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Original poster

Parents not paid their water bill for 25+ years. Are they about to get caught?

92 replies

FreeWatergate · 24/10/2019 08:32

Honestly what they've done is wrong and they probably deserve to get caught, but they aren't in a good place financially and I'm worried it'll cripple them. They've lived in the same house for over 25 years and somehow have never paid for their water. They don't know how, my theory is one of the neighbouring farms is footing the bill unknowingly but I can't say how.

It's always been a concern to me, as kids we were told to never answer the door when water companies were about so we didn't, and nothings ever happened. Except my mums now in a real state as she's had them at her door again this morning, as usual she didn't answer and has now had a letter through that they're installing a meter.

Are they just going to have the meter fitted and start paying? Or are they about to get absolutely fucked for 25 years worth of free water?

OP posts:

Namechangeymcnamechange11 · 24/10/2019 08:40

Water companies are only allowed to back bill for 16 months worth - ofwat rules. They'll be billed for 16 months worth, and will have to pay as per the meter going forward.

Original poster

FreeWatergate · 24/10/2019 08:57

Thank you @Namechangeymcnamechange11

OP posts:

MumofTinies · 24/10/2019 08:59

How annoying they will only be charged for 16 months when they have knowingly avoided paying for 25 years. Completely dishonest, why do they feel they shouldn't have to pay? Other people with money troubles have managed to pay thiers.

Original poster

FreeWatergate · 24/10/2019 09:01

I do agree @MumofTinies and I disagree entirely with what they've done. Just worry at the thought of them being financially crippled now they are both retired and only really getting by. Me and my siblings would feel obligated to help for their dishonesty and that's not fair on us and our young families. It's a crap situation

OP posts:

ProseccoIsTheAnswerHere · 24/10/2019 09:03

It’s a shame, that rule is more there to protect those who’s utility bills have been fucked up for no reason of their own (been there!)

mummmy2017 · 24/10/2019 09:04

You can do a catch up thing.
£50 a month for 24 months, then it is cleared.

MumofTinies · 24/10/2019 09:06

Oh OP don't feel obligated, you have to put your own family first. I bet you wouldn't involve your own children in a lie like this the way your parents did to you.

cantfindname · 24/10/2019 09:14

@MumofTinies Don't worry about the dishonesty. I think I paid their share when I religiously paid my water bill for years until a neighbour pointed out we were on a private water supply and it wasn't meant to be charged for!! She was correct, we had a private spring supplying three houses. The water company weren't keen to repay me but did, at least, send no more bills.

FloofenHoofen · 24/10/2019 09:26

My MIL did exactly the same thing except she claims she wasn't aware she had to pay 🧐 anyway, they eventually got a letter through the door saying they had to start paying but that they weren't going to backdate it so they got away with 20 years of not paying for it.

Solihooley · 24/10/2019 09:28

Maybe they have been on a private supply too? Sounds like a rural area? Seems a bit odd. I wouldn’t say it’s their fault exactly if they’ve never been sent bills. I think lots of people might keep quiet about it!

Monkeyseesmonkeydoes · 24/10/2019 09:34

They'll probably not even be done for back bill at all - just have to start paying now...

SlothMama · 24/10/2019 09:36

That's a shame they'll only be stung for 16 months worth, why should they not pay whilst every other sod has to?

custardbear · 24/10/2019 09:38

Wow they've managed to get out of paying 10k approx!

MutedUser · 24/10/2019 09:38

People getting away with this is disgusting,p. I mean your parents weren’t pensioners 25 years ago when they started this. If no payback is required what’s the incentive for the rest of us mugs to actually pay ?

Aderyn19 · 24/10/2019 09:38

Not certain but I think water used to be included in rates bills (before we had council tax). So maybe they believed it was covered in council tax, if they didn't know the difference.

Boysey45 · 24/10/2019 09:40

Don't pay it for them, the company will sort something out for the arrears.
Also if anyone is reading this and struggling with the water, many of the providers have schemes for the less well off. My Mums water is over £900 per year and she joined the water support scheme and its now £400 per annum and shes not on a meter.

MutedUser · 24/10/2019 09:40

@aderyn they knew exactly what they were doing or why did they tell their kids not to answer the door to the water board.

hallohallohallo · 24/10/2019 09:50

Lots of people are struggling OP. I could barely afford my water bill as it was, but I've recently been informed that the water company has decided to raise my bill by an extra £7 per month. I'll have to figure out how I'm going to pay it.
Your parents should pay for the water they use just like the rest of us.

Cellnet · 24/10/2019 09:50

Hi, OP

I'm not sure if they can just come around and install a Meter without first going to court? If your parents own the land in which they want to put this Meter on.

