a 2 bed house where i paid £44 a month to Anglian water (not metered)to a brand new

second floor flat and suddenly my water bill has gone up to £71 a month (this property is metered)... I cant possible afford that much and written to tell them so and to look at my details again..

 

I live alone ..No dishwasher i limit my use of washing machine and use the shower not the bath...

I am currantly on Employment Support and that water bill is a large chunk out of my meagre benefit..

 

They have sent me a payment book with £71 a month on each page.... Can i cross that out and pay £50

Appreciate any advice

[Conniff]

Metering is a lot cheaper than unmetered, so it looks like either a problem with the meter or all the flats are on a single meter and the total used is divided amongst the flats or you are being billed for the wrong meter if there is one per flat..

 

You need to find where your meter is and start taking readings.

[Feebee_71]

Is it easy for you to access your water meter to take readings?

 

Did you take a reading when you moved into the flat?

 

Is the bill they have sent you based on an accurate reading or an estimated reading?

 

Was there a property on the plot where your block of flats is now with an identical address prior to your block being built?

 

Sorry for all the questions but I'll explain why the answers could be enlightening......

 

When I moved into my flat almost 8 years ago it was a new build by the local housing association on the site of some old, larger, flats with the same addresses. When I moved in I took a meter reading including a dated photograph as proof of start reading (I did the same for the other utilities too) and contacted the water company to set up an account and give them the start reading. After a few months I received my first bill from the water company and it was ridiculous - despite me giving them a start reading from the day I moved in they had decided that the meter was on 0; they had also based the bill on an estimated reading of 77 - the starting reading was actually 10 and, when checked, the accurate reading was 18!!

 

I spoke to the water company about their bill and how they had arrived at it and what information they held on their database about the property. According to them (and despite being told otherwise when I set up the account) the flat was a 2 bed property (it's a 1 bed) with 4 adult occupants in residence (there is only me living here!). Then they backtracked and said the usage was estimated on my addresses previous usage - from before the old block was knocked down and new flats were built on the site. Oh, and it was unmetered in those days - so they were ignoring the information they were given by me when I set up the account and had simply transplanted across some of the information about the previous building, had made up some more information and couldn't get their story straight either way!!

 

For best part of a year they were insisting their initial (estimated) reading was correct and I really had used 77 units of water not the 8 shown by my meter reading. While they were refusing to accept my readings and wouldn't come out and read the meter I refused to pay them but I was putting away a run of money each month based on the cost per unit in their bills and the sewerage charges for the same. Standing charges were also allowed for.

 

Eventually they sent someone out to read the meter more than 18 months after the first bill arrived and I showed him the opening reading photograph along with all the correspondence about their discrepancy of insisting estimated readings based on 4 adults in a 2 bed flat compared to one low usage adult in a 1 bed flat. And, about 2 weeks later a new bill popped through the door with the first ever accurate current reading and the correct start reading. And it was far less than they had been demanding. I paid the bill in full and had some left over from what I had been putting by each month!!!

 

Don't allow them to bully you into paying more than you do genuinely owe and, if they won't listen to you, insist on someone from the company coming out to see for themselves what the situation is.

 

Feebee_71

[lottiesnan]

Sorry about late reply ,i am not connected to internet yet:(

 

I dont know where the meter is but i shall locate it and take a reading....

 

I await a reply from Anglian Water ,as i would like a explanation as to why they esitmate my bill would be twice as high as the previous address...

 

Thankyou for taking the time to reply to my concern and i shall keep you updated