Also they need to get some free advice on where they stand, in terms of repayment. They may have to repay some or it could be wiped and start over.

I know it's not the same but my friend refused to have a PayG gas Meter and they ended up getting a warrant. However it was after a lot of back and forth, not just no contact for years at a time.

Please don't feel bad, loads of people don't pay their water, same with TV licence. Some will even bypass their leccy Meter.... Yes it was not a good move to not pay but what's done is done.

I'm sure they are not bad people.

thenightsky · 24/10/2019 09:53

We had this happen because we were on an off-shoot of a farm supply to the cow sheds behind our house. My neighbour (it was a semi) and I suddenly realised we hadn't had a bill for a few years and when we checked it was about 6 years. The farm manager always read the meter and billed us 50/50, but he'd moved on to another job in another part of the country and the new farm manager didn't seem to have bothered picking the readings up. They just let us off. Water board were never involved as we didn't buy water from them.

backinthebox · 24/10/2019 10:21

We informed the water company 3 times when we first bought our house, yet no bills were sent for nearly a decade. They continued to attempt to bill us for our old house for months after we moved out though. We stopped telling them we hadn't ever had a bill when I went into hospital for emergency surgery and a new baby and had other things on our mind. We approached them again in response to a TV advert campaign asking for people who had never received to come forward. Obviously water companies forgetting to send out bills in a non uncommon situation. Without going into it in too much detail we called them to tell them we had informed them several times that we hadn't received a bill, and the person we spoke too said that because our house was not a new build we were not an 'innocent omission' and that we had been deceptive. In her opinion it was likely that the unpaid water bill would stretch for longer than we had lived there and that the arrears would be all charged to the current occupants - us. As the previous owner's family had lived there since the 1910s and had drawn water from a well for much of that time (we still have the well, and our drainage is also private) we had no idea how much they were going to charge us but potentially a century of water bills for an error on their behalf seems like an unfair treatment. In hindsight I thought that I was possibly being silly about this, but I've since found out that another property in the village is in a dispute with them that has lasted over 20 years about a similar situation. Anyway, I put the phone down on them and didn't hear anything more for years. We called them again about 3 years ago when there were plans to cut the water supply to the entire village off on a regular basis for a 3 month period. We needed to register for drinking water deliveries during the cut offs. We explained what had happened, they said sometimes properties get overlooked and our property had probably never had a bill because it once used a well and a cesspit, and put us back on the billing list. We paid a back payment of I think somewhere between a year and 18 months bills as the water company had no idea who had owned the property and for how long, and now just pay water bills as normal. We approached them half a dozen times immediately after moving in and subsequently over the years. Not once did anyone from the water company approach us. Errors and omissions happen, and they have a protocol for dealing with it.

I wouldn't judge your parents, but I would find out a lot more about where there water is coming from (my sister doesn't pay water bills, she gets her water from the farmer's borehole) and then take it from there to help them get onto the correct billing list. It's not as terrifying as you might think - I have to confess I was quite concerned about how much our bill might be after all that time and it was a relief to finally have the water company acknowledge our existence and for us to be legitimate customers. Plus it means I can be guilt free when I ring to ask them why we have a water cut this time. Our village suffers water cuts on a monthly basis (terrible old pipe system and an ancient pumping station that can't cope with electricity cuts, which are frequent after storms bring down power lines) and it was very frustrating having no water and knowing I didn't actually have a right to any water anyway.

JinglingHellsBells · 24/10/2019 10:25

Water meters are not mandatory OP- people have a choice. We have only just gone onto a meter after living in our house for 20 years.

Your parents can refuse.

However they cannot refuse to pay for water per se.

Our annual charge was £600 pre-meter and around £400 with a meter.

I'd assume your parents are getting their water from a joint supply where it branches off into 2 properties, so the other houses are covering your parents' costs, or it's private supply 'at source' if they are very rural.

Do the get bills and ignore them- or have they never had a bill?

diddl · 24/10/2019 10:33

"Or are they about to get absolutely fucked for 25 years worth of free water?"

Well if they did it would be their fault!

Can't believe that they have deliberately avoided it for so long.

Well if there's just the two of them they probably aren't using much anyway.

Even if it does seem a lot, they can console themselves that they didn't pay for 25yrs!

userxx · 24/10/2019 10:35

JinglingHellsBells I went on a water meter when I moved into my house 10 years ago, really wish I hadnt. I now pay about £30 a month for a single person household.

MadMadMad · 24/10/2019 10:36

Actually depending on your area you may not be able to refuse - we are in an area where the water company can insist, even though we don't want one.

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